• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, March 29, 2009

Apple retail stores have begun selling unrestricted quantities of the iPhone 3G at full price without a contract. The move comes a week after AT&T confirmed plans to sell "no-commitment" iPhones at the rate of one per existing customer.

Apple Insider reported that Apple outlets are selling the 8GB version for $599 and the 16GB model for $699 -- the same as AT&T's unsubsidized pricing. But there's no limit on how many customers can buy and no requirement that they be existing AT&T subscribers.

The change in policy reflects Apple's desire to sell off remaining inventory in preparation for the launch of the 2009 version of the iPhone, which may be unveiled at the company Worldwide Developer Conference set for June 8-12 in San Francisco. Apple launched the iPhone 3G at last year's June conference.

While the no-contract phones sold by Apple are still technically locked to the AT&T service, it's still possible to unlock the phones for use with other mobile services. The downside is that alternative providers may not be as fast.

"In the U.S., that is largely limited to T-Mobile and Metro PCS, although both GSM providers do not support the 3G network the iPhone 3G needs to connect at faster than EDGE speeds," according to Apple Insider.

With Electronic Arts announcing plans to launch 17 new games for the iPhone and iPod Touch in 2009, at the Game Developers Conference last week, gamers, at least, may not want to be slowed down. More than a quarter of the games are sports titles including Tiger Woods, FIFA, Madden, NBA Live, and snowboarding game SSX.