Verizon and Google strike deal to co-produce Android phones
The cell phone company Verizon co-announced with Google today that two Android-based phones will be on the carrier by the end of the year, and, yes, they will be able to use Google Voice.
Verizon is the third major cell service provider to welcome Google Android phones into its fold. T-Mobile was the first out of the gate, followed recently by Sprint, so this leaves only AT&T out in the cold. Considering the ongoing legal headaches between Google and AT&T over the rejected iPhone Google Voice application, it’s a safe bet that Android won’t be appearing on that carrier any time soon.
The new deal with Verizon is part of the carrier’s recent initiative to be more open with its network. Not only will Verizon be pre-loading Google Voice on the phones, but the handsets will also include other Google apps, and a few from third-party developers. There are also no plans to make any changes to the Android Marketplace, so this new agreement could mean a massive boost to Android app developers who just gained millions of potential new customers.
Google and Verizon will also be working together to develop several new Android-based handsets that will be manufactured by several as-yet-unnamed manufacturers. Rumors do point to the two companies being HTC and Motorola, neither of which would be a big surprise.
This new partnership, and the millions more customers now exposed to Android, should cause some concern for Apple and its popular iPhone. You already have a growing application development community for the Android operating system, and now developers can build an app with potential delivery to three major carriers as opposed to developing for the iPhone and being on only one carrier. Never mind the the iPhone is also a very closed community with Apple holding the keys to the kingdom.
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October 7th, 2009
Verizon may be the largest wireless company in the U.S., but it doesn’t have a killer phone. That may be one of the reasons it decided to join forces with Google to create some brand new additions for the Android armada.