See what it's come to Bluetooth SIG? Headset-to-cellphone pairing is so utterly baffling to average consumers that they are now handing over a Hamilton at Best Buys in California (in support of the new hands-free calling law) just to avoid the procedure. Eight years after the launch of the world's first Bluetooth headset from Ericsson, this is where we're at. Still, at $10, consider it a bargain -- that's half of what Best Buy will charge you for the already free-to-download (and free to ship on CD) Ubuntu OS.

[Thanks, Tarek]

Those of you disappointed by the "top secret" features of Leopard might want to cast your hopeful, wayward glances in the direction of Ubuntu. Here comes "Gutsy Gibbon," otherwise known as Ubuntu 7.10 whose feature-set now appears finalized with a planned October release just like Apple's big cat. Pumping the 2.6.22 Linux kernel at its core, Gutsy G will be the first Ubuntu release to include new Mobile and Embedded editions "targeted at hand-held devices and other mobile/embedded form factors." It will integrate the Hildon UI components developed by Nokia and already on display in their N800 tablet. In other words, that Sony Ericsson P990i we saw running Ubuntu likely wasn't a hoax after all. We also expect this to be the first distribution to feature the recently merged, Compiz/Beryl windows manager for desktop users. Mmmm, eye candy. So prepare your houses and disk allocations -- October 18th is the scheduled release.

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.