Following a new round of partnership announcements back in February, LiMo Foundation today added 8 new members, bringing the grand total to 40 -- and perhaps most notably, Verizon Wireless becomes the first American carrier to team up with the group and the Foundation's final board member (in other words, they seem to be taking this initiative pretty seriously). Other new players include South Korea's SK Telecom, France's SFR, Sagem, chipmaker Infineon, and Mozilla, suggesting that there'll be plenty of mobile Firefox support for LiMo's nascent platform. LiMo represents the largest Linux-based threat to Android's plans for world domination, having announced its initiative some time before Google while collecting a veritable who's-who of world players from NTT DoCoMo to manufacturers like LG and Motorola -- and with the depth of Verizon's commitment to this, evident by its nabbing of an actual board seat, we wouldn't be surprised to see LiMo-based products actually go beyond its Any Apps, Any Device initiative and get real on the carrier's official lineup.

The latest word on the street suggests that Verizon is getting ready to announce that it's throwing its formidable weight behind the LiMo Foundation, that "other" mobile Linux group that's attracted some serious muscle behind founding member NTT DoCoMo. With Verizon's Any Apps, Any Device initiative on tap for this year, a wide-open platform like LiMo makes perfect sense -- and as folks are pointing out, the move wouldn't preclude the carrier from jumping on the Android bandwagon just the same once the hardware and software have ripened enough for customer consumption. If this all goes down, it'd mark the very first American carrier to sign on with LiMo -- and since Verizon's European spouse, Vodafone, is already on board, the synergy's pretty obvious. What's more, media outlets (ours included) have gotten word that LiMo will be announcing several new partners in the morning, including a "major US wireless service provider." Wonder who that could be?

[Via mocoNews]

Yo, Americans: if you want to learn more about a sweet-looking phone that Motorola doesn't think you should have, we've got just the place for you. Take a stroll on over to the FCC's documentation site, where you'll find a wealth of information on Moto's rumored A1600 MING 2. The Linux-based smartphone carries over the important parts of the original MING's trademark industrial design but upgrades to a respectable 3.2 megapixel camera, quadband EDGE, and allegedly WiFi -- though we couldn't find any mention of it in the manual. Sadly, as we mentioned, there doesn't appear to be any plan to bring the A1600 to the States with a user's manual emblazoned with "Asia/EMEA" on page 1, but with that worldband radio, at least it'll be pretty painless to import and use it if you're so inclined.

Sure, you've already treated your eyes to a few less-than-stellar images of the ZN5, but this candybar just got a whole lot clearer. A handful of new images have surfaced over at KeySJ, and they take you all the way around the handset itself and even give you a look at the interface. We know, we've probably already lost you to the read link below, but if you're somehow still here, then here's your unnecessary permission to head on down and indulge. Thanks for caring.

[Via JumpAMP]

Motorola may have a few more tricks up its sleeve in the coming months, and while the W388, W396, and VA76r weren't mentioned in the recently leaked roadmap, they're still barely worth mentioning. Info is pretty thin on the W388 and W396 with both featuring 128X128 screens, GPRS, Java, and VGA shooters, or as we like to call 'em, bargain basement sets. The oddly named VA76r offers at least a glimmer of hope in the spec department with a QVGA screen, Montavista 2.6.10 Linux OS, Freescale ArgonLV processor, 2 megapixel shooter, and a dash of HSDPA. No pics, prices, dates, or even solid grounding in reality were provided with this lot, though really, this doesn't have us jumping with wild abandon anyway, go MOTO.

There's little doubt that Linux has quite a bit going for it in the mobile realm, but a recent report put out by ABI Research asserts that just about one in every five mid- to high-end handsets sold in 2013 will boast a Linux-based OS. Citing the mounting momentum behind LiMo Foundation as well as the alleviation of "issues with framework fragmentation and silicon requirements," the research firm is projecting Linux to be an integral part of some 20-percent of higher-end mobiles in just 5 years. ABI Research's VP even noted that "Linux OS solutions will be far more cost-effective than incumbent solutions, even when silicon requirements are taken into account, given that a fuller application layer will be included in the standard package and that the burden of customization falls mostly on the independent software vendor." Hey, you won't find us kvetching about the proliferation of open-source.

[Via mocoNews]

That spy shot of Motorola's A810 turned out to be dead real -- either that or the FCC's pulling the wool over our eyes, and we really don't see that happening (not a lot of humor with those guys, don't you know). Don't get too excited for use of this Linux-based, full touchscreen puppy outside of Asia, though, seeing how the FCC saw fit to approve nothing more than GSM / EDGE 1900; that's an indication that it lacks GSM 850 and the key to our hearts. Other features that made the cut include a 2 megapixel camera (although the picture of the back kinda looks like it says "4.0 megapixel," doesn't it?) and an FM radio, so to whomever out there has the distinct pleasure of being able to buy this one in their home market, we say: enjoy.

