SIM / hardware-unlocked Android Dev Phone 1 surfaces for $399

Oh, snap! Out of seemingly nowhere, Google has revealed the Android Dev Phone 1, a SIM- and hardware-unlocked G1 designed to be sold exclusively to hard working developers. The handset ships with a system image that's fully compatible with Android 1.0, and obviously, it complies with any SIM card and can "flash custom Android builds that will work with the unlocked bootloader." In other words, the mobile should seriously appeal to devs who live far, far away from areas blanketed with T-Mobile coverage. In order to get one, you must first register as an Android developer on the Android Market site (which involves a one-time $25 setup fee); once you're in, you simply surf over and nail the "Purchase" link. For $399 (including free shipping in the US of A), this swanky G1 -- custom back and all -- can be yours, and it's scheduled to ship in 18 international markets soon. Would it be too much to yell "snap!" again?

[Thanks, Ryan]

SIM / hardware-unlocked Android Dev Phone 1 surfaces for $399

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 6th 2008 7:12PM]

I've owned the 1st and 2nd generation iPhones and just ordered this. As much potential as the iPhone has, that potential is lost by Apples death grip on the damn thing. I'm a huge Apple fan and use OS X as my primary operating system but in my opinion the iPhone doesn't fill those shoes for my phone. I'll take Android with background processes and copy and paste.

[chschubert Posted Dec 6th 2008 12:37PM]

I've ordered today for free shipping to my sister in boston - she'll sent it for another 30 bucks to germany - great to have kinfolk all over the world ;-)

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 24th 2009 12:18AM]

I would not brag too much about it since it is illegal. Unless I'm mistaken in Germany you have a 19 percent Mehrwertsteuer (VAT) so youre simply robbing your government of 100$ (ungefaehr). Not much different than lying on your income declaration form at the end of the year..

[matt merritt Posted Dec 6th 2008 12:49PM]

I want :(

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2008 9:56PM]

So you would pay $400 for this when u can get black or white g1 for $148 at walmart???? Wow

[MathiasTCK Posted Dec 6th 2008 1:36PM]

The big thing about the Android Dev Phone 1™, as opposed to what they're calling the G1, is you can load your own firmware on it. That means you can load native applications, like the Quake demo teaser they had for Android. Also with a small tweak to the default build, you can give yourself root access.

This delivers on the promise of an open Android phone. I have trouble thinking of how they could "open" any more except by reducing the price :-) I don't think we can expect Google to be the one to deliver on that, but I'm sure some manufacturer will solve that for us too.

[lbhlbhlbh Posted Dec 6th 2008 2:04PM]

You've tried? Do they have it in white?

[MathiasTCK Posted Dec 6th 2008 6:02PM]

You have to have paid the $25 to see the full product page. The page says:
"Hardware unlocked - Rebuild the Android operating system, and load it onto the device"
The only option on the page is how many you want to add to your cart. The cart doesn't have any options except to add or remove quanity, or checkout, and I'm not hitting that button :)

[CMA Posted Dec 6th 2008 2:51PM]

I must say, if you are too stupid to figure out what frequency your carrier uses for it's 3G, perhaps this isn't the phone for you.

[Famous By Marital Association Posted Dec 6th 2008 3:28PM]

Thank you sir for summing up everything right there.

[jonnyl Posted Dec 6th 2008 4:22PM]

I think the question many people had was what frequencies the phone would come with, not what frequencies the various carriers use.

[linuxamp Posted Dec 6th 2008 6:03PM]

I just hope Google regularly updates this "custom firmware" so you can take advantage of fixes they implement on their end especially battery life tweaks.

[MathiasTCK Posted Dec 8th 2008 1:15AM]

The iPhone is a quality product. But it doesn't have a keyboard, and it's thoroughly locked down. People have been clamoring for good unlocked phones since long before the iPhone.

The iPhone is following pretty much the same business model apple always has. If windows mobile had been better Microsoft had the opportunity dominate the smartphone OS market. It actually did for awhile, it just couldn't stay on top in quality.

Android is a high quality OS. It does have bugs, but right now in it's buggy state, it's delivered the G1, a quality product. The G1, as good a beginning as it is, is still just the beginning.

[bshakil Posted Dec 6th 2008 9:54PM]

Google g1 399 + developer registration 25 + free shipping to US (Aramex Shop and Ship) + 15$ for aramex to send it to Saudi Arabia

439 $ for a G1 ... Hell of a deal.......

Thank you engadget...

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2008 12:05AM]

For those planning to mail forward via a US address, you also need a credit card with a billing address from one of the "supported" countries ... US, UK, Germany, Japan, India, Canada, France, Taiwan, Spain, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Hungary.

That spoils it for me ... 8-(

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2008 12:11AM]

Okay so final answer....does it work for ATT at all? even on edge?

[Critic2029 Posted Dec 7th 2008 12:59PM]

Yes, it works with ATT Edge, not 3G.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 8th 2008 11:02AM]

ok, so lets say my wife has a first gen iphone on at&t with a data plan and i have a motorola razr. can i buy one of these dev g1's and then swap the sim from my razr and access edge or would i have to call at&t and get another data plan for my sim?

...the only reason i ask is that as soon as my wife hot an iphone, i automagically got data services on my razr...

[Critic2029 Posted Dec 8th 2008 3:50PM]

Yes, though you'd want to get an Unlimited data plan... Otherwise they'd ping you for every 100kb.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2008 1:07AM]

So just to make sure I'm reading it right, I can sign up as a dev for this phone for $25 and then right away purchase its for $400, completely unlocked and just sign up on Rogers or Bell here in Canada?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2008 9:42PM]

That's right! At least, I hope so, since I just ordered one, and plan on slapping my Rogers SIM in there.

Worked great with my N95. The only good thing I have to say about Rogers is that they allow unlocked phones on their network as long as you have a SIM from them.

Now, hopefully they bump up the speed of their EDGE network, because I don't think they'll be doing any HSDPA that is compatible with this phone.

[bshakil Posted Dec 7th 2008 8:17AM]

Ok guys i ordered the phone from android yesterdar.. but when i go to
http://android.brightstarcorp.com/trackorder.php
it says

Track Order

You haven't ordered anything yet

Is it me only or their Order Tracking is not working.

[Babau Posted Dec 7th 2008 8:34PM]

I get the same thing. I'm guessing that page won't go live until we get the email letting us know our order has shipped. Sometime within 3 business days of the order being placed.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 8th 2008 11:01PM]

I also purchased it, got the confirmation and order id, and get the "You haven't ordered anything yet", freaking out over this :( I'm so anxious

[jashsayani Posted Dec 7th 2008 9:55AM]

Unlocked G1 for $399 is not bad... Got my First gen iPhone for that much.

But what do you mean by "only for hard-working developers"... Anyone can go online and buy it, right?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2008 10:10AM]

It says you have to pay $25 to register as a dev, and they might require you to otherwise differentiate yourself from the mainstream. Maybe they give you a questionnaire? I dunno :/

[jashsayani Posted Dec 7th 2008 2:12PM]

@who
Thats exactly I was wondering... A quiz to buy an Android...? I dont think so...

[freakyjerk Posted Dec 7th 2008 10:03PM]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if this thing had any other 3G radios than the standard T-mobile G1 jammy, wouldn't we see it pop up on the FCC website?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 8th 2008 7:16AM]

inadequate high shipping fees:

http://forum.golem.de/read.php?29367,1553906,1554077#msg-1554077

Int'l Shipments 1 Phone

Canada $ 264.49
UK $ 171.53
Hungary $ 199.99
Austria $ 189.99
Germany $ 178.90
France $ 183.81
Spain $ 170.14
Poland $ 210.09
Switzerland $ 130.43
Netherlands $ 172.99
Sweden $ 214.81
Finland $ 199.92
India $ 224.60
Japan $ 109.55
Taiwan $ 156.66
Australia $ 140.23
Singapore $ 119.36

Sorry Google ... thats not how to handle developers that support your platform.

S.

[Hydra Posted Dec 8th 2008 10:35PM]

Does anyone know any cupons we can use, or discounts? maybe by using gbuy?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 9th 2008 12:35AM]

WTF!?!?! $265 for shipping to Canada. I can drive down and back in the biggest gas guzzler of a car and it would cost me less.

:/

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 9th 2008 4:32PM]

am curious if the shipping costs include local tax ?
I live in the netherlands and tax is normaly 19%, that would justify the shipping cost. !

