Ubuntu Edge dual

The Ubuntu Edge runs on both Android and open source Ubuntu Touch software -- and the people behind it want your help to the tune of $32 million.

If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. Say hello to the Ubuntu Edge, the first smart phone to use open source Ubuntu Touch software as well as Android -- and the people behind it want your help with a multi-million-dollar crowdfunding campaign.

Ubuntu's creators Canonical want to bring the dual-booting Edge to fruition by raising a whopping 21.5 million pounds ($32 million) in a month on IndieGoGo, which it claims is the biggest target ever for a crowdfunded campaign.

Revealed in slick rendered images, the Ubuntu Edge runs the version of open-source operating system Ubuntu designed for touchscreen gestures on phones and tablets.

The Edge is a starkly-designed slab of charcoal black, its distinctive feature being a sharp-angled edge down one side and along the top. There's what appears to be a power button at the top and two volume keys on one side, linked by twin rows of small dimples running around the edge of the phone. A wide button at the top appears to be the SIM card cover.

The rear is completely smooth, with an Ubuntu Edge logo subtly shaded in the same dark tone. There's a camera and flash in the top corner.

The front of the phone has no home button: just the touchscreen showing off Ubuntu Touch software. Ubuntu Touch is controlled by swiping in from outside the screen, different options appearing depending on which edge you move your finger across.

Swipe in from the left and a sidebar of shortcuts appears. Swipe in from the right and you scroll through the apps you have running. Swipe down from the top for messages and notifications, or pull up from the bottom for settings and preferences, unique to the app you're in.

Ubuntu Touch made its first appearance running on Google Nexus 4 phone and Nexus 7 tablet earlier this year, so this is the first time it's appearing on purpose-built hardware.

Ubuntu Touch was our pick of the most exciting new technology at annual mobile industry extravaganza MWC, its elegant interface and slick design cruising past the clunky Tizen and Firefox OS to become the most impressive potential low-cost rival to Android.