At this point, octave 3.2 is the version available for directly installation in ubuntu 12.04. But latest stable octave is 3.6.1 now.
Will Octave 3.6.1 be packaged for ubuntu 12.04?
Short answer: No
Octave is still in version 3.2 in 12.04. A bug report has been filed for Octave to be upgraded from 3.2 to 3.4 and then to 3.6.1 but no action has been taken regarding this lately.
You can possibly subscribe to the bug and get updates regarding this bug report:
It is a community package which means it is up to the community to package and update the Universe repository.
If you really want to use the latest version, you can help fix the several bugs that is blocking the transition of Octave from 3.2 to 3.6 in the Debian repository and hopefully, the latest version will then be imported into Ubuntu repository.
Update for 12.10
Htorque has just confirmed that Octave 3.6.1-4 is in the Quantal repository. Time to rejoice.