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 9th 2008 4:38PM]

ooops, I wrote to soon,

on a german page I read:

Da steht auch:

For Orders shipping outside the US, shipping pricing includes cost of shipping service and the applicable customs, duties, import and country specific other fees.

Like I said before that would justify the 178 dollars shipping.

mamoman

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 10th 2008 8:42PM]

Has anyone gotten theirs yet? I ordered mine yesterday.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 10th 2008 10:08PM]

Haven't got the ship notice yet, no new boxes on the doorstep. Ordered on the 5th.

I wish they'd hurry up... I wanna tinker.

Btw, cool g1 stuff here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=448

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 11th 2008 10:10PM]

Gosh, they're taking a long time to ship these out!
I want mine so bad!
I just hope it's exactly like the G1 except unlocked.
Some people are saying that it's not going to have some of the features or Google applications. :/

[aberakkrombie Posted Dec 15th 2008 8:26PM]

howdy android user.
just wondering if you got your dev phone yet.
whered you order from?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 12th 2008 2:16PM]

I have send an email yesterday as I also did not get a ship notice yet to the andriod@ address and got a reply today with a shipnotice and trace from UPS. apparently mine was shipped on the 10th (ordered on 7th). Should arrive next monday !!

happy happy..

mamoman

[aberakkrombie Posted Dec 16th 2008 9:35PM]

UPS to canada?

[BarcChap Posted Dec 12th 2008 10:28PM]

if the dev version really kicks off, i can smell the lovely scent of the homebrew goodness

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 15th 2008 1:19PM]

Recieved my Dev-1 on Friday, played with it all weekend on AT&T. Compared to my other phone (iPhone 3G) this is pretty sweet. The iphone does a number of things better, but after I switched to the cheaper unlimited data plan, this is a really good alternative. It looks SO much better in person and I LOVE the keyboard/trackball! (I have big hands..and that 'chin' is not even noticeable)

Edge is the most amazing thing, it works nearly as well (and sometimes better!) than 3G on the iphone. I am VERY impressed. Now I'm wondering why my original iPhone 2G was so aweful on edge.

I am writing my first bit of code for it right now! I'm am wondering though about firmware upgrades, and how that will play out for this model.

If you are a geek in search of a new toy (not necessarily your only toy) I highly recommend this.

[aberakkrombie Posted Dec 15th 2008 7:21PM]

anyone who has ordered the dev phone

any idea how long shipping takes?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 17th 2008 2:21PM]

Ordered on the 5th, it showed on the 11th. Nice phone...

On a side note, turn off 3g if you're using AT&T. Saves much battery.

[aberakkrombie Posted Dec 15th 2008 7:26PM]

any idea ya'all android dev phone users how long shipping takes after placing the order?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 16th 2008 9:14AM]

I ordered my phone on the 7th and chose the free FedEx Ground Shipping.

No order confirmation or shipping confirmation email (I guess the site was broken), but fortunately I printed out the order summary screen when making my order. From here I got the Order Number, which can be used to track the package on FedEx's site (track by reference). It left Brightstar at Wheeling, IL on the 10th (within the 3 business days order period). FedEx ground took 5 days to deliver it to Santa Clara, CA.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 17th 2008 7:14PM]

Ordered 12 Dec and received 17th Dec with overnight shipping. Not bad considering holiday chaos.
Box pretty minimalistic. Just charger, battery, USB/miniUSB synch cable, and getting started pamphlet with the phone.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 18th 2008 2:50PM]

I ordered mine on the 15th, and it was just shipped out today. Has anyone else gotten hold of their support via either phone or email? Their phone line always seems to be busy or not open. Email, no response in 2 days. Kind of has me worried, but I see other people have received theirs so I guess there is nothing to worry about.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 18th 2008 2:51PM]

Scratch that. I meant I ordered mine on the 12th. Sorry about the mistype.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 22nd 2008 7:36AM]

Anyone plan on using this on an ATT plan without Data? I don't want to be stuck paying 30 a month when i can use wifi, but i don't want to make the purchase unless it will work without a data plan. plus i'm no developer, just a frustrated att end user

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 7th 2009 11:26PM]

Will the Android market still work with the Developer edition or is the market strictly fro T-Mobile users?