Open-source specialist Ubuntu is teaming up with chip giant Intel to develop a mobile version of the Ubuntu Linux platform.

Matt Zimmerman, Ubuntu's chief technology officer and chairman of its technical board, announced the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded project in a developer mailing list post.

Zimmerman said that the uptake of small, internet-enabled handheld devices, which will change the way people communicate and collaborate, was behind the project. “These devices place new demands on open-source software and require innovative graphical interfaces, improved power management and better responsiveness,” he wrote.

To help overcome these technical challenges, Zimmerman announced Ubuntu will be working with Intel, which will be making “significant contributions of technology, people and expertise to the project”.

More details of the mobile Linux initiative will be confirmed at this week’s Ubuntu Developer Summit in Seville. The first release of the edition is slated for October with the release of Ubuntu 7.10.