Google sold out of its Nexus One smartphone for developers to test. Google, which stopped selling the phone to consumers this year, said it's working hard with HTC to get more units out to geeks.
Google has sold out of its Nexus One smartphone, making one inclined to think
it was more popular among developers than it was among consumers.
Three weeks after receiving its
last shipment of Nexus Ones for consumers, Google Aug. 5
made its Nexus One smartphone its official phone for developers.
Developers
could purchase the device for $529 without a carrier
contract to test the operating system and applications.
And did developers ever purchase the phone. Google Android developer
advocate Tim Bray
wrote in an update Aug. 19:
"We blew through the (substantial) initial inventory in almost no time,
and they're back-ordered from HTC, who are
doing a pretty good job of managing runaway success amid a worldwide AMOLED
shortage.
"Everyone appreciates that it's important to the platform to get phones
in the hands of developers, so we're working hard on re-stocking the shelves;
stand by."
Google stunned many in the industry by
launching the Nexus One Jan. 5 for $179 with a two-year
contract from T-Mobile or unlocked for $529.
The company tailored the phone to its taste, fitting it with Google Apps and
the new Android 2.1 operating system. Vodafone and Verizon Wireless pledged
their support.
Unfortunately, most consumers shied away from buying a phone without
touching it, a break from the classic retail-carrier model of visiting mobile
stores to test the phones.
Google
said in May it would stop selling the device to consumers
and shuttered the store.
The phone lives on for developers, who are clearly happy to test software on
it. The device has been upgraded to Android 2.2, which sports a faster Web
browser, enterprise-grade features and a cloud-to-device messaging API.
There is no small irony that now that Google has demand for the device, it
cannot supply it fast enough.
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