Palm Pre, BlackBerry Storm 2, Google Android Coming To Verizon

The Palm Pre, BlackBerry Storm 2 and a host of others are coming soon to Verizon Wireless, as the carrier racks up an impressive roster of forthcoming devices.

"You can expect to see us launch a steady stream of new devices from multiple vendors," Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said during a Webcast of the Barclays Capital Worldwide Wireless and Wireline Conference..

That steady stream of new devices includes the awaited Palm Pre smartphone, which will make its debut next month on Sprint's network; another Palm model McAdam called a "cousin" to the Palm Pre; the BlackBerry Storm 2, the successor to the popular BlackBerry Storm, the first touch-screen device from Research In Motion (RIM); and an all-new BlackBerry model dubbed the BlackBerry Tour, which McAdam said is an "upscale" QWERTY-based device.

"Over the next six months or so you will see devices like the Palm Pre and a cousin on our network from Palm," he said. "You'll see a second-generation [BlackBerry] Storm. You'll see a new device we call the Tour from BlackBerry."

McAdam's news that Verizon will indeed get the Palm Pre comes as Sprint and Palm ready for the smartphone's official launch on June 6.

McAdam didn't reveal exactly when the device, or the other devices, for that matter, will launch on Verizon's network except to say that they will hit sometime before the end of the year. McAdam also didn't detail the "cousin" of the Palm Pre that Verizon will offer, though it could be the rumored Palm Eos, the second Palm device that will feature its new webOS operating system.

McAdam's revelation of Verizon's future plans to support the Palm Pre also comes as AT&T eyes the smartphone for possible inclusion on its network as well. While Sprint's exclusivity with the Pre is expected to last at least until the end of 2009, Reuters reported that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said during a conference this week that AT&T would also like to sell the Pre, but no time frame was given.

Along with Verizon's plans for the new devices from BlackBerry and Palm, McAdam also highlighted that Verizon will soon embrace Google Android, as well.

"And, yes, you're going to see Android devices as well," he said.

McAdam called out "conspiracy theorists" who predicted Verizon would never launch a Google Android-based device. He said Verizon and Google have had a strong dialog recently, which will spawn Android devices on Verizon's network very soon.

"We will, in fact, be bringing Android devices to the marketplace in the near future," he said.

Verizon's device road map and the addition of Android-based devices come as Google's mobility guru Andy Rubin predicted that 2009 would see the release of anywhere from 18 to 20 Android-based devices by year's end.

As for the upcoming BlackBerry Tour and BlackBerry Storm 2, McAdam did not provide additional information. Verizon Wireless and RIM launched the original BlackBerry Storm last November, and despite mixed reviews, RIM's first venture into the touch-screen device market managed to rack up more than 1 million BlackBerry Storms sold by January.

Until today, Verizon and RIM only hinted at the prospect of a second-generation BlackBerry Storm.