All sorts of announcements came out today, the gist of which is that Google Voice is coming to a phone near you.
We’ll start with perhaps the biggest news. Mashable is reporting that AT&T is confirming it has “taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable VoIP applications on iPhone to run on AT&T’s wireless network. Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled for Wi-Fi connectivity.” What that means is, if Apple approves it, the network is ready to run Google Voice on the iPhone (as well as Skype and other VOIP-enabled apps). Rumors abound that AT&T might make an official announcement at CITA, which starts tomorrow in San Diego.
Verizon isn’t far behind, and I suspect this is a little of what pushed AT&T into their confirmation today. Google and Verizon recently announced a partnership for Verizon to carry Android-based (Google) phones. The first one, the supposedly named Tao, is rumored to be released at the end of this month. (I can tell you right now that I’m buying that phone.)
Today, Lowell McAdams, Verizon Wireless’s CEO, stated that the first two Google phones will be available this year and that they will include Google Voice. According to the Wall Street Journal, Eric Schmidt of Google had a great quote:
Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, hailed Verizon’s data network and scale and said that the carrier’s openness “was, frankly, enormously surprising, given the history and the old-line nature of telcos.”
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Cheers!
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