Whispers along the endless corridors of the Internet indicate that Verizon is getting ready to launch a new broadband phone and home management system called the Verizon Hub on February 1. The system, which is supposedly stocked in Verizon stores and ready for launch, integrates smartphone-like functionality into a touchscreen device that links Verizon FiOS and Verizon Wireless phones. There's been chatter about this thing for years in our forums, with the device sporting a rumored price tag somewhere around $250.

While the gadget blogs seem pretty excited, similar efforts to make the home phone more interesting (like the AT&T Home Manager and Qwest eGo systems) have been little more than embalming fluid for dying landline revenue dressed up as innovation. Such systems usually fail to offer functionality not delivered by wireless phones a fraction of the size. They're also usually over-priced.

Several years ago, Verizon unveiled "Verizon One," a device that integrated a DSL modem, 802.11g wireless router, 5.8 GHz cordless telephone and color touch screen into one product. It acted as the convergence message center for Verizon's iObi service, and while it strangely won some awards for innovation, journalist Dana Blankenhorn calling it "one of the dumbest machines I've ever seen" because it continued to push dying Verizon POTS and failed to support VoIP.

With Verizon finally planning a serious push of VoIP services, the Verizon Hub would obviously prove more interesting than the One if it supports VoIP. It would be much more interesting should it include a femtocell, something Verizon is rumored to be deploying later this month at about the same price point as the Hub. The femtocell would allow you to route Verizon Wireless calls over your FiOS or Verizon DSL connection, reducing the strain on nearby Verizon Wireless cell towers.

If it's simply a glorified visual voicemail and digital picture frame POTS device, customer demand isn't going to be high. Such baby bell devices are usually too expensive for regular users, yet too clunky and uninteresting for true technophiles. Analysts recently criticized Verizon and AT&T for pretending to be innovation engines -- trying to be all things to all people instead of focusing on operating the best network possible. These home manager devices have traditionally been exhibit A for those criticisms, though perhaps the Verizon Hub will break the mold.