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Verizon Collaborating With Google on a New Android Tablet

by Amar Toor on May 12, 2010 at 10:00 AM

Verizon and Google's Joint Tablet
Verizon Wireless has apparently decided to get in the tablet game, with a little help from Google. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Verizon chief executive Lowell McAdam confirmed that his company was collaborating on a new tablet with Google, though he was noticeably light on the deets. McAdam simply told the Journal,"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." In a subsequent interview with Bloomberg, however, Verizon VP of corporate communications Marquett Smith announced that the forthcoming device will run on Google's Android operating system, and added that the company will be releasing more details later this week.

The union, at first glance, seems to be borne out of mutual interest. A new e-reader would give Google the opportunity to continue its expansion into mobile services, and another chance to stick it to Apple. Verizon, meanwhile, is admittedly hoping to make up for lost ground after AT&T grabbed early service contracts with both Amazon's Kindle and the iPad. As McAdam bluntly acknowledges, "They were able to get out of the box faster." The carrier appears to be banking on a new network to get up to e-reader speed, and says it will launch the gadget in 25 to 30 U.S. cities by year's end.

McAdam warned, however, that a subsequent rise in consumer prices is "not out of the question," especially if the one price plan per device model falls by the wayside, as the CEO predicts. We'll have to wait and see how this new tablet plays out, but Verizon's investors should take solace in the fact that the company has finally decided to show up to the tablet party -- unfashionably late as it may be. [From: WSJ and Bloomberg, via: Engadget]

Tags: android, att, eReader, google, googletablet, ipad, lowellmcadam, marquett smith, MarquettSmith, slate, tablet, top, Verizon, verizon wireless, VerizonWireless

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