The
Android armyis coming.
The invasion is for realthis time.
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and its Android
software for mobile phones has never been available on the
leading American networks
AT&T (NYSE: T) and
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless. Instead,
Android announcementshave
trickled outfrom
third-place network provider
Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) and fourth-place
also-ran T-Mobile. That makes sense because the two smaller
providers are members of Google's Open Handset Alliance,
which sets the standards for Android, while the big boys are
not.
But now Verizon has committed itself to the Android cause,
leaving AT&T behind to snuggle with the
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)
iPhone. Verizon will introduce a plurality of Android
phones "within the next few weeks" with hardware from
"leading handset manufacturers."
These new models will undoubtedly be straight-up
smartphonesat first, because that hardware format seems
ideally suited to show what the Android can do. If Verizon
hopes to sell any serious volume of Android phones, the
company needs to show us why we should care about this new
offering. More bare-bones handsets and upmarket
netbooksrunning Android will follow later.
At the same time, Verizon kicked off a new marketing
campaign aimed right at AT&T's iPhone-fueled network
issues. Weak 3G coverage?
"There’s a map for
that," a voiceover quips as a map of AT&T and
Verizon’s networks are
displayed together. The takeaway is that Verizon promises
five times more 3G coverage area. Maybe there was something
in the water yesterday that inspired the world to gang up on
Apple, because
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) chose the same day
to announce the latest version of Windows Mobile, while the
next iPhone update is probably about eight months away. Will
we remember this as the week when the iPhone's imposing
stature in the mobile phone industry started to shrink?
Verizon will sell new Windows phones too, as will nearly
everyone else, and Verizon has upgraded its stable of
high-end phone stallions to augment the BlackBerry Storm from
Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) and compete
more effectively in that segment. But the real winner here is
Google. CEO Eric Schmidt is talking himself warm over
Verizon's open attitude and robust network, noting that
Verizon's philosophy "works very, very well with the
Internet."
Google profitswhen Internet traffic is on the rise,
regardless of the technologies people use to go online.
Androids don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when
they lose.
Should Verizon even bother to land an iPhone deal when
AT&T's exclusive contract runs out next year?
I don't think so, but your mileage may vary. Share your
insights in the comments below.
This article was originally published as
Androids Invade Verizon!on
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