If the development community is able to unlock the bootloader of devices purchased from VZW, will all other development work fall in line (i.e. ROMs developed for S3 on other networks will work without issue on hacked VZW phones as well)? Or will it still require that ROMs be modified (even slightly) specifically for the VZW S3 due to the different method by which it was unlocked?

Do you think Samsung will actually sell the developer version or is this announcement just posturing to put the pressure back on VZW? (It’s still not available on their website) If so, when? Days, Weeks, Months? If not, is VZW capable of unlocking (unencrypting) the bootloader of devices that they’ve already sold (assuming they become willing)?

If Samsung does release a developer version, does it not just become part of the general S3 development community with everything that has been done for other networks naturally transferring over to it?

Personally, I’m at the point of buying phones outright to keep my unlimited data anyway. But the answers to these questions would affect whether I buy the Verizon version (from Best Buy so I don’t have to actually give money to my local VZW store) or the Samsung development version.

Thanks.

I even had some of the Verizon tech geniuses drive out here, in front of my damn house, to test the coverage here. I had to call them back to find out the results of course, and they tell me that coverage at myhouse and in my area is less than moderate and close to poor. So i say, yeah, you might recall I told you this already Verizon. And I ask to get one of those devices that boost your cell signal and you can link all the phones in the house to it, of which there are many in my household. They say, yes of course, we can sell you one for $200. They also say my coverage is so bad that they are also willing to let me out of my contract with no Early Termination Fee. Well, this isn’t a viable option for me, seeing as all of my friends and family are on Verizon’s network. So I say “So you are telling me my only two options are either A) I pay you $200 to fix your highly inadequate service you’re providing that I’ve been paying you thousands of dollars for, or B) We don’t value your loyalty all these years, and we will be glad to send you on your way, and we are so generous we won’t demand you pay a gigantic Early Termination Fee?”. And there was just dead silence on the other end, as thestupid rep. had nothing to say to my query.

So yeah, this situation, along with many other things (obliterating unlimited plans, getting rid of new every 2 years, adding on a new fee for when you are already paying hugely marked prices for a new phone, and just all the other bogus fee’s they have, like the best is paying them money to give them more money, aka- the early upgrade fee….hahahahaha!), has really strengthened my resolve to try and find the best way I can get as far away from Verizon as I can when mycontract is up. Oh and , I haven’t even gone into the more recent horrifying episode where they charged me for two new phones when I bought my Rezound recently, then were the worstand most stupid company on the face of the earth to try and fix their mistake, and the whole time I’m trying to help them fix their mistake, I have P.O.S. Verizon Collections people calling 4 times a day every day for two months, demanding that I pay this charge for the new phone I never even had possession of and had cancelled the order the day after I ordered it. And I had talked to literally close to 20-25 different people in the financial department, technical department, and customer service department. And not a single one of those brilliant special people, could leave notes on my account properly, and they absolutely could not communicate my problem amongst different departments or reps. So each I called one of these brain-dead morons, or they called me demandingI pay for their error, well I had to explain my very long story of how they screwed up royally, just like I was telling it to the very first person I had ever talked to about this fiasco……you can see how this might make one want to commit suicide after explaining this all over again, to literally the 26th and 30th persons. So yeah, I don’t have Verizon on my speed dial, for best buddies in my phone. They hire the most idiotic people that can’t think on their own, and will only do the minimal amount of work required, and constantly lie to you. And their system for dealing with anything, is the most archaic and inept system the world has known.

I also doubt grandfathered unlimited data plans will be around much longer, end of 2013 tops but wouldn’t be surprised if they did away with it before 2012 is up.
I see it happening a few ways:
1. They just come out and say no more unlimited data, those out of contract can’t do anything about it, those under contract will get the option to change plans or leave ETF free.
2. They will say that you can keep it if you purchase phones at full retail but I could see them forcing tiered if you buy a phone from an outside source, e.g. Samsung or Play store. Probably using the “it could danger network integrity” excuse.
3. They could start claiming certain phones are not compatible with the unlimited data rate plan and if you want to update to the latest and greatest it will switch your data plan automatically when you activate it. They have done this in the past with rate plans and features, i could see them doing it again.
I’m not trying to hate on Verizon, I use them and my service is great, but that doesn’t mean they are my only option. I also understand how business works, they care about one thing and that’s their bottom line. If you want to complain and threaten to go somewhere else because you’re losing unlimited data or have a locked/encrypted bootloader, go, they don’t care. You are a small minority that would do so and in the end if you’re using +10 GB of data a month you will actually be saving them money by leaving.

tl;dr version: Best network is subjective. Grandfathered unlimited data will eventually be phased out. Verizon cares about money, not you.

I buy my phones off contract anyway, and anyone that wants to keep unlimited data is going to have to do so from now on too. Sure, it may be a niche product, but I think developers will be able to do more with a fully unlocked phone. While it may fragment the GS3 community, going forward, I think you’ll likely see XDA’ers and the like going for a dev edition phone than a crappified Verizon version.

The only carrier I know of that comes close I think besides sprint? is maybe Tmobile, whenever they have phones that can do their dual band HSPA++ or whatever it is for the 42MB/s speeds.

I’d also be out my unlimited data, does tmobile still have that? even if they did it would have to be faster than verizon on a consistant basis to merit a switch. Either that or have coverage absolutley everywhere in there version of “4g”.

And then there is the big cloud on this parade. Unless you opt for month to month (which surely would eliminate any perks or unlimited data you have) you will be breaking contract which is extremely expensive. like around $350 sometimes higher sometimes lower. Not sure what other carriers charge. since most sign up for 2 year plans as month to month doesn’t really offer much for people using lots of bandwidth.

Though the price for full on this thing is not bad at all. I don’t see why anyone can complain about it. I mean pftt yeah it’s more than the subsidized price you get for selling your soul^h^h^h^h using your upgrade. but compared to most high end phones it’s cheap. Hell our almost 1 year old Galaxy nexus’s are still priced $649.99 for full retail at verizon. I think when it came out it was like $998 or something too. So $599 is a bargain to me.

Plus with Verizon you can not switch carriers so easy…

Also to restrict software on a 4G network is not legal according to the spectrum deals…

locking the bootloader makes sense and probably at a minimal cost…but their inconsistency is what doesn’t make sense.