http://www.androidcentral.com/galaxy-s4-developer-edition-headed-att-and-verizon
will this help us at all to become fully bootloader unlocked?
Im no dev or know much about this stuff at all but couldnt the google edition bootloader be flashed over the original?
Samsung Galaxy S4 Dev Edition hitting Verizon and AT&T
http://www.android.net/forum/androi...-galaxy-s4-dev-edition-hitting-verizon-t.html
So if you are on ATT or Verizon, and want to flash ROM's and kernels on the S4, without waiting for a hack to fix the lock bootloader, that can be easily patched away down the road, looks like we gotta pay full price for a phone, that is unlocked ?
This next bit of news will come as a huge surprise to Verizon Wireless customers. Samsung has announced that it will be releasing their Galaxy S4 Developer Edition smartphone on both Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Yes you read that right. Verizon Wireless is actually going to allow a bootloader unlocked Samsung Galaxy S4 on their network. Keep in mind though that these phone will not come subsidized, so customers will be paying full retail for the handset. The handset will be available with 16GB of onboard memory and in one color (Black Mist.) There is no official word on release dates or how these handsets will be offered, but that info should be hitting the web sometime soon.
Anyone going to pull the trigger when this handset is released?
Related
No doubt this is a question that has already been asked and answered. However, since I can't find it, I'm forced to bring this up one more time. I'm getting ready to shop for a new smartphone, and I am trying to choose between the S4 and the S5. It is my intent to get an unlocked phone, and I use primarily AT&T's networks. There are multiple variants of each of these phones out there, some of which will work for 4g LTE in the US on AT&T's networks, and some which will not. So, my first question is which models, or variants, of each of these devices do I want to consider? My second question is one of is it worth it to pay the premium for the S5 over the S4. I would have thought my timing was such that prices on the S4 would be dropping around now, just like they did on the S3 when the S4 came out. But I'm not seeing much in the way of a reduction in prices. If it's less than $100 premium for the S5, I guess I might as well bite the bullet. So, any direction or help will be greatly appreciated.
Pay extra and get the S5, or save money and get the S4. The S5 is flashier of course, but really isn't worth the extra cost, imo. I upgraded from the S3 to the S4 and in hindsight I shouldn't of done so. It was not anywhere near worth it as an upgrade and my S3 didn't and still doesn't have a locked bootloader. Most likely in getting the S4 you will be on mf3 or mk2, but being AT&T the S5 will have a locked bootloader as well. Contrary to popular belief this doesn't make it the end of the world for the S4 or S5 as they're still awesome phones. This boils down to what you want to do with your phone and if you're wanting to root and install custom roms with anything asides of the stock kernel. So back to the beginning. Get the S4 if saving money is important, get the S5 if latest and greatest is most important. Both are great choices and you won't go wrong with either unless of course you do want to install non touchwiz custom roms.
Please go here...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2433789
Hello, so as an AOSP lover and on verizon, this phone could be a good option about me. When I bought my S3 years back, I only used AOSP roms. Eventually, I got a note 4 in hopes of it getting root. Well... Obviously didn't go well, so I'm rolling on my S3 again. Would it be worth it to sell my Note 4 and buy this phone? It has better specs than an S3. So a few questions...
How does the development compare? I see we have some CM13 builds w/ probably some official builds soon. Does it have exceptional development?
What is the process of rooting like? From my understanding, you unlock the bootloader similar to a nexus device and then flash SU in TWRP, yes? So it won't matter what android version it's running @ the time?
How exactly do unlocked phones work? I've only used two year contracts in the past, I don't understand the whole concept of unlocked phones, to be honest.
Will the bootloader be able to be unlocked if I use verizon? I planned to buy the phone straight from moto so it is unlocked, but my friend's OG Moto G isn't able to be unlocked even though he bought it from Amazon (He is on verizon).
Thanks, XDA.
So a couple years back on Black Friday I bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 from Cricket Wireless at a price of $200 and at first I felt like I got a great deal. I thought I was going to get the AT&T branded S4 (i337), but instead I got an obscure Cricket branded S4 (i337z). I was frustrated when the AT&T version received the update to lollipop but mine didn't. I'm looking to buy a new phone and have been doing a little research into it, but I still have a few questions.
1. Are unlocked cell phones more likely to get an android OS update than a carrier branded phone? Do they get them faster?
