The ChevronWP7 team has delivered its promised Windows Phone unlocking tool, the group announced on November 4.
The unlocking tool — developed with Microsoft’s blessing and help — is aimed primarily at homebrewers interested in developing Windows apps.
“ChevronWP7 Labs was designed to allow hobbyist developers to install, run, and debug unsigned applications on their personal Windows Phone. You log into the site with your Windows Live ID, pay a small fee, and presto — you’re ready to write and share some homebrew code,” the team members Rafael Rivera, Chris Walsh and Long Zheng blogged.
To many in the Microsoft community, the Chevron guys need no introduction. But just in case you don’t know them, Walsh is he of “Walshied” phone fame. Rivera runs the WithinWindows.com site. Zheng is the guy behind Istartedsomething.com.
The WP unlocking tool, which comes in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, costs $9 per Windows Phone unlock. Homebrew app developers who want to publish their apps to the Windows Phone Marketplace still need to register for a Microsoft App Hub account.
Speaking of Windows Phone, Windows Phone fans who will be in or around New York City on Monday November 7 might want to check out the still-secret promotion event Microsoft is staging for noon ET in Herald Square. A number of Windows Phone big-wigs will be in town that day for some kind of Microsoft WP announcement which is expected to include the official “launch” of new Mango phones on AT&T. (These phones include the already-unveiled HTC Radar and Titan and the Samsung Focus S and Flash.) The evening of November 7, there’s a Windows Phone “Inner Circle” party, as well.
I’ll be at most of the Monday festivities. Any other “All About Microsoft” readers going?
Update: At 3:30 PM ET on November 4, the Chevron team took the tool offline to fix some reported issues. Check their Twitter account for updates.
Update No. 2: At 10:30 AM ET on November 5, the team tweeted that the tool was again ready for download.
