Column: Verizon shocks Android users

Can somebody check the thermostat in Hell? Seems to be running a bit cold down there.

Verizon, the U.S. carrier guaranteed to be a distant fourth in rolling out smartphone updates to users, shocked the Android community with a surprisingly prompt rollout of Android 4.4 KitKat to its Moto X users -- not even three weeks since Google unveiled the latest version alongside the Nexus 5.

The over-the-air upgrade is so speedy, in fact, that Moto X users are officially running KitKat before Nexus 4 users, who were promised to be first in the upgrade line when they purchased their Google devices last year. Heck, Verizon even beat AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile  -- the other major US carriers supporting the Moto X -- to the update punch.

So where in the world did this newfound competence at Big Red come from?

In recent years, the relationship between Verizon and Google has been rocky to say the least, thanks to Verizon's numerous offenses and transgressions, which made it the red-branded stepchild amongst the main four carriers.