HTC will release 50,000 Google Phones by Christmas but they will not be for mainstream consumers. The phones will be handed out for free to developers. This is interesting because it means HTC has finalized design and the software of the Google Phone and may be ready to ship them to retail stores very, very soon.
Google has created the software from scratch and will be making them available for other hardware manufacturers besides HTC. LG is a big possibility for a future GPhone. The first Google Phones are expected next year.