So this is where the Kodak teaser shot is leading, eh? A clear full-body shot of Motorola's upcoming ZN5 candybar has finally hit the web, appearing to borrow a number of fresh design elements from recently-spied models (take the keypad font, for example, which we've seen on Verizon's unannounced Moto clamshells, and morph tech from the E8). Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how great that 5 megapixel Kodak sensor really is -- the lack of 3G is pretty unforgivable in the year 2008, even if Motorola intends to restrict this model to Asia, which in itself doesn't make terribly much sense for a company that should be concentrating on a global turnaround.

[Via Unwired View]

OpenMoko's first model, the Neo1973, has been sold out for some time now -- a testament to the popularity of the open-source phone concept, yes, but also a huge pain in the rear for new folks looking to get in on the action. That drought is thankfully about to end, though, with the introduction of the FreeRunner, a refreshed model that carries over the best parts of the Neo (think VGA touchscreen) while adding a few key features like three-axis motion detection and a faster processor. The group has just announced pricing on the latest model, and it comes in at a very consumer-friendly $399 -- unlocked, naturally -- which should allow a whole new group of hackers and Joe Regulars to join in the Linux free-for-all. Anyone needing ten or more will get an even better deal: $369, to be exact. It looks like the company's studying production samples right now, and if all goes well, we'll still see them in the pipe before the month's out.

[Via PHONE Magazine]

Don't look now, but mid-2008 is almost here, and for those waiting intently for the release of a LiMo SDK, you're one step closer to having your dreams realized. Announced today, the LiMo Foundation has made available what it calls the "first globally competitive, Linux-based software platform for mobile devices." According to Morgan Gillis, executive director of LiMo Foundation, the consortium is hoping that R1 will "spur rapid innovation and contributions from all LiMo members," and it's restated that software development kits for Native, WebKit and Java operating environments are set to launch during the second half of this year. Not one to sit idly, the entity has also announced that Release 2 is currently "being specified and developed," and should escape testing and greet the real world in late 2008.

[Via PhoneScoop]

We're not able to glean much of a clue what this all means to the program exactly, but at least four players in and around Nokia's Maemo team have quit in the past few weeks. The company's so-called "Internet Tablets" -- the 770, N800, and N810 -- have been the main beneficiaries of the Maemo community's efforts; with Nokia's recent acquisition of Trolltech it's pretty clear that the company's still fully committed to the open source thing, but who knows, maybe Maemo's not the way they want to do it. Fortunately, Maemo's picked up enough of a following to live on with or without Nokia's support, but it'd be an awful shame to see 'em move in an entirely different direction nonetheless. We'd say the platform's safe -- for the moment, anyway, with the impending launch of the WiMAX'd N810 seeming likely -- but we'll keep an eye out for developments.

First seen last year and rumored for a Q2 '08 release, it seems like some impatient individuals in the Far East (where the handset is presumably made) decided to take matters into their own hands and have a little "launch" of their own, if you will, with a prototype unit that fell just a little too far from the manufacturing facility's tree. Unwired View turned up this A1600 MING 2 for sale in Shenzen, China, offering a fabulous glimpse at the Linux-based MING successor; turns out she sports WiFi, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and integrated GPS. Add world-band HSDPA, Motorola, and our money is yours. Honest.

By the very nature of the organization, details of OpenMoko's upcoming FreeRunner are no secret -- quite the opposite, in fact -- but it's always refreshing to see the new kit out and about, doing what it does best (pictured here on the left). This image comes to us from the Bossa Conference in Brazil, where OpenMoko's Mickey Lauer talked up the Neo1973 successor, showed off the device bearing ever-so-slightly updated styling over its big brother (and over the model we saw at CES), and went over a laundry list of its impressive features. Three-axis motion detection is going to be a big win for devs and hobbyists looking to maximize the FreeRunner's potential, but other goodies include Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi (allegedly 802.11n, but that sounds a little optimistic to us), and a Samsung-sourced core humming along at a solid 134MHz better than the model it replaces. Would be nice if we could touch this thing at CTIA next month, yeah?

Without going into too much detail, Digitimes reports that OpenMoko president Sean Moss-Pultz has promised a new version of its Neo1973 open source handset to be unveiled somewhere in the next couple months, making both CeBIT and CTIA distinct possibilities for the big news. Given the scarcity of specifications here, it's entirely possible Moss-Pultz is referring to the retail version of the FreeRunner -- a phone we saw in very, very early form at CES -- but obviously, if we had our druthers, we'd much rather see another volley of brand new hardware come out of this. More news on this as we get it.