The Wall Street Journal reports that Verizon Wireless is working with Google on a tablet, according to Verizon’s chief executive, Lowell McAdam. Marquett Smith, a spokesman for Verizon, said today in a phone interview with Bloomberg, the tablet will run Android.
The Street says Verizon’s Tablet Bet Is on Google Chrome, but offers nothing to back it up that claim.
“The old model of one price plan per device is going to fall away,” said McAdam, adding that he expects carriers to take an approach that targets a “bucket of megabytes.
This looks like a Verizon executive giving the WSJ a story to get more leverage in his negotiations with Apple, says Business Insider.
A Google spokesman declined to comment on the Verizon tablet, but said anyone can use the company’s mobile software to create phones and other devices. There are currently over 50,000 applications in the Android Market. Google has said it is working with hardware makers and carriers on tablets and other devices that run its software. Apple’s new iPad has proven popular, and Google is developing its own advertising system and content partnerships.
“Who is going to make this Google Verizon tablet,” asks ZDNet? Currently Google Android devices in the US are made by Motorola, HTC, and Samsung. HTC seems a likely candidate for actually making such a tablet.
