Verizon backs LiMo system

Verizon Wireless is backing a free operating system that competes with programs from Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. and expects it to become the “preferred” software on its network.

It’s the first U.S. cellphone company to join the LiMo Foundation, which aims to unite handset makers, software companies and carriers on a software platform that will make it easier and cheaper to create a wide variety of phones.

Verizon’s endorsement is an important boost to the stature of LiMo, or Linux Mobile, in the U.S. LiMo already has the backing of large Asian and European carriers, as well as such handset makers as Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc.