Those who know something about gadgets know that the US is a little behind its global competitors in the high tech gizmo department, with later launches of devices and more carrier scrutiny over which smartphones get blessed to use the network. On a positive note, however, Verizon Wireless is upping the ante on the fourth generation (4G) race, planning a limited 4G deployment in 2009 instead of the originally planned 2010 target.

Both Verizon Wireless and AT&T in the US had formally announced plans to adopt LTE as the standard for 4G, with rival Sprint opting for WiMax. Gizmodo is reporting that Verizon Wireless will be more aggressive with the launch date pushed up and the impending arrival of fem-to-cell boxes with WiFi built in. According to Giz, an IDC analyst says that Verizon’s shift to a more aggressive schedule was likely sparked by Japan’s NTT DoCoMo announcing last month they’d offer LTE service commercially in 2010, showing that “the race is on.”

Perhaps the US will finally get cooler stuff before our friends across the Pacific.

What would really be awesome is a cross-carrier roaming agreement between AT&T and Verizon to truly blanket the US in this next generation technology, which is now capable of reaching download speeds of 60 Mbps on Windows mobile.