Google announced today that it has unlocked the Nexus One as its new Developer Phone. This comes at a price of $529.

Google has announced some changes to how it offers the Nexus One mobile device. Due to a disappointing turnout to its web store, Google is expanding the retail availability of the device. The company will work with partners to offer it to consumers through existing retail channels on a global scale like it has done in Europe.

In addition, Google wills top selling the device at its web store, and instead will use the location as a "store window" to show the availability of Android phones globally.

More than 15 weeks after the Nexus One launched in the US, it looks like our friends in the UK may finally get an opportunity to buy the Android smartphone.  Late yesterday, a "coming soon" page set up by Vodafone briefly changed to describe the release window as April.

There’s good and bad news for Google this morning with respect to Android and the mobile market.  In terms of how many units were sold during their first 74 days of availability, it seems the Droid beat the iPhone to the million-unit mark, but the Nexus One is lagging far behind.

Investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs is more or less giving up on Google’s Nexus One.  A note Goldman Sachs published this week indicates that it’s cut its 2010 sales forecast by a whopping 71.4 percent.

As interesting alternate timelines go, the idea of a cell phone having been built by a different company doesn’t exactly rank up there with JFK surviving his trip to Dallas.  Still, the CEO of Sony Ericsson raised more than a few eyebrows by admitting that his company declined the opportunity to manufacture the Nexus One.

Google said today it views its relationship with Apple as valuable and does not see any reason for that to change, even with the rumors Microsoft’s Bing may replace Google search on the iPhone.

Update 2: Google has now reportedly lowered the $350 fee to $150, and launched a support line for the phone at 888-48-NEXUS.

Update: The FCC has sent letters regarding early termination fees to Google, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. In its letter to Google, it says:

When the Nexus One was released, comparisons to the iPhone were unavoidable, and a respect in which the Android device came up short was multi-touch.  Now, though, an over-the-air software update should allow Nexus One users to pinch and zoom to their hearts’ content.

The Federal Communications Commission recently began an inquiry into exorbitant early termination fees in mobile phone carriers’ contracts. The investigation began when Verizon raised its early termination fee to $350 (from $175) for smartphones.

Arguably the biggest news in the tech industry so far this year, has been Google’s launch of the Nexus One smartphone. The company rocked the mobile space when it announced that it would be selling the device on its own without the need of a carrier contract (although such contracts are available).

Google’s given its presentation, tech reviewers have had their say, and, after months of buildup, the Nexus One should soon start appearing in the real world.  So how – in a sales sense – will it fare?  According to a Barclays Capital analyst, the Nexus One will be a rather hot item.

Update 3: Google is now advertising the Nexus One on its homepage.

Update 2: They have also posted a video showing Google Maps on the Nexus One: