The company behind the Linux-based OS Ubuntu announced on Wednesday that it will be offering a version of its software that will run on smartphones. Namely, the Ubuntu operating system uses the same drivers as Android and would work as a replacement software for existing phones running the Android OS, according to Canonical.

Canonical will release the open-source code as a file that can be installed on Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, initially. Plans are also in the works with manufacturers to provide the software pre-installed on …

Samsung’s giving folks in Europe some Chromebook goodness, so if you have a taste for Chrome and are European, this is some good news. The Samsung Series 5 will hit Europe this Friday for €399 (or £349) for the Wi-Fi model and €449 (or £399) for the 3G version.

The Chrome OS laptop will be available in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy for now with other countries getting it over the next few months. Are you getting one?

The sun is usually an enemy to laptops. Just try using your screen on a bright day. But in this case it will power your PC. First introduced for the African market, Samsung’s NC215S will be heading for Russia in August for 13,999 rubles ($479).

The lid is almost entirely a solar panel and so this netbook has an estimated battery life of 14.5 hours. The NC215S packs in a 1.6GHz N570 Intel Atom dual-core processor, 250GB of storage, and 1GB of RAM.

You’ve been able to preorder it for about a month on Amazon, and now Samsung’s 11.6-inch Series 9 laptop is available for shipping. It will cost you $1,160 and to refresh your memory it features an Intel Core i3-380UM processor, 2GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD.

Other features that you get for that price include 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 3.0 and WIMAX 4G capabilities, a 1.3-megapixel HD webcam and a 1366 x 768 display with 340 nits of brightness. You can pick one up right now.

If we asked you which already announced Android phone T-Mobile customers want to see on the network, the Galaxy S 2 would likely be your answer. And if it was, then here is some very good news.

The above picture is from Adobe.com and though it might be hard to see, there is an image of the Galaxy S 2 with Touchwiz 4.0 icons. Could just be photoshop magic, but there is definitely a lot of buzz about the device arriving on T-Mobile. That would be great news for T-Mobile users.

Samsung claims that the screen on its new RF712 gaming laptop will have the best brightness that you can buy, which helps to overcome the dimming effect of wearing 3D glasses. The 17.3-inch screen uses the same Super Bright Plus technology as its Series 9 laptop, but with an added bonus, higher Full HD resolution.

The brightness is 400-nits. That’s about double that of an average LCD. Other specs include a second generation quad-core Intel CPU, 2GB AMD HD6650M graphics, a roomy 750GB hard drive and USB 3.0. The RF712 will hit South Korea on May 2nd for the equivalent of $2,400. No word on when it might reach the US.

Kogan is launching a trio of new budget computing products in Australia: an Android tablet, an Ubuntu notebook, and a set-top-box that brings Android to your TV. I know, the tablet is just another in a sea of tablets, but the Agora model is just $140 (it will go up to $189). The tablet is expected to ship at the end of May with a 1 GHz Samsung processor, a 7 inch 1024 x 600 pixel capacitive touchscreen display, 512MB of RAM, and a 3600mAh battery. It runs Google Android 3.0.

The Internet TV Portal will retail between $149 and $199, allowing you to run Android apps on your TV. The set top box will come with a special remote control that features special Android buttons. You can expect the Internet TV Portal on May 27th.

Good news. You can get Samsung’s sleek new laptop for $1,200. Even better news. Amazon is now listing the 11.6-inch Series 9 at $1,149, saving you some hard earned dough. However we still don’t have a release date.

The specs include an Intel Core i3-380UM, 2GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD, 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 3.0, a 5680mAh battery, and a 1366 x 768 display with 400 nits of brightness. If you want an Amazon alternative, the laptop is showing up at a bunch of retailers for pre-order.

Yesterday we reported that someone had found some keylogger software on some new Samsung laptops. We knew it didn’t make sense for a popular brand to take that kind of risk and as it turns out, it was all a misunderstanding.

The confusion apparently comes from the fact that the VIPRE security software mistakenly identified Microsoft’s Slovene language folder (“SL”) as Starlogger. Samsung managed to recreate it from an empty c:\windows\SL folder, Bottom line is that Samsung laptops are safe.

Samsung is a pretty popular laptop brand right now, but their reputation may be about to suffer due to claims that it is shipping brand new laptops with an active keylogger installed. According to a post on Networkworld by Mohamed Hassan, the StarLogger keylogger was found preinstalled and active on not just one, but two brand new Samsung laptops.

Would any company be stupid enough to do this and risk a serious PR backlash? According to Hassan, the first was found when he installed security software on his new laptop. That laptop was later returned because of a video driver issue, but the replacement Samsung that he purchased also had the same keylogger on it. One thing that seems suspect is this. Why wouldn’t he have returned the first right away after he found the keylogger? He wasn’t mad enough?

Tomorrow Samsung will ship their latest 13.3-inch laptop, the Series 9. This laptop features an Intel CoreTM i5 Processor 2537M (1.4 GHz, 3MB), 128GB solid state disk, 4GB of RAM, and Windows 7 Home Premium and you have the option to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional.

The 13 inch model will retail for $1649 and Samsung also has a smaller 11 inch Series 9 laptop that will be arriving in April. The 11 inch version will feature an Intel Core i3 Processor 380UM (1.33 GHz, 3MB) and will have 2Gb DDR3 memory and a smaller 64GB solid state drive.

Samsung has unveiled its latest ZX310 9 Series premium lightweight laptop. The new ZX310 9 Series is actually thinner than the Mac Book Air and is made from duralumin which is twice the strength of aluminum. Beneath the hood there’s an Intel i7 processor, up to 8GB memory, a 256GB solid state drive and it sports a 13.3 inch display.

The Samsung ZX310 9 Series is targeted at power users and mobile professionals. The OS is Windows 7 and it has a 12 second boot time, a 1.3MP HD webcam, a touch sensitive gesture pad and a powerful lithium-polymer battery.

Samsung has unveiled their new 13.3-inch 9 Series laptop, which is said to be the “thinnest and lightest 13-inch notebook available.” The duralumin machine weighs just 2.89 pounds and measures .68 inches thick. The 13-inch MacBook Air, it’s competitor, measures 0.11 to 0.68 inches thick and weighs 2.9 pounds.

Samsung has jammed some power into that thin build. There’s no optical drive, but it does have Ethernet, HDMI, and USB ports and a headphone jack. Inside you’ll find a brand new Core i5 2537M processor, 128GB SSD, and 4GB of RAM.

Google has announced an unbranded Google Cr-48 laptop. The name comes from the symbol for the chromium isotope on the periodic table. The device will be distributed through a Chrome OS Pilot Program, which is in public beta.

Google is hoping that early users will provide valuable feedback, but there isn’t a purchase option right now. Retail units from Acer and Samsung will be available in 2011. The Cr-48 will feature a 12.1-inch display, a full keyboard over a capacious trackpad, world …

Times are tough, so it’s nice when companies give you a break and help your dollar go further. Best Buy is doing just that with a new promotion that will involve sales of smartphones from each US carrier without having to pay a penny, each Friday in October.

The phones do come with the mandatory 2-year contract. It all kicks off on October 1st, with the first free phones on sale being the Samsung Fascinate from Verizon Wireless, the BlackBerry Curve from Sprint, the HTC Aria from AT&T, and the Samsung Gravity 3 from T-Mobile.