I’ve been following this story all morning and wrote about the development here and here.
To get you up to date, Google and Verizon had a scheduled conference call for 7AM PST – 10AM EST, where they were to discuss a possible deal to bring Google Android OS onto phones sold by Verizon.
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE:
The Wall Street Journal is now releasing details about the meeting / conference call. Verizon is set to release two Android-powered phones that would be available this year – wow, they aren’t messing around!
Verizon also said the Google Android phones WILL include Google Voice, a calling application that generated controversy when it was rejected for Apple’s device.
Now that’s a slap right in the face of Apple and AT&T!
Here’s an excerpt from the WSJ release:
“On a conference call with analysts and journalists Tuesday, Lowell McAdams, Verizon Wireless’s chief executive, said the first two Android-powered phones would be available this year. He also said that they will include Google Voice, a calling application that generated controversy when it was rejected for Apple’s device.
“You either have an open device or not, and this will be open,” Mr. McAdams said.
Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, hailed Verizon’s data network and scale and said that the carrier’s openness “was, frankly, enormously surprising, given the history and the old-line nature of telcos.”
He added: “In Verizon, somehow, the leadership has decided to embrace a very different philosophy, which works very, very well with the Internet.” [source: WSJ.com]