With Google and Verizon recently announcing that several Android hones will be coming out on their network, a Linux lover might have smartphones on the brain. Obviously, having Linux running on your phone is awesome, but which Linux OS should you choose? Android? WebOS? Maybe even Maemo (Nokia N900) or roll your own on a Neo Freerunner?

AT&T announced plans to launch five Android devices from Dell, HTC, and Motorola in the first half of the year, as well as two Palm WebOS phones, say reports. In separate announcements, AT&T and T-Mobile said they had completed upgrades to provide HSPA 7.2 service across their 3G networks, says eWEEK.

Ok, alright, that last one is a stretch, but back on August 19 2011, after HP had announced that it “will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones,” I suggested in a blog post (see what HP should do with webOS), that “to not let webOS be a failed distribution, here’s what I think HP should do with webOS – make it a free, Linux distribution, such that the

In Part I we tested out Android on VirtualBox. Now we'll try running Palm's WebOS as a Virtual Appliance.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is preparing a "Zeen" Android e-reader that interfaces with a new HP printer, says an industry report. Meanwhile, HP has postponed its WebOS-based "Hurricane" tablet to 1Q 2011

The Palm Pre line of smartphones and the new TouchPad tablet computer, are very good products, but they have not been doing well in the market place. Apple, with iPhone and the iPad, has a near choke-hold on that market segment.

Google unveiled the first Android-powered cell phone last week, a T-Mobile-branded device dubbed the G1. Comparisons to Apple's iPhone were immediate -- and that is a good thing for Android, when you consider what a raucous and contentious week it was for iPhone developers.

Verizon Wireless announced Jan. 25 availability of two modified versions of Palm's WebOS-based smartphones, the Palm Pre Plus and the newly WiFi-enabled Palm Pixi Plus. Meanwhile, Palm announced that its WebOS developer program is now open to all developers, and plans to launch a WebOS plugin development kit, says eWEEK.

We've looked at three Linux-based phones that give the iPhone a run for its money. There's the Palm Pre, running WebOS; Nokia's Maemo 5-based N900, and the HTC Legend, running Android. Each is a strong challenger to Apple's device, and they beat it today in significant areas. So, which is best for you?