Greetings. I've previously discussed the claims of my local T-Mobile store that they'd price match (if shown a relevant ad) the lower (by $30) price that Wal-Mart announced for the HTC Google Android G1 when it actually appeared in "selected" Wal-Mart stores.

The G1 just listed on Wal-Mart's Web site, but they don't sell it online and the price is marked "varies by store." So finding an ad for price-matching purposes suddenly got significantly harder.

But this all may have just turned into a big no-op anyway. Rumors have been circulating that Wal-Mart had backed off on their plans to offer the G1 at a discount compared with T-Mobile, at least for now.

This morning I called the only "nearby" Wal-Mart (more than 30 miles away) to ask about G1 pricing. Indeed, they're in stock, but the basic pricing with 2-year contract appears essentially identical to that of T-Mobile, at least at the store I talked to: $179.88.

The salesperson seemed somewhat confused about whether tax applied to the discounted phone price or the full phone price (the store quoted the latter at $375), but in California you usually have to pay tax on the full, non-contract-discounted price of a cell phone.

Out of curiosity, I'd be interested to hear if any Wal-Mart stores are actually offering the G1 at a significant discount at the 2-year contract level.

--Lauren--