It looks like there are more perks to choosing a Nexus smartphone over other Android handsets, because both the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 4 will receive the upcoming Ubuntu mobile operating system built by Canonical. As part of celebrating its announcement, Canonical will be on hand at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from Feb. 25 through 28 to flash Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 4 models to attendees.

Canonical is releasing the preview build for the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 so that developers can test and create apps for the newest mobile operating system to hit smartphones. The operating system is designed to be a clean and simple operating one its designers claim offers a user interface that is a much simpler and more intuitive solution than Android, iOS, Windows Phone or BlackBerry 10. The operating system relies heavily on gestures.

The company has said the first Ubuntu smartphones will hit the mass market by October. The entry-level device is expected to feature a 1GHz Cortex A9processor, with 512MB - 1GB of RAM, 4-8GB eMMC + SD and a multi-touch display. The higher-end smartphone will pack a Quad-core A9 processor or Intel Atom processor, with a minimum of 1GB of RAM, multi-touch display and desktop convergence (allowing you to connect the smartphone to a separate monitor and use it similarly to a desktop computer).

Canonical believes that releasing the preview version of the Ubuntu operating system to the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 will allow support for more devices for everyday testing and experimentation. It's almost certain that popular smartphones, including the Samsung Galaxy S3, could see Ubuntu support in the near future.

It will be interesting to see if Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 owners want to try out another operating system on their smartphones or stick with Android exclusively. The great thing about both devices is now you can run two operating systems on them: it's a feature not many other smartphones have the privilege of doing and the support for it.