Google's iPad rival confirmed by Verizon

GOOGLE is working with US carrier Verizon on a tablet computer like Apple's iPad.

INTERNET giant Google is working with US carrier Verizon Wireless on a tablet computer like Apple's iPad.

Verizon Wireless chief executive Lowell McAdam told the Wall Street Journal that tablet computers were part of the "next big wave of opportunities".

Mr McAdam said the tablet computer project is part of a deepening relationship between Verizon, the largest US wireless carrier, and Google, whose Android operating system is used by a number of mobile handset makers.

"We're looking at all the things Google has in its archives that we could put on a tablet to make it a great experience," Mr McAdam said.

The Journal said Verizon's partnership with Google was a bid to try to catch up with rival AT&T, the wireless carrier for the iPad and the iPhone, in terms of devices that connect to wireless networks.

The newspaper said that Verizon Wireless, which is owned by Verizon Communications and the Vodafone Group, declined to provide details on the timing of a Google-Verizon tablet or who might make it.

Apple said last week that it sold one million iPads in just 28 days, half the time it took for the company to sell the same number of iPhones.

Apple's touchscreen tablet allows users to watch video, listen to music, play games, surf the web or read electronic books.