SAN DIEGO -- CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment -- Verizon Wireless is set to have two big-name Android handsets out by the end of the year, but it's the mobile operator's third device using the Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) operating system that's set to attract a great deal of attention in the wireless sector.

That's because it'll be the first Android gadget certified through Verizon's Open Development program, Unstrung has learned.

The Open Development program is supposed to make it quick, cheap, and easy to get devices onto the Verizon Wireless CDMA network. As part of the program, vendors must conform to a set of standard features, including phone location capabilities that can meet the E911 emergency standard, over-the-air activation capabilities, and support for SMS text messaging. (See Verizon Reveals 'Open Access' Details.)

The Android device being built to the program's specifications is a smartphone from a small, specialist player that's expected to have the capability to act as a "MiFi" personal WiFi router, for when users are on the road. The device should be available in early 2010.

Announcing his company's deal with Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) on Monday, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said the first two smartphones using the Android operating system are due to arrive in "the coming weeks." He didn't, however, reveal which vendors will deliver these devices. (See Verizon & Google Build on Android.) Yet widespread industry chatter has it that Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) will deliver at least one Android model to Verizon Wireless before the end of the year. (See The Android Shopping List.)

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung