The excitement surrounding the LG Voyager and iPhone debate has been overshadowed by the latest hoopla in the mobile industry: the “Google Phone”. Most experts are speculating that the gPhone won’t be a phone at all, but rather an open source operating system for mobile devices that will allow 3rd party developers to make mobile phones more useful than ever, revolutionizing the gadget on which you already depend the most.

Early rumors named Verizon Wireless to be one of the early adopters of the new mobile system but more recently, experts are claiming that won’t be the case. And frankly, we’re not surprised. It’s not Verizon’s style.

Like many carriers, Verizon Wireless has worked hard to not only keep their mobile platform “in house” but they have put a ton of firepower, financing and development into making it a robust, exciting platform for wireless users – case and point – VCAST. Couple that with the fact that Verizon always seems to be a step behind with mobile devices, and it would make sense for the company to take a “wait and see” stance on Google’s software introduction, whose announcement is slated for sometime on Monday, November 5th.

This “wait and see” approach has paid dividends for Verizon in the past – take the Voyager for example. While the iPhone came out with much fanfare, the product had it’s fair share of problems, glitches and flaws. It’s apparent that Verizon executives took close note of these downfalls and created the Voyager with each and every one in mind. Apple does the hard work of “innovating” while Verizon improves upon the innovative success, making them even better.

So will Verizon want to ditch their Verizon OS platform in favor of Google’s highly anticipated mobile software? Certainly not. Will they have to in order to remain competitive? Most likely. And thus is the power of Google.

It’s equally surprising and not-so-surprising that no company has attempted this feat before. Unlike computers, the Mobile Phone family is so fragmented, with dozens of service providers, phone manufacturers and literally hundreds of phones that it makes the task of creating a single operating system an incredibly daunting one. But Google gets it.

Google gets the the mobile arena is the largest up and coming opportunity in the entire technology industry. Mobile phones are the companion we cannot leave home without, yet no company has taken control of uniting the infrastructure that makes each one tick. And, Google has the power, clout and mere size to make adopting their technology a necessity. Because if a couple companies adopt the technology, and you’re not one of them, you’re at an immediate disadvantage. Why are you at a disadvantage? Because yet again… Google gets it.

Google understands that the pinnacle of success comes in looking out for one group of people – the consumers. While the likes of Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are all putting out their own “closed system” that outperforms competitors, it’s not in the best interest of consumers. Because consumers want variety. Consumers want choices. And they want these choices to be free. That’s exactly what the new Google Phone operating system will bring to the table: tons of free choices, tools, software and apps for mobile users everywhere.

Look at what Google has done in social media this past week. Their launch of OpenSocial creates a system for developers to create a single application that can be used and applied to social media networks (nearly) across the board. So rather than developing a software application for Facebook, MySpace, this one, that one, his one and her one, you can make one application that is freely used on ALL of these networks. It makes it easy for companies to leverage social networks to provide users with better content and options. In the end… it’s all about the consumer. Once you have the consumer’s vote of confidence, there are always ways to monetize this relationship by providing them with helpful information that is relevant. It all comes full circle when you think about why Google was created: to allow internet searchers the most simple and effective way to find exactly what they’re looking for. Their “Adwords” platform extends this opportunity to advertisers… but never at the expense of the visitor’s experience.

News of the gPhone is certainly one of the biggest tech announcements of the year but it hardly comes as a surprise… rumors have swirled for months and months. But the fruition of this development should put a huge smile on not just the face of techies, but anyone with a mobile phone. Early reports are setting some type of consumer release for the middle of 2008 at the earliest but we’ll know more tomorrow.

So Verizon Wireless users, don’t fret. Google’s technology WILL revolutionize the industry and Verizon Wireless WILL adopt it… eventually. Actually, VZW customers should be happy Verizon is waiting. Google’s OpenSocial platform is revolutionary as well, but as reported by TechCrunch, the first OpenSocial application was hacked within 45 minutes. So in NOT being an “early adopter” of Google’s mobile software, Verizon is doing exactly what makes Google so successful: putting the consumer first. Because with all the private information stored on your mobile phone, there’s no telling what could happen if something doesn’t go just as planned.

Verizon will wait, see, evaluate, plan and ultimately act… and I’ll gladly wait with them. Verizon Wireless may not be #1 in device innovation or friendliness of 3rd party software, but I’m pretty sure of one thing: in everything they do, Verizon Wireless tries to put the customer first.