The OnePlus One saga continues on, and today it looks like the device of your dreams might actually be shipping to the lucky few that received invites. Kellex from Droid Life posted that his OnePlus One has now shipped, receiving a shipping message saying it’s on its way from Hong Kong to Portland, Oregon. While my personal OnePlus One hasn’t shipped yet I was assured by a OnePlus representative that mine will be shipping ASAP. The big question now is whether or not that security flaw that delayed the phone in the first place has been patched. If you missed the previous news about the OnePlus One facing a security exploit and was delayed about 24 hours ago, the fact that the phones are now shipping out tells us that the OnePlus and Cyanogenmod teams have likely fixed the issue and have been recertified.
The other day I wrote about my experiences ordering the OnePlus One and how simple they made it once you actually got your invite code. Right now it’s a crapshoot whether or not you’ll get one, as there are many contests being done in order to pass out invites in a fairly civilized manner. Many have been confused as to why the invite system is even necessary in the first place, and OnePlus answered it pretty well. Being a small startup they need to be able to produce relatively small batches of the phone in order to sell out of the batch, then subsequently produce another batch so as not to have extra inventory lying around. Not having to pay regular wages for manufacturing, not having leases or needing to own large factories to produce and store the phones, and of course all the cost that’s associated with partnering with a carrier in the US or elsewhere is completely bypassed by OnePlus’s online and invite systems. Because of this we’re able to get an absolute top of the line phone for a ridiculously low price.
Will we be living the dream soon enough? Myself and many others are hoping so, and hopefully once OnePlus gets the bugs ironed out of the process things will be smooth sailing from here! Remember to check the OnePlus forums at oneplus.net for your opportunity to win an invite!