The past few months have been all about the smartphone.

 

You can’t flip on the TV without being met by Whoopi, Phil Jackson and some tattooed dude (Is that Sandra Bullock’s husband?) pushing T-Mobile’s (News - Alert) version of the Google Android phone.

 

But for those that want this iPhone look-alike without using what many consider a second-tier wireless operator, they will soon be able go through Verizon Wireless, which last week announced it had forged what it calls “a groundbreaking agreement” with Google around Android (News - Alert).

 

Verizon Wireless and Google plan to co-develop several Android-based devices that will be pre-loaded with applications from both parties as well as third-party developers. The first of these devices are expected out by the end of the year.

 

Rumor has it that Dell and AT&T also are planning to join forces come out with smartphones based on Android.

 

Not one to be left out of the high-tech action, Microsoft (News - Alert) Corp. recently made smartphone news of its own, announcing the availability of a new line of Windows-based touchscreen phones. Microsoft says its partners will deliver more than 30 new phones based on the OS in more than 20 countries by the end of 2009. Customers can buy various applications to run on those phones from the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Microsoft’s version of the App Store.

 

How all this will impact the market share of various handset device makers remains to be seen, but it appears likely to shift the status quo. That’s because Nokia, which according to Gartner (News - Alert) holds the No. 1 position for mobile devices with a 36.8 percent share worldwide, has focused primarily on low-end devices. And Gartner says Nokia’s flagship smartphone, the N97, met with “little enthusiasm at its launch in the second quarter of 2009 and has sold just 500,000 units in the channel since it started to ship in June.” Meanwhile, Apple’s new iPhone 3G S sold 1 million units in the first weekend.

 

I myself am in the market for a smartphone. While I’m currently working on a lovely HP ProBook provided by my employer, pretty much all the personal computing, music, on-demand TV and communications devices (and thus, the content running on them) in my household come from Apple. So, like many before me, the iPhone will probably be my next mobile handset purchase.

 

But competition is good, and I’m sure that the big names like Google, Verizon (News - Alert) Wireless, and potentially AT&T and Dell, will use their formidable market power to make Google Android handsets a hit.

 

Just look at what Microsoft has been able to do with the Zune.