Android Authority

Android Dev 1 smartphone

Google is now offering the HTC Dream based Android Dev 1 smartphone to registered Google developers for US$399.  The device is free of locks of any kind, and can be used with any SIM card.  It also features an unlocked bootloader that doesn’t require signed images, so that you can load custom builds of the Android OS onto the phone.

Before you can buy one of these, though, you have to be registered as a Google Android developer, a process that is simple, but costs $25 to do.  Right now, at least, Google is limiting orders to one handset per developer.  They hint at the possibility of that changing in the future, though.

The specs on the phone appear to be exactly the same as those of the T-Mobile G1, including Wi-Fi and 3G access on the 1700 and 2100MHz network bands.  The graphics on the back of the phone are new, though, so people in the know will recognize your phone as being one of the special development versions.  The phone includes a 1GB microSD card and basic accessories like a charger and USB cable and wired stereo headset, but nothing special that I can see.

The Android Dev 1 phone is currently available in the United States as well as the following markets: UK, Germany, Japan, India, Canada, France, Taiwan, Spain, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Hungary.

You can register as an Android developer on Google’s website and will be able to buy an Android Dev 1 once you have done so.

Thanks to Nick from HTCSource.com for the tip.

[via HTC Source]