Google is selling a "Developer" Googlephone, an unlocked, hackable version of the T-Mobile G1. The handset is available internationally and costs $400. The catch? You need to sign up as an Android developer to get one. This is, however, easy, and the only thing that stopped me from doing it was the $25 joining fee.
Why is Google doing this? After all, an unlocked G1 from T-Mobile costs about the same. It's all about the testing. The Android Dev Phone 1 is flashable. That is, you can install test versions of both the Android OS or any other OS of your choice. It also has an "unlocked bootloader":
That means that you can pretty much do what you like with it. Will there be non-developers buying this for international use? Of course. Will some ne'erdowell sign up for a dev account and place a huge order, selling the unlocked phones on at a profit via Ebay? Undoubtedly.
For now, though, Google is limiting orders to one per developer. Get them while they're hot!
Devices for Developers [Google Code via Ars]
(Photo by Jon Snyder for Wired.com)
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