"So close, you can almost touch it." The Ubuntu home page is currently dominated by a banner with that teaser, along with a clock counting down to 8AM ET on Wednesday, January 2nd. Our guess is that the pre-CES announcement may focus on mobile, with a touch-friendly interface possibly on the horizon. During a Slashdot Q&A in December, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth clued readers in on the company's plans to bring the OS to mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, as part of a strategy to familiarize desktop users with the Linux-based operating system. While this week's announcement may fall in line with that objective, it's likely to be just one part of the equation, with 14.04 LTS not set to launch until April 2014 at the earliest. Either way, we have more than a day to go before Ubuntu's mystery is unveiled, so tune your browser to the source link below to join in on the countdown fun.

[Thanks, Brian]