While Motorola thinks “bigger isn’t always better” Samsung continues to go with massive screens. The next version of the Galaxy Note series is being rumored to come with a 5.99″ mega screen. The Note2 came with a 5.5″ screen which often gives my thumb cramps, and I often find myself adjusting the device in my hand to reach different things on the screen. The image above is not of the Note3, but gives you an idea of what we might expect. Three designs are being considered. A Galaxy s4 like design, a totally new design, and a design featuring a flexible screen. This could be great for someone who really wants a tablet but just can’t see the point in purchasing two devices.

Other specs said to come with the Note3 include 1080p display, Exynos 5 Octa Core Processor clocked at 2.0GHz, 3GB RAM, and Android 4.2.2. Of course we have also seen other rumors stating the screen could be up to 6.3″ stemming from the Samsung game controller which supports screens up to that size. What are your thoughts. What is the maximum size you would be willing to tolerate from a SmartPhone screen?

via mobilsyrup

One of the best keyboards ever is finally available on the Play Store! It is only .99 for a limited time so you will want to pick it up now! If you grab it now you will have it for life. It is included on some Samsung devices, but now you can have it on any device! The keyboard not only allows you to swype your words it also is pretty good at predicting text and also has a speech feature as well.

Via Play Store

The day has finally come! Verizon has opened up pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S4. You may have a bit of trouble getting the order page to load as it is being flooded with traffic at the time. If you decide to order over the phone you will be holding for a while as well. The phone will set you back $199 on a 2 year contract or $649 if you buy it outright!

I have ordered mine and was told that it would ship by May 30. That is a full month after everyone else gets it. Oh well. Who else is pre-ordering this phone?

Verizon Wireless

Yesterday a Benchmark for a phone named “Google X” running Android 5.0.1 with a cpu clocked at 1.5Ghz made an appearance on Antutu. The score is 15,479 which is a far cry from benchmarks by the HTC One and the Galaxy S4 which are getting scores in the 25,000-28,000 range. Who knows this could be a very early test model. It could be a hoax. Their have been rumors that we would see a Motorola X device at Google I/O, but it looks like we will see a revamped Nexus 4 instead. Most people had assumed this meant that we would not se the X phone until the fall.

What do you guys think? Is this real?

Via PhoneArena

It is a bummer but it was to be expected. Google has been putting out a Nexus phone once a year in the fall for the past several years. This is what I was expecting for the Nexus 5. Google will be revamping the Nexus 4. It will still be manufactured by LG. It should have 32GB on board and should release with the next version of Android 5.0. Who knows we may get lucky and see an LTE variant for Sprint and Verizon.

If an LTE version is coming are you skipping the Galaxy S4 for an LTE Nexus 4?

Via Sidhtech

A few days ago Verizon announced a new Device Payment Plan similar to T-Mobile. After the petition reached over 100,000 views Verizon has decided to give us what we want! With the new plan you will be able to purchase a device at full cost over a 12 month period if you are qualified. The plan includes a $2 per device finance charge each month. The Device Payment Plan will allow you to upgrade whenever you want, and it will not in any way affect your current plan. Which means if you have the unlimited data plan you would now be able to upgrade and keep your current unlimited data plan! This is pretty exciting news. There are a few stipulations with the new Device Payment Plan.

You will be able to use this with phones costing $349 or more. You have 12 months to pay for the phone or tablet in full. There is a finance charge of $24 broken down in to 12 payments of $2 per month. You can choose to use Data Share and Share Everything Plans. You can pay the full balance of the phone at any time. You can only have 2 installment plans per customer with approved credit. You can only have installments for $1000 at a time.

This system could really work well for those of us who love to have the latest and greatest devices at all times!

Via Droid-Life

Here is some exciting news to get your day started! We still have no release date from Big Red on a release date for the Samsung Galaxy S4. For now we can only sign up for updates from Samsung.com. However BestBuy is sending out text messages to let folks know that you can stop by the store to make your preorder as early as today! I doubt if you will be able to extract any information on a release date form Best Buy employees. Hopefully we will hear something more exact from Verizon then “Sometime in May”.

Via Droid-Life

One sure fire way of picking up several thousand youtube views is to simply destroy all the latest devices. I am not sure why people love to watch these, but I guess it would be the same reason people can’t turn their heads when a train wrecks. Anyhow the above video shows a guy murdering a Brand New Galaxy S4 with a couple of butter knives and some pennies. It was no surprise that the Gorilla Glass of the S4 stood up pretty well.

Samsung has released their official lineup of Samsung Accessories for the Galaxy S4. My favorite has to be the S View cover case which allows you to get info like the time, date, and notifications from your device without actually having to open up the flip cover. They have also released a spare battery package which includes a spare battery and charger that doubles as a desk stand. The familiar Flip Cover has been launched in an assortment of colors. Some of the higher end accessories include a wireless charging pad, Galaxy S4 Gamepad, MHL HDTV adaptor, and more. You will probably want to stock up on these accessories since the device is coming to Verizon in the coming weeks.

Via Samsung Accessories

Today Verizon tweeted over their VZWNews handle that they would be releasing their variant of the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4 in May. That is all they have given us so far with a promise to bring more details soon. I expect for the device to arrive on Verizon a week or two after it releases on the other major networks. This is what we have come to expect from Verizon. Who knows maybe we will get lucky and see this release on May 1, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. Think more like May 16th.

Via @VZWNews