A look at LiMo phones holds no clues for potential Verizon handsets

Verizon Wireless' announcement that it is joining the LiMo Foundation raises the question of which LiMo-enabled devices the carrier will add to its lineup. Verizon has yet to answer that question, and a look at LiMo's current device lineup holds no clues. At present, none of its devices will work on Verizon's CDMA network. Here's a snapshot of what the foundation currently offers with a focus on U.S. devices.

Motorola U9
The Moto U9 inherits its curvaceous design from the Motorola Pebl U6. It has the same rounded edges and smooth body, though instead of a rubbery skin, it sports a glossy finish that reflects the light. Its features include Moto's Crystal Talk technology, a 2-megapixel camera, quad-band GSM world phone support, and a music player with external controls.

Motorola Rokr Z6 and Z6w
The Moto Z6 is a GSM-only variant of the Moto Z6c and the Rokr Z6m. It sports the same slider design as its siblings but its feature set includes a 2-megapixel camera, quad-band GSM world phone support, Windows Media Player 11, messaging, and e-mail. The Z6w is almost identical to the Z6 but it adds Wi-Fi.

Motorola Rokr E8
Moto announced the Rokr E8 at CES in January. As we said then, the E8 features a smooth "glasslike" surface with touch-pad controls that digitally "morph" depending on how the handset is used. As you shift from phone to music to imaging modes, the backlight on the control changes to illuminate only the relevant buttons for your current function. Its features include Windows Media Player 11, 2GB internal memory, stereo Bluetooth, USB 2.0, Moto's CrystalTalk technology, an external memory card slot, a 2-megapixel camera, and a full HTML browser.

Motorola Razr2 V8
Moto's V8 is part of its larger Razr2 family. Currently available with T-Mobile, the V8 has a stylish design, useful features, and good performance. Yet, it doesn't fully utilize its external display or controls and it's the only Razr2 without support for 3G networks. The Razr2 V8 Luxury Edition also is a LiMo handset, but it rolls out the bling with 18-karat and 24-karat gold-plated accents on a black slate finish.

Besides the above handsets, LiMo phones include several Japan-only handsets for NTT DoCoMo and a LG handset. And incidentally, a Verizon exec said last year that the carrier would support Google's Android platform as well. But Android's developer, the Open Handset Alliance, has yet to release Android-enabled phones.