Along with a built-in music store, Ubuntu 10.04, the free Linux distribution arriving later this month, will offer a 30-day trial of cloud-based contact syncing through its Ubuntu One storage service. It's a promising peek into nifty features to come.


"Promising" because, at the moment, Ubuntu One contact syncing is a kind of alpha feature that's being offered as a 30-day trial, free to users of Ubuntu One's standard 2 GB of web storage. It uses Funambol, a background push/sync service often mentioned in the comments around here, and there's already an Ubuntu-branded iPhone app—though any Funambol client on most any phone can also sync to Ubuntu One, as can phones that support SyncML. Adventurous Ubuntu users can read the Phone Sync FAQ for help and suggestions.


The contact sync trial will be melded into the Ubuntu 10.04 general release, and syncing of calendars and other data is likely to come down the line. If Ubuntu can build a platform on which users can sync their contacts, calendars, email, and other data between a Linux desktop and nearly any other platform, they've probably got a really good hook for wider adoption on their hands.

You'll need an Ubuntu One account to try out contact syncing, which you can create here. For a wider look at what Ubuntu 10.04 brings to the desktop game, glimpse our screenshot tour of "Lucid Lynx".

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Ubuntu One : Phones [via Ars Technica]