New hack turns Verizon's Galaxy S III into a global phone
Verizon’s version of the Galaxy S III came stripped of a few niceties – somewhat notoriously Verizon was the only carrier who decided to lock the bootloader of the Galaxy S III, and it shipped without the ability to roam on global carriers, despite having the requisite 2G and 3G radios under the hood. Big Red promised that a future update would unlock those capabilities and turn the GS3 into a world phone.
If the past is prologue, users can expect that update to come later this year…possibly much later this year. But if you’re the type that is comfortable rooting your phone and flashing custom recoveries, you don’t need for Verizon to do it for you, as enterprising developers at the XDA Forums have discovered a work-around that enables global roaming right now.
We should warn you that the method isn’t for those without any experience tinkering with their phones. While none of the steps are particularly difficult, there are quite a few steps you have to go through to properly modify your phone so it will work on the rest of the world’s networks. As always, we also want to point out that rooting your phone like this will void your warranty, so don’t undertake this sort of skullduggery unless you know what you are doing and are willing to accept the consequences for your actions (and any accidental mis-actions).
source: XDA Page, XDA Forum discussion via Engadget
We should warn you that the method isn’t for those without any experience tinkering with their phones. While none of the steps are particularly difficult, there are quite a few steps you have to go through to properly modify your phone so it will work on the rest of the world’s networks. As always, we also want to point out that rooting your phone like this will void your warranty, so don’t undertake this sort of skullduggery unless you know what you are doing and are willing to accept the consequences for your actions (and any accidental mis-actions).
But for those of you who are Android power-users, hit up the source link if you want to be able to use your shiny new GS3 on your next over-seas vacation.
source: XDA Page, XDA Forum discussion via Engadget
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