2. If I bought an unlocked Samsung or a Google Nexus, would I be able to update the OS without a Carrier OTA?
3. I've heard that Samsung & Google are now offering monthly security updates, do they rely on the carrier to push these updates or does it update directly from Samsung/Google? Will I still receive these security updates on a prepaid carrier like Cricket?
4. Are carrier branded phones even worth considering in your opinion?
Thank you for your time, and sorry for the newb questions.
Anyone have anything at all to add to this thread?
Back in the day all the snapdragons were rooted either before release or shortly after. It seems like now the exynos is the one devs flock too... What has changed with snapdragon that devs don't seem to like it or focus on it anymore.
2 words: Locked bootloader
Carriers need to make that good cash by locking devices down and restricting users from being free, international variants (Exynos) don't have a locked bootloader because there's no money to be made by locking people down
Basically, Exynos is the only possible platform to develop for
Yep, just another Big Brother control!
Really sucks, I recall the heyday of the Galaxy Note II and SIII, man back then there were like 200 ROM's out, Touchwiz, AOSP, CyanogenMod, etc... Root and Recovery available the first week the phones released.
And I'm talking the U.S. carrier phones too. Not just the international.
And then they all stopped after the Galaxy S4 came out. They released a firmware and locked the **** down like a Navy sub going deep. Note 3 too LOCKED. And forever the good days long gone.
Except the T-Mobile Note 5 was rooted and ROM. But that was a freak rarity.
Now root and recovery are things of dreams for Galaxy phones.
Ahhh ok. I thought locked boot loaders were a issue that only Verizon and att mandated I thought Sprint and T-Mobile didn't have those issues. Ok. I've been out of the game a while and haven't been keeping my ear to XDA like I used too, so I'm behind on a lot of stuff.... There used to be exploits a dime a dozen for locked boot loaders though. Those don't pop up anymore?
Whole reason I moved to T-Mobile two years ago, was for the unlocked bootloaders that T-Mo was famous for, even when Verizon and ATT didn't allow that anymore. The Galaxy Note 5 was their last unlocked phone, since then, the S7, and Note7 were LOCKED, and looks like the S8 is too.
Glory days are gone.
Almost like the Jailbreak scene, which has faded bad, and there's only a stable JB released maybe once a year or every 18 months.
The axynos ones are cheap on ebay, but I can also buy an unlocked US version from Samsungs website.
Can you advice me on this?
I'm coming from the LG V20 side with the unlocked US996 model, and just looked at the non-existent G6 forums so please keep it in mind as I say this: I will never ever ever buy a major branded Android phone unlocked, ever again.
Signed, a likely future S8+ owner
midwhiteflava said:
I'm coming from the LG V20 side with the unlocked US996 model, and just looked at the non-existent G6 forums so please keep it in mind as I say this: I will never ever ever buy a major branded Android phone unlocked, ever again.
Signed, a likely future S8+ owner
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? Why ???
The exynos have an unlocked bootloader, the "unlocked" other version only has unlocked sim. The exynos will allow root, however root trips knox, and therefore breaks Samsung Pay.
I'm using a UK version and it's pretty flawless. Samsung Pay works out of the box. I bought it from a UK authorized reseller so its got a two year warranty (in the UK - I pay to ship it there) and BTU is typically in front of the line for updates. It has no bloatware but none of the unlocked versions do. I had a AT&T version first and the Exynos version seems a tad more fluid and responsive.
It has all AT&T's LTE bands except for 30 and gets better LTE speeds than the AT&T version. Do a search, there's a thread on it.
I'm going to sell it when the Note8 comes out and it was cheaper to buy outright and will fetch more when I resell it. I liked it so much I bought a EU LTE Tab S3 to keep it company. It doesn't do VoLTE or Wi-Fi calling but that too is common to unlocked phones.
BarryH_GEG said:
I'm using a UK version and it's pretty flawless. Samsung Pay works out of the box. I bought it from a UK authorized reseller so its got a two year warranty (in the UK - I pay to ship it there) and BTU is typically in front of the line for updates. It has no bloatware but none of the unlocked versions do. I had a AT&T version first and the Exynos version seems a tad more fluid and responsive.
It has all AT&T's LTE bands except for 30 and gets better LTE speeds than the AT&T version. Do a search, there's a thread on it.
I'm going to sell it when the Note8 comes out and it was cheaper to buy outright and will fetch more when I resell it. I liked it so much I bought a EU LTE Tab S3 to keep it company. It doesn't do VoLTE or Wi-Fi calling but that too is common to unlocked phones.
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I want to get a phone with a care plan . Is there something like that in the states?