Computing major, IBM along with Canonical and Simmtronics are planning to launch Ubuntu netbook with cloud connectivity in emerging markets.

The notebook will first be available in South Africa and it will also be launched in the emerging markets like including India, Thailand and Vietnam. The price of the device in Africa will be about $190.

The notebook will also include IBM Client for Smart Work that offers Lotus Symphony and IBM LotusLive cloud collaboration services. The company says that the users will have the option to add IBM Lotus collaboration software like Lotus Notes and Lotus Sametime.

The device will be one of the first to provide direct connectivity through a package of online collaboration tools. Even as the OS is not cloud based LotusLive offers a complete cloud environment at a much cheaper price than the Windows-based operating system.

IBM and Canonical decided last September to offer IBM Client for Smart Work in Africa and a month later IBM announced the launch of version aimed at the corporate users around the world.

IBM Client for Smart Work can save software costs up to 50 percent when compared to a desktop developed by Microsoft. Users can run a combination of Web-based applications and Linux on existing PCs and notebooks.

The Simmtronics Simbook measures 10.1 inches and offers 1024x600 resolution display. It comes with Ubuntu, as well as with Windows XP. It features 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU with Mobile Intel 82945GSE chipset and ICH7M controller.

It has a DDR2 RAM of 1GB capacity. The device has a memory of 160GB on SATA hard disk drive which can be expanded up to 500GB through a SD memory card reader. It also offers three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, and audio ports.

The device includes 1.3-megapixel camera, speaker, and microphone and wi-fi connectivity. The company says that its three-cell 2200mAh battery can be upgraded to a six-cell 4400mAh model.

Simmtronics Semiconductors planned to launch the device with IBM Client for Smart Work on Ubuntu in India, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.