Verizon Wireless, with the acceptance of Android, had given me hopes that it has gone away from its protectionist ways and embrace a more consumer friendly attitude, and, likely, more profitable route in the future of wireless services.
Or have they? Today, it was learned that Google has decided against providing the Nexus One for the dominant CDMA network and has gone on to suggest that users should embrace HTC Incredible. On the surface, it seems to suggest that there is a rift between VW and Google. So Google has gone onto to suggest Incredible over Droid. Is that such a bad thing?
The Incredible, from the specs, is a minor improvement over Nexus One, and a vastly better mobile device than Motorla's Droid even with its physical keyboard. And frankly, I don't think the keyboard on the Droid is anything to write home about.
So, that doesn't exactly say that Google and VW are no longer playing nice. Need to say, Google trying to sell Nexus One on its website could be the sticking point here. VW is not willing to give away control of who sells the Nexus One or any other device while Google, though not necessary trying to gain control, is at the very least try to wrestle it away from the carriers.
It's something we should be interested in watching out for in the coming months. If you thought 2009 was a fun year for mobile, wait till the second half of 2010 when everybody bunch up their summer and autumn launches ahead of the Christmas shopping season. Not only will devices dominate, but wireless services like WiMax will be more widely available in the US while a limited LTE network from VW will come online.
Even so, look for the wireless providers, be it with their 4G or beefed up 3G networks, I don't think they're going to go quietly into the night.
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