It's been a pretty wild year for Canonical's Ubuntu Touch OS for smartphones. We first learned about the software on the second day of 2013, and after a developer preview was released in February, Canonical tried to get its Ubuntu Edge smartphone funded through an IndieGoGo campaign. That effort ultimately failed, but the first true software release of Ubuntu for phones still made its way out the door in October. Now it looks like Canonical and founder Mark Shuttleworth are ending 2013 with a bang.

In an interview with CNET, Shuttleworth today revealed that Canonical has struck a deal with a manufacturer to use Ubuntu Touch OS on high-end smartphones that will debut in 2014. The exec declined to name names, but he did tease that Canonical is also involved in high-level negotiations with some other companies. "We are now pretty much at the board level on four household brands. They sell a lot of phones all over the world, in emerging and fully emerged markets, to businesses and consumers," Shuttleworth said.

Obviously there's still a lot that we don't know about this whole situation, including the identity of Canonical's supplier and features of the device that they'll be collaborating on. Still, this is big news for Canonical and Ubuntu Touch OS, especially with so many other platforms fighting for the portion of the market not currently being controlled by Android and iOS. Shuttleworth feels that Ubuntu has a leg up on its competitors thanks to its "fresh and clean" look, its openness and its carrier partnerships, but this new manufacturer partnership could be the biggest thing that the OS has going for it right now. 

Via CNET