If you remember, just after the first Windows Phones hit the shelves a small team of talented people: Rafael Rivera, Chris Walsh, and Long Zheng, got together and released a tool called ChevronWP7. The idea was to provide a way for developers who wanted to create apps for Windows Phone without having to deal with paying the $99 fee to play in the Marketplace.

Shortly after that release though, Microsoft approached them and after meeting they agreed to pull the tool until Microsoft could find some way that it were comfortable in helping the homebrew scene.

Well, it seems that the time has come, as the ChevronWP7 team has announced that they will be making a Windows Phone unlocking service available with the approval of Microsoft.

As you may remember, one of our goals was to make Windows Phone development more accessible. Plans have recently solidified and we can now reveal a solution we’ve been working on.

As announced on the Windows Phone Dev Podcast, we will soon be launching an approved Windows Phone unlocking service as part ofChevronWP7 Labs. This will be available to developers across all skill levels and all regions.

The service will require a small fee — currently via PayPal — to offset costs but we assure you it will be more affordable than the App Hub. Those who wish to write and immediately publish apps are recommended to sign up to the App Hub instead.

We’re excited to be making this service available to users with the support of the Windows Phone team.

Approved by Microsoft – who would have thought eh?

[Cross-posted at Winextra]