Unlocked iPhone Deals, Unlocked Smartphones

I just saw an AT&T iPhone 3g commercial, and I was thinking about the Verizon versus AT&T Smartphone war, that in large part started with AT&T's initial exclusive Apple deal as the only iPhone wireless provider.

I also know a lot of people look for unlocked phones when they are looking for smartphones. So where do you go when you don't want to bother with the carrier contract deals and just buy the physical phone? I can't say that's something I've ever had interest in, but I suppose it could be helpful when you want a new phone and you aren't eligible for an upgrade or you just want to be free to change providers ( which is possible more with some phones than others).

Sometimes you can find an online vendor of unlocked smartphones. I added a banner to this post that links to several vendors of unlocked iphones. Some are fulfilled through Amazon. They all have ratings on their sales pages.