The open source community wants in on the Internet of Things. Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth revealed on Monday that his firm has found a go-to-market partner for Ubuntu Touch, a high-end smartphone powered by a repurposed version of world’s most popular desktop Linux distribution. The entrepreneur didn’t disclose the name of the company, only describing it as being “at the board level on four household brands” with a global presence spanning both “emerging and fully emerged markets.” The first Ubuntu devices will start shipping sometime in 2014.

Canonical’s mobile efforts have generated a good amount of buzz, especially in the developer community, but the company faces tough competition from Android and iOS. Microsoft is in the same boat, with Windows Phone doing little to consolidate its PC dominance over the smartphone market. Frustrated with the platform’s sluggish growth, the software giant is reportedly considering making the operating system freely available to manufacturing partners in a last-ditch attempt to boost adoption.

The anonymous tipsters who leaked the plan also said that Microsoft intends to offset lost licensing revenue with advertising and subscription services like Office and SkyDrive. The move could help improve Microsoft’s market position against Android, SiliconANGLE’s Mike Wheatley pointed out, but that’s only assuming mobile device makers will find the Windows Phone compelling enough once it’s free.

Over on the wearable gadgets front, a company called Vunix introduced a first of its kind monocle featuring Waveguide optics. Developed with Nokia, the technology is pegged as a “revolutionary new way of moving light within smart glasses” that provides a broader field of view at a much smaller size than traditional prism-based products like Google Glass.

Square is starting a revolution of its own with a new credit card reader that is pegged as thinner and much more reliable than the old model. Not only that, but the gizmo also sports a new design courtesy of former Apple accessory boss Jesse Dorogusker.