Verizon Announces GALAXY S 4 Will Be Available In May

Verizon just announced via a tweet that Samsung's GALAXY S 4 handset will be arriving in May, although a specific release date was not provided. Along with the announcement is a picture of a Verizon-branded S 4, and a promise that more details will be revealed "soon." This follows AT&T's announcement that it will begin taking pre-orders for the handset on April 30.

Not much else is known about the carrier's plans, such as how much it will be charging and when exactly buyers can get their hands on it. We can't help but wonder if the flagship smartphone will be offered under Verizon's recently announced Device Payment Plan, which will take effect on April 21. Unfortunately, the carrier didn't state which phones would be available for the payment plan, only saying that it would be a select few.

Pre-orders for the GALAXY S 4 for US Cellular began this past Tuesday, April 16. T-Mobile got a jump on them, announcing back in March that Samsung's handset would be available "about May 1," meaning we could see it a tad sooner or later. The announcement was made in New York during the carrier's Uncarrier event, during which time it launched its LTE network in seven markets.

And, as we noted, AT&T announced that GALAXY S 4 pre-orders can now be placed on the carrier's website. Shipping is set to start on April 30, which is likely also when we'll see the handset available on shelves, as well. Buyers will be able to get the 16GB variety of the S 4 for $199, or for a much higher $639 sans contract. We'll be keeping an eye out for additional details from Verizon, so stay tuned!

[via Twitter]