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Verizon may have missed out on the iPhone and turned away from Google's Android platform, but they showed some progress today at CTIA when they unveiled their very first open development phone. The voice and text handset will sell for just $69 and service will be available on Verizon's network on a pre-paid basis through AirVoice. For a company that has for so long resisted doing anything non "Verizon," this is a big step and opens the door for similar developments.

In addition to revealing the phone, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam spoke a bit more about Verizon's new Open Development policy. The policy is designed to speed up approvals for those who want to use different CDMA devices on Verizon's network, and in this case it definitely worked - it only took four weeks for this new $69 phone to gain approval. The most interesting and promising aspect to the Open Development policy is the prospect for it to be used in the case of EVDO machine-to-machine communications, which McAdam is most looking forward to. In his words, he'd like to see "every thermostat in the house [have] a connection to the network, every appliance in the house, and your heating and ventilation." With quick approval possible and a new open mind to allowing smaller wireless companies to latch on to their system, Verizon is setting the stage for big changes with both EVDO and phone service.

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