daverea.com

If you’re like me, and looking at Verizon’s depressing lineup of phones makes you feel like you’re standing on the street (in the rain) looking in at the party, then hope is still on the horizon…

As of yesterday, Verizon revealed their new process for phone vendors to certify devices for use on the Verizon network. While it’s certainly not “open” in an anything-goes kind of way (a-la homebrewers and open-sourcers rejoice), it does go a long way toward making Verizon more competitive with the GSM carriers. With Android phone prototypes making headlines in the tech press and appearing in Google’s youtube videos, Verizon’s move to openness can’t come soon enough.

It’ll be interesting to learn whether Verizon’s new certification process applies just to phone hardware, or if the phone’s OS and applications fall under Big Brother’s watchful gaze too. Given the popularity and proliferation of alternative firmware for things like wireless routers and GPS navigation units, the potential for open software (Android included) running on new open hardware platforms is exciting. Along these lines, hopefully Verizon’s process won’t include requirements that phones lock out OBEX and USB downloading of captured media! I’m sure Verizon’s customers (or at least the ones that pay attention) are poised and ready to breathe a massive collective sigh of relief if that pans out…

Our new-every-two anniversary date is coming up on Tuesday. Barring any expiration dates for the NE2 discount, maybe I should hold off on replacing my (heretofore completely reliable) LG handset for a few more months??

[hat tip: Phonescoop and my buddy Jeff for pointing me to them...]