Bloomberg signs up to Ubuntu Edge hybrid

News and financial analytics service Bloomberg has bought into Mark Shuttleworth’s Ubuntu Edge vision for a hybrid PC/mobile device.

The Canonical CEO launched a campaign in July to raise $32m through crowd-funding to support the development of a new hybrid PC and laptop device,

Bloomberg  has invested $80,000 towards the campaign in exchange for the Enterprise 100 perk, which includes a batch of 100 Ubuntu Edge devices and access to a range of Canonical workshops and technical support bringing Ubuntu for Android into the workplace.

Shawn Edwards, chief technology officer at Bloomberg, said: “With this investment, Bloomberg developers will contribute to an open technology initiative that could benefit our clients and have a powerful impact on the future of mobile computing.”

The main driver for the investment is to support  mutli-platform access. Justin Erenkrantz, head of web architecture at Bloomberg said: “Bloomberg’s developers are already designing and building software for advanced devices because our clients demand a seamless experience from the desktop to the mobile platform.”

With 14 days to go, Shuttleworth has raised $8.5m out of the $32m needed for the project. The Ubuntu Edge will enter production for delivery in May 2014, if $32 million is raised before 11:59pm (Pacific Time) on August 21.