Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Chief Information Office, Shaygan Kheradpir, announced at a press conference yesterday that within the next few months, subscribers to the Verizon FiOS service could be watching their favorite television shows via an application on tablet computers like Apple’s iPad (NASDAQ: AAPL) and maybe even Android powered phones. The application which makes it all happen is “ready to go” according to Verizon representatives, but Kheradpir said Verizon is still trying to convince cable providers like Time Warner to allow television viewing on tablet computers and cell phones.

The service Verizon is looking to deliver is not the same as Netflix or the upcoming Boxee. Instead of allowing streaming on-demand like these services provide; Verizon would enable customers to watch television when it’s shown live on cable. This means you can’t queue up whatever shows you feel like watching, when you want to watch – instead you can use your tablet computer or phone to view shows when they’re broadcast normally. The experience is similar to what Verizon FiOS set-top television boxes is offering already, just making it possible to view it on a screen other than your television. The software set-top box enables FiOS subscribers to redirect their tv signal to their iPad or other tablet computers, connected over a Wi-Fi network.

The app is currently called “What’s Hot”, and is just one part of Verizon’s overall strategy to take television viewing beyond customer’s living rooms. Flex View, an app that already exists, and allows users to take their saved video content and watch them on a number of different devices. Do people want to stream television to their iPads? It is not clear how Verizon would charge users to use “What’s Hot” to stream live TV to their tablet computers and phones. It’s currently limited to FiOS subscribers and iPad or tablet computer owners – which means the market for the technology is on the small side. Additionally, the service would only be available in the customer’s home – do they want to skip watching their favorite live shows on the big screen in the living room in exchange for their small iPad screen?

The Apple iPad has a number of competitors springing up, just in time for the 2010 holiday season, including a number of Android tablets. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is likely to include Google’s Android 2.2 operating system, and technology analysts view this as one of the most “worthy challengers” of the iPad in terms of operating speed and capabilities. There’s also a possibility that Google themselves will be creating a line of Google tablet computers, through HTC, a hardware manufacturer which also made the Google Nexus One. Google’s tablet, possibly released on Black Friday 2010, which include Chrome OS, the up and coming open-source operating system, according to Download Squad (but Google has not commented on the rumor as of yet.)