Verizon and Google Preparing iPad Rival
Verizon Wireless has quietly confirmed it is working with Google to design a tablet, one that will be able to go up against the Apple iPad that is currently bringing new subscribers to the AT&T network.
Verizon chief executive Lowell McAdam told the Wall Street Journal that the wireless carrier was collaborating with Google to create a tablet for its network.
"We're looking at all the things Google has in its archives that we could put on a tablet to make it a great experience," McAdams said.
McAdams declined to give any more details about features or the projected release date, and Google also declined to comment, but this news jibes well with comments from Google CEO Eric Schmidt about a forthcoming Google tablet .
The collaboration makes sense given that Google's mobile operating system, Android, has appeared on Verizon phones. While McAdams did not explicitly state what Google's contribution will be, the search giant has two major products that would work well on a tablet, Chrome OS and Android. Both are platforms on which a tablet could run, and Google's involvement makes it a sure bet the Verizon tablet will run one of those two operating systems.
Android has been used on smartphones for a while now, and has become increasingly popular lately. It has an App Store and a small footprint, much like the modified iPhone OS running in the iPad.
Chrome OS is a different concept. It's basically a browser instead of a full-fledged operating system. Users would use Web-based applications and cloud storage instead of downloading and storing apps on the device itself. Given that Chrome OS isn't nearly as established as Android and that Android has an App Store to counter the iPad's, it seems likely at this point the Verizon tablet will run Android.
This will likely not be the first Android tablet to market, and yet every other Android tablet in development is coming late to the game. Apple's iPad has been on the market for months now, and no other major tablet project is very close to release. Several have even been canceled . Google and Verizon will be fighting the iPad's incredible image and its headstart when their tablet is released.
