Ubuntu Edge smartphone announced with $32 million Indiegogo campaign, aims to hit market in May 2014

Ubuntu's smartphone strategy is taking shape today in form of the Edge, which is set to come to market in May of next year, when it'll be available for $830 outright. True to Canonical's community driven roots, the company is turning to crowd-funding to get the device on its feet; to that end, it's launching a campaign on Indiegogo today, which provides early backers the opportunity to snag the phone for $600. According to company founder, Mark Shuttleworth, the Indiegogo strategy isn't meant to compete with its strategy of courting carriers, but rather, it's meant to solve an "innovation gap" that's arisen during its talks with manufacturers.

Key to the Ubuntu Edge is the aim to bridge the cap between mobile phones and PCs. To accomplish that, the Edge will be designed to run a full-fledged Ubuntu desktop operating system alongside Android. While specs are currently tentative, the company is aiming to outfit the Edge with a quad-core CPU, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Meanwhile, the phone itself will sport a 4.5-inch, 1,280 x 720 display that's constructed of sapphire crystal glass, an 8MP rear / 2MP front-facing camera and stereo speakers. As for connectivity, Canonical's eyeing LTE connectivity, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC, along with MHL support for HDTVs and the like.