Google & Verizon Partner Up; Now We're Getting Somewhere!

This could be awesome -- at least as far as cool personal communications go. Google and Verizon let it out today that they joined in a strategic partnership "to deliver leading-edge mobile applications, services and devices" based on Android.

This could work out really well for consumers and, actually, for developers and for Verizon too. It's not going to hurt Google either, of course, as it looks like a huge boost for the Android OS.

Verizon has been missing out on the app store action that Apple created and has been trying like the dickens to encourage developers over to its network and devices to help Verizon close the app gap.   It's already lined up to bring out a set of Android devices from Motorola, but that's not seen as a great leap forward for Verizon so much as just catching up with everybody else.

This partnership with Google, though, committing resources directly from Verizon into the Android cauldron and getting Google to commit to work with them -- this looks like the start of a whole new attack on the smart-comm device opportunity. That includes all of the possibilities: phones, netbooks, readers, streamers and the who-knows-what's-next.

For Google; having this committment from Verizon and its giant mobile network is a key -- perhaps the key -- to  moving Android beyond the "has potential" stage and into the actual consumer battleground with Apple.  This really could be game changing for the whole smart-comm world.

There is potential here to force Apple to actually modify its action plans to stay in the lead in this huge market.

Fantastic.