Without much fanfare, Samsung has officially begun sales of the Verizon-powered Galaxy S IV Developer Edition, after preliminary listings for the variant appeared last month on Samsung’s mobile portal.
The Developer Edition is notable for being identical to the consumer edition of the Galaxy S IV, though the biggest exception is the inclusion of a fully unlocked bootloader to aid in development of custom ROMs.
However, another key difference is the availability of the device on Verizon’s CDMA/LTE networks, which marks a departure for the normally conservative carrier, as Verizon is known to actively thumb its nose at developers and enthusiasts alike despite constant lip service to the contrary regarding support for such developer-friendly hardware and software access.
The phone is otherwise identical in terms of features to the version already being sold by Verizon Wireless, the only other difference besides the bootloader is cost, as the phone is currently available for purchase for $649.99 directly from Samsung. Samsung also has yet to release the previously promised AT&T-powered version.
Currently on back order.