Verizon, Google make Android deal

Verizon Wireless and Google have announced a new partnership that will see a number of Android devices headed to the carrier in the near future.

The release says the companies plan to "co-develop" Android devices that will come "pre-loaded" with applications.

The first of the new Android phones should be available within a month, and a new Android-based device from Motorola is set for launch soon as well.

�This is a very big deal for us,� says Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO. �It is a major milestone in the development of Android as a platform.�

CDMA rival Sprint has also announced to upcoming release of an Android phone, with a release date this fall.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 6 Oct 2009 14:23

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9 comments

Josipher

the android in itself is nice..but the phones that come with it arent too much of a "wow"

6.10.2009 15:05 #1

Lothros

So, I wonder how long before Apple brings in the lawyers in yet another hypocritical battle?

6.10.2009 15:30 #2

Josipher

one of their lawyers is in the carribean atm. took a trip from all the iphones he was selling for 1000$ each on ebay. theyre just waiting for him

6.10.2009 15:52 #3

Pop_Smith

Knowing Verizon this is not good. Most who own a phone from them knows that they screw with the OS and remove a lot of cool/useful stuff only to replace it with their own garbage you have to pay for.

Maybe Google can talk them out of limiting it, however. Hopefully Verizon releases a halfway decent Android-powered phone. I will gladly go get one if Verizon doesn't cripple the OS.

6.10.2009 17:38 #4

handsom

Quote:The release says the companies plan to "co-develop" Android devices that will come "pre-loaded" with applications. I bet it will... If you were to go back to about a year before the iPhone launch, you'd find that the notion of these 'pre-loaded apps' was the thing that made Verizon lose iPhone when Apple approached them before approaching AT&T. Apple looked at what they demanded to have on the phone and said "absolutely not".

The question now is: Did Verizon wise up, or is google easier to push around because they're touting Android as open source?

I'm honestly more than a little uneasy about this, Verizon really likes to brand the hell out of all the phones on their network like no one else. If you've ever worked with a verizon-branded razr, you'll know that it's literally IMPOSSIBLE to remove the red 'verizon line' bar at the top of the screen. And they usually bloat their phones to a point that the verizon equivilent tends to chug along at a terrible pace.

I personally use an ex-verizon phone on another network of my choosing, and I love the network, but I hate how bogged down and crippled Verizon had made the phone. With some real hard work and effort, I have the majority of this phone's features running with minimal limitations, but this really shouldn't be such a difficulty.

If Verizon makes a big deal of this, and they likely will, they better get it right. If they screw this up, it could be the straw that breaks the Android's back. And I really want to see Android succeed, there's so very much potential... We'll see I suppose.

7.10.2009 00:09 #5

Pop_Smith

@handsom, While I hope Verizon won't try to cripple Android on their phones, since Android is open source I could see someone finding a way to flash any Android-powered Verizon phone to remove ALL of the crap that Verizon puts on it.

My dad flashed his Samsung Omnia with some firmware that enabled the GPS, which is normally locked down by Verizon so you have to pay for their version. The flash also re-did the interface and basically made it work unlike it's base, crippled firmware. I'm thinking that Android-powered phones could have the same capability, hopefully.

7.10.2009 00:38 #6

handsom

Honestly, I'm hoping they don't as well.

The flashing trick is great... As long as you can get a flash for the phone on another carrier. And that can be very difficult sometimes, particularly because there are only a few CDMA carriers in the US nowadays, and for the mostpart they don't carry the same phones.

That said, this can be difficult. If the Verizon Android phone is bogged down with their bloatware, and no other carrier has the phone in a CDMA flavor, we may not be able to get the bloatware removed at all.

7.10.2009 12:11 #7

Pop_Smith

Well, I read report last night on Engadget that says Android will be "open" on Verizon's network and will include Google Voice. If this becomes fact (which we'll see in a few weeks) I'll have to go buy a new phone ;)

From the Engadget article:

"Verizon's making a big push to be seen as the "open" carrier, and flatly stated that they'll be supporting Google Voice on their network: "Either you have an open device or you don't.""

Source.

7.10.2009 12:25 #8

handsom

That is fantastic! That's a HUGE shift for Verizon, they spent so many years bullying manufacturers around about this sort of thing; it sounds like they're trying to make nice so that these companies will consider them again, looks like they learned their lesson from the iPhone.

I hope that they really are going this way.... As a CDMA user who has typically used Verizon's phones (On another network), I'd love to see them get some less bogged down phones with better feature sets.

7.10.2009 12:35 #9

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