Well, surprise surprise. It seems Verizon has decided that if you’re willing to pay for an iPhone 5, you should be able to use it on other carriers besides theirs if you wish.

What am I talking about? Well, according to a report, the iPhone smartphones coming from Verizon are unlocked and can be used with any GSM carrier in addition to Verizon’s network.

I’ll let that sink in a minute. Okay, but what does it mean? Well, it means you can slap in a SIM card from AT&T or, most likley T-Mobile or another GSM carrier in Europe or wherever, and use the iPhone 5 on their networks as well.

Unfortunately, you won’t get 4G LTE due to the differences in the way the carriers work, but you will get 3G and the ability to make calls, text, etc.  Not bad. Not bad at all.

Now if only AT&T would do this too.

If you’re looking for an alternative to the Samsung lineup of Android smartphones like the Galaxy S III, HTC has got you covered. That’s right, the DROID Incredible 4G LTE is now available from Verizon Wireless.

It features a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4″ screen, NFC chip, 4G LTE radio, runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and uses HTC’s Sense 4.0. The price? $149 with a two year contract (after the mail in rebate). Not bad.

Before the iPhone came to Verizon I used the original Incredible and it was a good device. This new one looks to be a worthy successor. Although, for $50 you could get the Galaxy S III so I’ll bet this one isn’t the hit HTC needs it to be.

Still, it looks like a nice, midrange device for those of you wanting the latest features (like Verizon’s 4G network) but not wanting to pay a big price for them. . . until you have to start paying for Verizon’s data plans that is.

After being announced during the CTIA event in early May, it looks like Verizon is finally getting around to launching a new smartphone that isn’t the Samsung Galaxy S III. That’s right HTC fans (myself among them), the Incredible 4G LTE is finally coming to a Verizon store near you.

The magical day is said to be July 5th, which has seemingly been confirmed by a screen cap of an internal Verizon’s website obtained by the folks over at Droid-Life. Pricing for the device looks to be $199 on 2-year contract, but there is still a chance that a $50 rebate will be attached, dropping the price to $149.

So, if this internal document is to be believed, we HTC and Sense 4 fans can pick up one of these beauties next week. Let’s hope it pans out because I, for one, would like to try one out.

Late last night Samsung finally announced what many in the Android-loving community have been waiting for: carriers, pricing and availability dates for the Galaxy SIII. Well, wonder no more because the flagship smartphone will launch on Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile starting in June.

“The U.S. launch of the Galaxy S III is the most anticipated launch of the year. As promised, we are delivering the ‘next big thing’ for U.S. customers and across all major carriers,” president of Samsung America Dale Sohn said in a statement. “Galaxy S III introduces new technological innovation and takes sharing to the next level.”

For Verizon, preorder availability will begin on June 6th with the device priced at $199.99 for the 16GB model. The 32GB model will cost $249.99 with a two-year contract, and both models will be available in either white or blue. T-Mobile confirmed that it will launch its version of the Galaxy S III on June 21 but no pricing was given.

Sprint will offer the device starting on June 21st, with preorders beginning Tuesday, June 5th. It will come in two versions, a 16GB model for $199.99 and a 32GB model for $249.99. Sprint is also the only U.S. carrier to preload Google Wallet on the device.

Nothing from AT&T yet but we expect that announcement to come soon. In the meantime, Samsung’s full press release is after the break.

In yet another display of near complete disregard for its customers, Verizon Wireless announced this week it plans to eliminate the $30/Month unlimited data plan any user subscribed to prior to the company’s transition to tiered data plans last July. Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said at the 40th J.P. Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom conference that once unlimited 3G data plan customers upgrade to 4G LTE, they will be forced to purchase the company’s shared data plan.

“Everyone will be on data share,” Shammo said. The carrier’s shared data plans are scheduled to launch in the coming months, and will allow users to share a single pool of data between multiple devices. “If I can add as many devices as I want, that is more efficient from a family perspective and a small business perspective,” the CFO said.

When asked how Verizon will migrate customers off their unlimited data plans, Shammo said that LTE will draw customers away from it. “A lot of our 3G base is on unlimited,” he said. “When they migrate off 3G they will have to go to data share. That is beneficial to us.”

Sure, beneficial to you, but how does that benefit customers again? Oh yeah, it doesn’t. It just means people should get ready to pay ever increasing costs for mobile data.

How do we feel about this?