MoneyWatch Tech

Limo Adds Mozilla, Verizon to Its Bandwagon

By Larry Dignan

Updated on: May 14, 2008 / 12:59 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

The LiMo Foundation, a consortium that is building an open software platform for handsets based on Linux, has added Mozilla and Verizon to its roster

The full roster of partners added today includes:

Infineon Technologies;
Kvaleberg AS;
Mozilla Corporation;
Red Bend Software;
Sagem Mobiles;
SFR;
SK Telecom;
And Verizon Wireless.

Of those recent additions Mozilla and Verizon Wireless are the most interesting (Techmeme). Mozilla is obviously pondering mobile applications via its browser. But Verizon is the big win. LiMo, which features a middleware heavy approach compared to Google's Android and Open Handset Alliance, now has a large U.S. carrier on board. LiMo's carrier partnersâ€"NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone and Orange are all based abroad.

Also see: LiMo: New members added; First release on deck; Is the future about mobile middleware?

The addition of Verizon Wireless could expose LiMo to more than 67 million subscribers.

While LiMo is portrayed as a competitor to Android it really is a different animal. In an interview earlier this year, Morgan Gillis, executive director of LiMo, said his foundation is focused on the software that runs underneath the user interface. Why? Carriers increasingly want to tweak the user interface and are wary of giving any one partyâ€"whether it is the Open Handset Alliance or Windows Mobileâ€"too much power. The UI is seen as the differentiator.

Reading between the lines, Verizon's move to join LiMo may indicate that it expects to customize its UI more in the future.

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations. Credit: ZDNet.