Verizon gets the Nexus 7 in time to geek up our Valentine’s Day

We’re not sure how many of you associate Verizon with Valentine’s Day, but it looks like this is the week the carrier has decided to start selling the Nexus 7 in its stores. The tablet is Verizon-branded and 100-percent compatible with its LTE network.

The news comes from DroidLife, which posted a link that showed a Nexus 7 box featuring the iconic Verizon logo “check mark,” and with word that we’ll see the tablet in stores by February 13. The release date puts the tablet on shelves just before Valentine’s Day. It’s hard to imagine a bunch of lovers giddy with excitement, racing to buy their precious ones a Verizon Nexus 7 – complete with data caps and all – but it’s certainly good timing by the red carrier.

There were ways to get a Nexus 7 from the Play Store and connect it to Verizon’s LTE network before this retail launch, but some report the experience as wonky and filled with annoying issues like getting the device getting the appropriate SIM card from Verizon (the carrier won’t give you a SIM unless you have a device it supports with you to put it in).

It always feels gimmicky when carriers try to turn events like Valentine’s Day into a sort of holiday to celebrate and buy phones for, but what can we say? It’s about time to see the Nexus 7 on Verizon. Verizon claims there were delays due to its certification process to make sure the tablet can handle its LTE network. Either way, the LTE tablet will be available soon – probably for around the $350 price tag it costs in the Google Play Store.