Verizon has announced they will carry Linux-based phones, developed using the LiMo platform:

The LiMo platform includes a wide range of infrastructure components and high-level application reference implementations and is designed so that individual parts can be easily modified or replaced. The application user interface framework is built on top of GTK , the widget toolkit used by the GNOME desktop environment. In addition to supporting native application development, LiMo will also offer a Java SDK and support for building widget-like applications in HTML and JavaScript on top of the WebKit HTML renderer. The first LiMo-based handsets will reach the market later this year.

Translation for the non-CodeMonkey’s: highly configurable software, building off a solid code base. This should make it a lot easier for the average user to customize their handset; it will let anyone that’s been mucking around on the web easily able to write little applications for their phone.

In fact, I think we will see a lot of activity here, as open-source clients written for the web (say Second Life for example) are ported over; solidifying the phone’s position as the main interface to the internet.

The other interesting part here is that they’ve chosen LiMo over Google’s Android project. Specifically because:

Google’s Android platform offers a higher level of consistency and interoperability because its application stack is built with a single cohesive API on top of a managed code system, but it doesn’t support native applications, which means that it is less flexible and existing Linux applications can’t be ported to run on it. The LiMo platform will provide a wider range of development options for software developers and will likely be a bit more fragmented because handset makers and mobile carriers will have more control over the capabilities of the system on their individual devices.

Wait, so they are saying LiMo will still give vendors the application lock-out powers they use to charge users ridiculous sums? Oh jeez, well that’s just terrible.

OK, so let’s say people do write killer applications for the LiMo platform? I see a repeat of the iPhone unlock game then.

Come on Mega Corps, won’t you think of the people for once, instead of looking for every little way to control and make money off of them?! Yeah, didn’t think so!