But isn't there going to be fragmentation with two main Linux organizations? Yes. But two is better than the twenty or thirty different mobile Linux variations available before.

With these Linux platforms, carriers and device makers would differentiate their devices and services through the user interface layer. So the differentiation is in the user inexperience not in the basic architecture.

All changes to the basic architecture are supposed to be sent back to each respective foundation to be integrated into future versions of both, so as to continue to keep fragmentation down to minimum and cross-device compatibility at an acceptable level.

It is similar to the way Symbian works with the UIQ and S60 interfaces. The Symbian OS is the base, providing much of the functionality, while UIQ and s60 speak more to how users interact with their smartphone.

That's why it is to the advantage of ACCESS, which has been in the process of developing its own Linux platform - ALP - for years now to join LiMO. They can now maintain the individuality of ALP as a unique mobile platform at the same time it becomes tied to a larger community brought together by common middleware layer and standards.

There are already about 15 LiMO devices on the market, with a few more not announced yet. This is the first version, however, and not the version that is likely to compete directly with the "openness" Android's supposed to provide. The first Android phone's aren't expected to arrive until the second half of 2008, but may not arrive until early the 2009.

LiMO asserts they're better equipped than the OHA, which backs Android, to keep fragmentation to a minimum and (perhaps) more importantly keep all its member companies happy. They view themselves as having a more democratic governance style than the OHA, which, in LiMO's mind is, no matter what the OHA says, a Google entity more than anything else, and is therefore subject to the whims of a single company far more than they are.

"The LiMo Foundation member companies are striving to ensure the mobile industry is an open environment offering many contributors to its growth and development," said Morgan Gillis, Executive Director, LiMo Foundation to SmartPhoneToday. "The LiMo Foundation's IPR policy guarantees that member companies are provided a safe harbor for their collaboration and contribution of intellectual property. LiMo's open, inclusive approach allows anyone from the industry to take part in the organization and contribute to the LiMo platform."

The iPhone's had a positive impact on mobile platform vendors and smartphone makers. And, in the long run, it's not just to the industry's advantage, but for the consumer's benefit as well. Sure, we've seen all the major players trying to make their devices and platforms easier to use over the years, during a time we'll call pre-iPhone, but not with the same focus and quick rate of change we see today, in the post-iPhone world.