Galaxy S III Developer Edition Announced for Verizon

Galaxy S III, the latest flagship Android-powered smartphone from Samsung, is set to land on shelves at Verizon Wireless this week with a locked bootloader.

The wireless carrier has already announced plans to have it available for its users, though the release date got pushed back to July 12th, and also confirmed the locked bootloader inside this device.

However, it appears that enthusiasts will be able to grab a more opened handset if they want to, as Samsung has just made official a Developer Edition of the high-end smartphone.

The handset vendor announced that the new flavor of the device was destined for those experienced developers who would like to get the most out of their devices.

It also notes that Big Red’s official Galaxy S III model was designed with a locked bootloader so that the operator could provide all of its users with the same experience on their devices.

“Samsung and Verizon Wireless recognize that there are many enthusiasts and professional developers that are interested in customizing their device with third-party ROM software,” the mobile phone maker has announced, Engadget reports.

“Depending on the device, an open boot loader could prevent Verizon Wireless from providing the same level of customer experience and support because it would allow users to change the phone or otherwise modify the software and, potentially, negatively impact how the phone connects with the network.”

Of course, other wireless carriers in the country did receive a Galaxy S III version that features a user-unlockable bootloader as a standard feature, but Verizon chose to do otherwise.

The carrier explained that the wireless experience of its users would have been negatively impacted if they chose to install unapproved software on their devices, and that the move would have also voided warranty.

This is why the Developer Edition of Galaxy S III comes into play, available directly from Samsung’s Developer website. It is not present on the site as of yet.

“While not all previous Samsung Android devices have had an easily unlockable bootloader, all of our other current Galaxy S III flagship lineup, and all Nexus-branded devices, support the standard bootloader unlocking procedure,” Samsung also noted.

The handset vendor also warns users that they will be the only ones to be held responsible, should they choose to unlock the bootloader inside their devices or install third-party software that could harm the device.

Via: Galaxy S III Developer Edition Announced for Verizon