Bootloaders in general had a tough day today – or should I say the security departments behind them. Dan Rosenberg went ahead and published “Loki,” his tool for helping developers flash custom kernels and recoveries on the Galaxy S4 variants of Verizon and AT&T. It’s not a full bootloader unlock tool (“bootloader itself is untouched”) like we saw with a handful of Motorola devices, but it is a positive sign for the dev crowd. There isn’t a tool that can be used to do anything at this time – you’ll instead have to wait for your favorite ROM dev to use Loki in their next release. 

With the Verizon version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 (quick overview) now in hand, along with its step-brother on AT&T, we decided to take a look at the software each is running to see if there are any major differences. Since Samsung is now releasing one phone in one size on all carriers, with identical specs (at least in the U.S.), we don’t have to worry about comparing hardware. These devices are identical in physical form outside of a logo here or there. But software can certainly differ from one carrier to the next – we have seen that with the Note 2 and even Galaxy S3.

So what’s different? Let’s look. 

Yeah we know, we already unboxed the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S4, but we couldn’t help ourselves. This is the Verizon version! Finally in hand! Available today! We also wanted to show it up against the AT&T and Sprint versions, though they are identical other than color and branding (or lack thereof). Really, this was just an excuse to show off a new toy and join in on the fun that early adopters have been experiencing for two days thanks to early arriving pre-order shipments.

Who jumped on this phone? 

If you were at all disappointed to find out that the “Nexus experience” Samsung Galaxy S4 that was introduced at I/O with an unlockable bootloader, would only work on AT&T and T-Mobile networks, then maybe this news will brighten your mood. Posted to Samsung’s official online shop is a listing for the “Developer Edition” of Verizon’s version of the Galaxy S4 (AT&T version listed too).

The current listing is of the Black Mist model, with 16GB of storage, and all of the other specs featured in this year’s Galaxy flagship. No price is given, but with Verizon asking $650 at full retail for their non-developer edition, I’d guess this will drop in at that same price. That also means that it likely won’t be available with a subsidy (discounted price). 

If you happen to be an AT&T customer and plain ol’ black and white phones aren’t your style, the carrier has announced that they will carry an exclusive color of the Galaxy S4, Aurora Red. 

Last week, Samsung’s CEO J.K. Shin announced that the Galaxy S4, the company’s 2013 flagship device, would surpass ten million unit sales within their first month of launch. Just six days later, shy of just one full month on the global market, they have reached that goal. In retrospect, the Galaxy S3, another one of the top selling Android devices of all time, reached the same ten million mark in fifty days. This goes to show just how hard Samsung is pushing this device. 

A root method for the Samsung Galaxy S4 on Verizon is already available, which isn’t all that surprising since launch day is today. This is a solid method as it doesn’t require you to fully wipe your device by flashing a pre-rooted factory image nor does it require any skills with adb, so in other words, it’s pretty simple. It does require ODIN, a few files, the flashing of a prerelease kernel, and Dan Rosenberg’s Motochopper. Ready to do this? 

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is officially available from Verizon as of today both online and in stores. Almost a month after every other major carrier in the U.S. first placed this year’s flagship from Samsung on their store shelves, Big Red has joined in on the fun. For $199 and a new 2-year contract, the 16GB version can be yours in either white or black. Actually, the 16GB version is the only version Verizon is even selling, but keep in mind that the phone has a microSD card slot that supports 64GB cards, so you should have no issues with storage.