Google Nexus One lifeline activated

Google’s custom Android smartphone handset Nexus One went on sale today in the US for US$529 ($577).

The device, which Google canned last month, will be available exclusively to Android developers who must sign into their developer accounts to order it. 

“The Nexus One combines an up-to-the-minute platform (Android 2.2), modern hardware, and the pure Android software suite,” Apple iPhone defector and now Android Developer advocate, Tim Bray wrote on Thursday. 

“It's a good choice both for people who want to build Android applications using either the SDK or the NDK, and those who want to experiment with modified versions of the Android platform.”

The phone will come with Android 2.1 but will download 2.2 after it is activated. 

Last month Google announced it would stop selling the device from its own store in the US, and has since been clearing out its final shipment from HTC.

The Nexus One and components for it will continue to be available in Europe.