Pre-ordering is available later today from www.carphonewarehouse.com or www.bestbuy.co.uk and this is almost certainly the only way you’re going to get hold of one before the new year. The handset will be free on £35/month contracts, or available SIM-free for £549.95.
From the consumer landing page someone else linked to:
After December 16, Nexus S will be sold unlocked and carrier-independent initially through Best Buy stores in the U.S. and after December 20 at Carphone Warehouse stores in the UK.
{update} It looks like instead of selling the unlocked phone themselves, and selling carrier-locked phones in carrier-controlled retail outlets, they are using external partners to push the unlocked phone this time. At least they are learning from their mistakes. Presumably Best Buy will do some marketing for the phone (compared with the lack of marketing for the Nexus One).
They are using external partners to literally get these phones in people's hands. Consumers really want to touch phones before taking it home and Google seems to have taken this lesson to heart. Also having an army of blueshirts to provide setup help at purchase will make the less technically savvy happy campers.
Buying the Nexus One without feeling one first definitely was a little weird for me, but the return policy assuaged my misgivings.
Upgraded internals, sure, but the removal of the fold-out keyboard seems a backwards step given the overall dimensions of the unit isn't much different.
The keyboard is only on the Sprint version called the "Epic 4G". It's not on the other variants of the Galaxy S such as the Vibrant, Fascinate and Captivate.
Pre-ordering is available later today from www.carphonewarehouse.com or www.bestbuy.co.uk and this is almost certainly the only way you’re going to get hold of one before the new year. The handset will be free on £35/month contracts, or available SIM-free for £549.95.
I'm not sure of US/T-mo pricing though.