LiMo Foundation launched to turn up heat on mobile Linux

Last time we checked in with these guys, papers had been signed, hands had been shaked, and promises had been thrown around, but that's about it. No product, no slick website -- just a handful of companies looking to come to some consensus on just how to get open source to the phone-toting masses. We still don't have any pretty phones or screen shots to look at here, but at least the committment is still going strong with the so-called "LiMo Foundation" officially launching this month. Star players include Motorola, Samsung, NTT DoCoMo, NEC, Panasonic, and Vodafone, so there's definitely some weight getting thrown around; outsiders can join the good times for anywhere from $40,000 to $800,000 depending on the amount of pampering and privilege demanded. LiMo will apparently be looking to recruit a few good companies to join its merry band of Linux promponents this month at 3GSM (and at those membership rates, why wouldn't they?) so we're cautiously bullish on some sort of open platform eventually getting birthed here. Whether the late '07 production goal will hold true, though, is another question entirely.