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We just caught word that Samsung will soon be introducing developer editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 for a couple of different US carriers. Funnily enough, the two carriers with the biggest history of locking devices down will be getting them: AT&T and Verizon.
It’s an interesting dynamic for AT&T users who will soon be able to buy the Google Edition Galaxy S4 with stock Android and updates straight from Google, but those on Verizon won’t have any such alternative. As such, this is a pretty big deal for those who want a device that will be bootloader unlocked.
Of course, the community made quick work of dismantling the Galaxy S4’s security, but sometimes having an official option is more desirable. These devices will be available in Black Mist to start, and there’s no current indication if any other color options will be made available. The specs list for the devices also list 16GB as the only option for internal storage.
We’re not sure how or where these will be offered, but it’s worthy to note that developer edition devices typically aren’t offered with a subsidy. We’ll be looking to get more details from Samsung about these listings, but in the meantime let us know if this is a route you’d consider going just to ensure you have a developer-friendly version of one of 2013’s hottest smartphones (read our Galaxy S4 review) out of the starting gate.
That’s great news for Verizon users. This will hopefully make it easier for ROM developers to create aosp roms. Has it been announced officially that Verizon would get this edition yet?
Not officially, but the last time Samsung published a page for it early they ended up announcing it a few days later.
It won’t be any easier than the already unlocked S4 that’s currently available.
The unlocked S4 is GSM, this provides a CDMA version, in case there are radio-specific bugs. :)
The Verizon version has already been unlocked.
Having the unlocked version from Verizon mean we can load a stock version of android with no problem and it won’t void the warranty from Verizon or Samsung?
Loading stock Android will be the same for the current model (once unlocked) and this developers edition. You still need to compile the rom (or download one someone else compiled) which will have the same issues unless they release the source code (which is needed for both). The issues will get fixed either way, qualcomm chips are very developer friendly. The same work needs to be done for either phone.
This doesn’t mean it’ll have different firmware with source code available. It’ll be the same firmware just with an unlocked bootloader. The source code is what would really help.
That was my thought. Radio updates and stuff like that might come a lot sooner. My point to Big EZ was hopefully you could make the subsidized version more like the unlocked version with little effort. I’m not familiar with Odin, but being able to avoid that if possible would probably be a nice upgrade.
The problem for the Verizon version will be the binary CDMA drivers, if those aren’t released then it will be a lot harder to create alternate ROMS. The AOSP code for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is typically released two or three weeks after the AOSP code for the GSM versions because of the driver issue but, because that’s a Nexus device, the drivers do get released in spite of Verizon’s opposition. It’s not clear if a “Developer Edition” will get the same treatment, hopefully it will but there is no guarantee. The safest option is the Google version and then getting a prepaid plan with AT&T. If you can live with T-Mobile’s network the Nexus 4 is still the best choice because it’s half the price of the S4 and the lack of LTE doesn’t matter on T-Mobile anyway because they don’t have much of an LTE network yet and won’t for a couple of years.
So will updates be direct from Google also? Sounds like a unofficial nexus to me
This looks like a normal S4 that is unlocked…not a Vanilla Android device.
Here we go again with the exclusivity crap.
But will putting stock android on this edition void the warranty?
This is awesome. Let’s see, I lose swipe to call/text; other than that, there is nothing I miss. Wonder if it will get superior battery life without all the extra crap.
Oh wait, just noticed this was ‘Developer’ not ‘Google’ edition. I thought this was the Google Edition. Looks like I’m not the only one who made that mistake.
Yup
Dude thats liek the craziest thing I have heard all day!
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