Samsung To Sell Developer Edition Verizon Galaxy S III with Unlockable Bootloader
by Brian Klug on July 10, 2012 8:24 PM ESTLate last week, Samsung and Verizon drew considerable ire from Android enthusiasts after customers who had preordered their SGS3s and received them early noticed that the device included a locked bootloader. While an exploit was later discovered that worked around this protection for rooting the device and booting unsigned ROMs, the move to a locked bootloader for the Verizon variant alarmed many, as Samsung has previously shipped devices with unlocked bootloaders on all US carriers.
Today, Samsung announced that it will begin selling an unlocked "developer edition" Galaxy S III for use on Verizon Wireless direct through its own developer portal. The device will run $599, which is essentially standard fare for purchasing a high end smartphone out of contract these days. This is essentially the same route that Motorola was forced to take with the RAZR for Verizon some months ago, and is an obvious parallel. Locked bootloaders are almost always done at the bequest of the carrier, putting handset vendors in a challenging position inbetween the carrier and end users who want full control over devices they've purchased.
As an aside, we'll have our Verizon SGS3 variant in the next couple of days and a piece with battery life testing and any other relevant deltas from the other USA SGS3s we've already reviewed.
Source: Samsung (Thanks Francois Simond @supercurio)
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mevans336 - Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - link
This is still not available. Did they give you any sort of hint as to when it will go live?TrackSmart - Monday, July 30, 2012 - link
Brian,Nice job on the previous Galaxy SIII review. I'll be looking forward to your update that includes battery life numbers on the Verizon version.
Hopefully coming soon?
geniekid - Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - link
Also, are we ever going to get battery life numbers for the Galaxy S3 on LTE?SirKronan - Thursday, July 12, 2012 - link
Engadget posted some promising numbers here: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/09/samsung-galaxy-...So far, my experience with my Verizon SGSIII parallels their results, even with 4G LTE just rolling out today in my town. 4G has been quite sketchy, and I doubt it's the fault of the phone, rather of the new rollout. Despite the issues, and the severe lightning storm we had today that actually knocked out LTE and then even 3G for a bit, and despite driving around all day, in and out of range of LTE towers, I still pulled a full day on my SGSIII. Battery was down to 10% when I got home though. Pretty heavy use - phone calls, some gaming, lots of music and web browsing. Some tweaking and uninstalling/installing/updating, etc. going on too.
geniekid - Thursday, July 12, 2012 - link
Now if only I could get you to buy the Incredible 4G LTE and replicate your day ;)But seriously, that's good to hear. Battery life will probably be one of the biggest factors in deciding which phone is going to be my first 4G phone.
hormel - Thursday, July 12, 2012 - link
Will they be giving a rebate for this phone with a two year agreement?DigitalFreak - Thursday, July 12, 2012 - link
No. The only way to get it is to pay full price directly from Samsung.fixxxer0 - Friday, July 13, 2012 - link
honestly, i am very disappointed with my battery life on the verizon gs3. i know i just got it and i'm probably playing with it more than my last phone (droid x). but its just eh... im getting a little less than 10% drain per hour during the day. if i dont charge it, i will be close to dying by the end of my work day.i'm really not even using it THAT much either... i know, not very scientific, but im just saying.
also my call quality, reception, and reported reception by the other party seem to be worse than on my DX.
i dont know, theres a lot of stuff i like about the phone, but i'm just disappointed by these things. i expected more.
i'm patiently waiting on anandtechs batt life numbers to see if they somewhat reflect what i have been experiencing.