Motorola Will Be Among Verizon’s First 4G LTE Smartphones

In an interview, Verizon Wireless chief operating officer John Stratton confirmed that Motorola will be among its launch partner as the carrier is set to unveil its first batch of consumer smartphones at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Though the carrier had previously stated that 4G smartphones will be shown at CES at the October CTIA trade show for wireless, Verizon has yet to name any partners or equipment makers in its lineup. In the interview, Stratton says, “We’ve got LTE smartphones on the horizon, [and] Motorola will be right there.”

Motorola has been rumored to be working on a 4G smartphone for Verizon Wireless, possibly with a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. The Motorola Everest has been rumored to be coming to Verizon while the related 3G Motorola Motorola Olympus will be headed to rival carrier AT&T.

In the past, Motorola has enjoyed a good relationship with Verizon Wireless. The duo launched the original Motorola Droid for Verizon Wireless as a flagship Android device in the U.S. The Droid debuted Android 2.0, which gave the platform free turn-by-turn voice guided GPS navigation through Google Maps with Navigation. With the huge marketing push behind the Droid from Google, Verizon, and Motorola, the Droid moniker and Android brand became household names.

Despite a strong relationship with Verizon Wireless, Motorola may experience a shake up in the space next year as the carrier is expected to be getting the iPhone, which could cannibalize sales of Motorola’s handsets on Verizon’s network.

Via: WSJ