Google has announced a SIM- and hardware-unlocked version of the first Android smartphone, reports C/Net.
To get an Android Dev Phone 1, you’ll first need to register as an Android developer on the Android Market site, which entails a one-time setup fee of $25. Then the device will cost you $399 (free shipping in the States). To accommodate demand, Google says it’s one device per developer account.
The device will be available for purchase in 18 international markets, including the U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan, India, Canada, France, Taiwan, Spain, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Hungary. And more territories are on the way, Google says.
The G1 was first launched on the T-Mobile network on September 23. The G1, which is locked to the T-Mobile service, is still the significantly cheaper, available for only $179 with a T-Mobile contract. Google also warns that non-developers buying the unlocked Android phone for personal use may experience “issues”, and “end users operate these devices at their own risk.”
The G1 Android phone is expected to announce sales of over a million G1 phones by January 1. While short of the 74 days Apple needed to sell the first million iPhones, the G1 would come close, reaching the million mark at 99 days, if it hits it at exactly the year’s end.
In other mobile news:
- A freeware application for the iPod Touch can turn the music player into a virtual mobile phone. Truphone uses wi-fi to make calls to other iPod Touch owners and Google Talk’s messaging service users. The software is a spin-off from technology Truphone developed for smartphones and iPhones. Although Truphone technology can, in theory, work on any mobile device, the firm is concentrating on devices that have an application store. The company said Google’s Android operating system would be the next platform for which it will develop the Truphone applications.
- Yahoo-owned Flickr on Friday rolled out a revamped mobile Web site that now allows users to play Flickr videos on their phones. Flickr added video capability to m.flickr.com in April, and while users could upload short videos from their cell phones, they could not actually watch them from their mobile devices. The offering is now available to all iPhone and iPod Touch users with support for additional handsets like the G-Phone to be added in the coming weeks, Flickr said.
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Today Google announced AdWords advertisers can show desktop text and image ads on mobile devices, including the iPhone, the T-Mobile G1, and other mobile devices with full (HTML) Internet browsers. The ads can point to desktop landing pages so you don’t need to create mobile landing pages or ads in mobile formats. Recently, the Google mobile team launched new results pages formatted specifically for the iPhone. Now, advertisers will be able to display ads exclusively on these mobile devices, create campaigns for them, and get separate performance reporting.
- Wal-Mart will reportedly become the second major retail chain – after Best Buy – to sell Apple’s iPhone. The iPhone 3G will be sold for $197 for the 8GB version, a whopping $2 cheaper than in AT&T and Apple stores.
- Boingo’s Hotspot application is now available for the iPhone, says JKontherun. The app is free at the App Store.
Related Android and iPhone articles on Dailywireless include; Death Match: Storm vs Android vs iPhone, iPhone Apps May Cost $30K, T-Mobile + Yahoo OneSearch, Flash Coming to Android, and Open Street Map on iPhone.
