Google introduces developer G1 Phones

By Erica Sadun

Google has just announced the availability of a developer phone that can be purchased by registered Android Developers. Costing $399 (roughly the same price as a contract-free G1 phone from T-Mobile), the phone offers an unlocked bootloader and allows easy flashing for the installation of custom Android builds. It is available for purchase in 18 international markets. You must join the $25 Android Marketplace program in order to purchase a device. Regular users interested in an unlocked phone are being warned that these units are intended for developers only and are to be used at your own risk.

Although developers can always purchase standard retail units, the new hardware allows you to test on a real device without contract and with any SIM you want. This latter point can be especially valuable for anyone who lives outside a normal T-Mobile service zone. G1 developer nyquildotorg told me that he wishes Google and T-Mobile had announced they were going to offer a dev unit before launching the G1, saying "I would totally have gotten one of those instead. Maybe that's why they didn't tell us."

For some overseas developers, these units can represent a significant savings over retail prices. $425 (handset plus marketplace membership) equates to just £290. The G1 in the UK goes for £40 per month under contract, although that contract offers minutes and data. In most cases though, taxes, duties and shipping are extremely expensive. I'm told that shipping to Canada may run as high as $264.49.

In contrast to the Google, Apple has yet to introduce a developer iPhone—devs must sign a contract and pay full going rates. The first generation iPhone offered contract-free prepay units; the 3G does not. Some iPhone developers have ended up signing contracts and then pay the early termination fee to limit their cash outlay. Here, Google and T-Mobile have set an example that Apple really should follow. There's no price break on the hardware for developers but at least they can acquire their unlocked units with a simple cash purchase.

G1 developers dream_kill, cmonex, and JesusFreke have already managed to install a developer-style bootloader onto retail units, making them effectively the same as the dev version. This only works, we're told, if you already modified your firmware prior to RC30, the firmware update that Google released, which broke existing jailbreaks. G1 hacker Jashsu writes, "The unlocked bootloader (at the current time) is mainly for those who wish to modify the Android framework itself, recompile the entire OS, and test their patches on hardware. Theoretically however, it opens the doors for things like custom xda-dev builds of Android or possibly other operating systems like winmo, symbian, access linux, etc."

Doing this kind of mod is not for the weak of heart and will appeal to a very limited audience of developers. Over at GotOnTheInter.net, the JesusFreke mod has the following warning: "If this goes wrong, you WILL DESTROY YOUR PHONE. Seriously. It will go PTHHTHTH. So don't interrupt it, don't let the battery die, etc." Clearly bad things can and will happen to retail phones that do not perform the update properly, which should make the new hardware more appealing for those interested in doing so.

The Android Dev Phone 1 costs $399 with free shipping available in the US only. Participating markets include US, UK, Germany, Japan, India, Canada, France, Taiwan, Spain, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Hungary.

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Apple to Sell IPhones in Wal-Mart Stores This Month (Update1)

By Connie Guglielmo

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will become the second mass-market retail chain to start selling Apple Inc.’s iPhone, with two store representatives saying the world’s largest retailer will carry two models of the Web-surfing handset this month.

Employees in the cell-phone departments at five California stores, contacted by phone today, said Wal-Mart will offer iPhones by the end of December. Employees are currently being trained on how to sell the device, all five said.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs tapped Best Buy Co., the largest U.S. electronics retailer, in September to sell the device as he works to win more buyers. Before then, the iPhone had been sold only by Apple and AT&T Inc., the exclusive provider of wireless service for the phone in the U.S.

Analysts say Apple may offer a discontinued 4-gigabyte version through Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart and sell it for $99. Apple currently sells two models at $199 and $299.

“A $99, Apple-branded cell phone is inevitable,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst for Kaufman Brothers in San Francisco. “One of the key things Apple needs to do to drive broader iPhone adoption is to build a more complete product line” with low- end, mid-range and high-end products, Wu said in a Dec. 5 note.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling wouldn’t respond to the report and said the company “does not comment on rumor or speculation.” Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman said the company hasn’t made an official announcement on an iPhone offering and has no comment. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel declined to comment.

Faster, Cheaper

Jobs told analysts in October that Apple has sold 10 million iPhones this year, meeting his forecast to capture a 1 percent share of the worldwide mobile-phone market.

To spur adoption of the device, which was originally released in June 2007, Apple added a speedier version that works on third-generation handsets in July, dropped the price to as low as $199 from $399 and expanded distribution to 51 countries. Jobs said he expects the iPhone 3G to be sold in 70 markets by year’s end.

A store representative in Yuba City, California, who declined to give his full name, said six employees will be going through training this week on how to sell two iPhone models. He said employees haven’t been told pricing or which versions Wal- Mart will sell, and said the store may have them in stock the day before Christmas.

Media Player

A clerk in Stockton, California, who didn’t want to provide his full name, said he was told iPhones would be available around Dec. 15. Two additional store representatives, who also asked not be named, said the outlets in Sacramento and Marysville, California, would have iPhones in stock between Christmas and the New Year.

Apple, AT&T and Best Buy currently sell 8-gigabyte and 16- gigabyte models of the iPhone, which combines a handset with Apple’s iPod digital media player. Apple stopped selling a 4- gigabyte model in September 2007 after Jobs said customers preferred versions with larger storage capacity.

A clerk at a Wal-Mart store in Vacaville, California, said the store will sell the 8- and 16-gigabyte models at the same prices as AT&T, or $199 and $299, respectively. The person, who declined to give his name, said the phones will be available Dec. 28.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, rose $2.59 to $94 on Dec. 5 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have declined 53 percent this year.

The San Jose Mercury News reported the Wal-Mart deal yesterday, citing its own interviews with Wal-Mart employees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco at cguglielmo1@bloomberg.net.

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