The “Android press gathering” that Google announced for January 5th is looking more interesting as the date closes in on us. And now, it appears that a tipster sent a couple of screenshots to Gizmodo, which supposedly confirm that Google will be in fact, selling the Nexus One Android phone unlocked.
Google will sell the Nexus One for $530 unsubsidized, but if you want to pay less for this Android handset, you’ll have to sign up for a 2 year agreement with T-Mobile and pay only $180 for the phone. But if you cancel the agreement within 120 days of the purchase, you’ll have to pay the difference of the total cost of the phone, which is about $350 in this case, or you can also return the phone to Google.
It appears that T-Mobile is offering only one rate plan: $39.99 Even More + Text + Web for $79.99 total. And existing customers cannot keep their plan if they want a subsidized phone, which means that they have to change to the one plan, and only accounts with one single line will be able to do this. But you can buy the $530 unlocked version, and save money over the 2 years if you already have a cheaper plan.
You must shell out the $530 for the unlocked version if you have a family plan, Flexpay, SmartAccess or KidConnect. If you like to buy more than 1 Nexus One phone, the limit is 5 per Google account. And apparently, there is language in the agreement for shipping outside the US. Also, Google will call this handset, the Nexus One, and not the Google Phone, and the Terms of Sale make sure you acknowledged that HTC is the manufacturer, and not Google.
What do you think folks? If you like to join the discussion on this matter, head on to our forums here.
[Thanks to forum member HavocG1 for the tip]
