Google/Verizon develop FiOS Android app

Google and Verizon have worked jointly to create an Android application that could access FiOS channel guides and control FiOS PVRs for customers. What may be the interesting point about this deal is less about the cooperation (Verizon sells Android handsets after all), but the fact that it’s a link between a mobile device and a network service offered by Verizon.

It’s not that the link is rocket science; Verizon offers the same capabilities from its website already, and other companies (including satellite providers) let you use mobile phones to program your PVRs. But it’s a step in constructing a mobile service that’s a hybrid of handset and network.

We noted earlier that Verizon seemed to be taking a lead in creating service-layer components that cooperated with handset applications, and this is a clear example of how that’s done and why it could be important. In fact, we believe that in 2010 there will be an explosion of cooperative applications like this as U.S. operators in particular jump out to find new revenue/differentiation opportunities in exposing service features.