First there was Verizon, and while The Network certainly enjoyed its limited time engagement with YouTube, it's all fair game now. Following Apple, Helio, Nokia, Vodafone, and a couple more for good measure, LG has just announced that some of its future handsets will also be "YouTube-ready." The company claims that customers picking up the aforementioned units will be able to "discover, watch, and share originally created videos" on YouTube, decreasing the wait time between shooting that blooper short and uploading it to the world. Interestingly, LG failed to mention model names when referring to its impending YouTube-enabled lineup, but the elusive devices are nevertheless slated to land worldwide at the end of this year.

[Via mocoNews]

While having a flavor of Linux on one's smartphone isn't unheard of, it could become at least somewhat more popular now that a common variety is scheduled to make its mobile debut. After years of Linux-on-a-handset talk from just about every direction imaginable, the developers of Ubuntu are hoping to "extend its open-source software development to handheld internet-enabled devices." Reportedly dubbed the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded project, the operating system could be headed to your mobile device thanks to a collaborative effort between Ubuntu programmers and Intel, which shouldn't come as any surprise considering its recent infatuation with the open-sourced OS. Of course, Ubuntu is a surefire candidate for OS of the month given all the press its meandered into of late, but developers did note that designing a mobile GUI and configuring the power management capabilities would be quite a challenge. The best part, however, is how quickly the mobile rendition will be rolled out, as we can all mark our calendars for a simultaneous release with Ubuntu 7.10 this October.

It looks like i-mate isn't only expanding its ODM horizons with digital photo frames -- last week at 3GSM they were also slyly showing off their freshly rebadged X-Stream Digital Media Hub HDTV and X-Stream Dock. The unpriced LCD HDTV has an embedded wireless router and, of course, Vista Ultimate PC with 720p and 1080i output; the Dock wirelessly streams media from your i-mate Ultimate device (presumably to the TV), apparently, for about $200. Neither have release dates, but we're always wary when it comes to embedded-PC TVs anyway, so we're not gonna sweat this one.

[Via MCPW]