According to a Verizon PR rep, their Samsung Galaxy S4 launch has been moved up to May 23. Previously scheduled for May 30, this is exciting news for Big Red customers who were beginning to feel left out of the GS4 party. Samsung’s newest flagship is already available on every other major carrier in the U.S. Verizon doesn’t typically provide details on why their devices tend to (almost always) launch later than similar phones from other carriers, but we often attribute it to their testing procedures, which have a reputation in the industry for being slow.

We should point out that a quick browsing of Verizon’s website still shows May 30 as the ship date for orders. That could change, though.

Update:  Verizon has updated their press note for the Galaxy S4 with a mention of May 23. The device will be available both in stores and online that day.

Via:  @VZWKen | Verizon

Cheers Open1Your1Eyes0!

Did you happen to lose root or still have not yet rooted after updating the Galaxy Note 2 on Verizon to build VRAMC3? Developers released an updated rooting method for the device over the weekend, easily working its way around VZW’s OTA patch. Running the program is extremely simple as it is completely automated and just takes a couple of clicks if you are running Windows 7. It is also available for Windows 8, Linux and Mac users, so it should be a fun and easy process. 

We have seen the Galaxy S4 Mini pictured once or twice already, but still nothing official has come out of Samsung on a potential release date or that it even exists. Today, a new gallery hit the web, giving us a really good look at the Galaxy S4′s little brother. As we can see, it uses that same under-the-skin pattern that we like so much the on the Galaxy S4, but for those hoping it will be the same overly-powered device, just in a smaller package, prepare to be disappointed. 

In case you happen to own an HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4 and have desperately been waiting to try out Facebook Home (woah, don’t all start rushing Google Play at once), both of those devices received support for the social network’s Android launcher last night through an update. The update actually took place through the official Facebook app and not the Home app, so be sure to update that one as well. 

According to a recent tear down by iSuppli, the Samsung Galaxy S4 powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, which is found primarily here in the U.S., is very much different from the International models. Reported in their findings is an extra image processor, manufactured by Fujitsu, which allows the Galaxy S4 to perform some its more process-intensive tasks such as eye tracking. In the Octa core-powered variants of the device, that extra processor is not needed. 

It appears AT&T and Samsung are teaming up to push out Android 4.1.2 to the Galaxy Camera this week. The new build number is GC100UCAMD4 and brings a few stability fixes and other camera firmware enhancements. As far as I can see, there is no official changelog posted from either Samsung or AT&T (don’t you just love that?) so until we find one, we don’t know much. 

Today, Samsung is showing off SideSync, a new way for your Galaxy device and PC to work in tandem. Once you hook your Galaxy up to a PC with the software and app installed, your device then becomes an extension of the PC, allowing you to access certain device features from the PC and vice versa. For example, if you are working on a Word doc on the PC, then need to leave the Starbucks, you can simply drag and drop the file onto your phone and make your escape. 

Not that we have been avoiding it, but we felt the time was right to do a bare bones breakdown of the cameras found on the top two Android devices on the market right now, the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4. What makes both of these cameras unique is that on paper, both are basically complete opposites. The Galaxy S4 features a whopping 13MP sensor while HTC employed a “Ultrapixel” camera inside the One, which is actually a 4MP sensor. At first, the idea of having a 4MP camera in a 2013 flagship device threw some people off, but HTC seems to know what they were doing.

Down below, we cut the crap and just give you a side-by-side comparison of both cameras in everyday real-life scenarios. Seemed like the best way to do this type of thing, considering that this is not a photography blog. We hit the low light, the macro, the video tests, and more.