Samsung had some early issues getting its Galaxy S4 into the hands of consumers, but those seem to be in the past as the smartphone maker and Verizon have announced that the carrier will begin selling the S4 in stores a full week ahead of schedule.

Verizon is the last of the Big Four to make the S4 available for purchase, with AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile already selling the handset online and in stores. The move up in release date means that those who already preordered the S4 online through Verizon could start getting their brand-spanking-new Smartphone by next week. Verizon had previously reported that the handset would be available to users via preorder and in stores starting May 30. But the carrier is now saying the phone will hit stores May 23.

This news is sure to please many who felt left out of the fun, as most other carriers have long had their versions available. Heck, AT&T even had enough of a head start to launch its 32GB version already. There's no need to look on in envy anymore, however.

And, believe it or not, this news affects every Galaxy S4 owner on every other carrier. The boot loader unlock method discovered by Dan Rosenberg is being held until Verizon's version launches, so the development community won't have to wait two and a half more weeks for that to make its way to the forefront. There's still another week and a half to go, but that should be much more bearable of a wait.

Pre-sales are still being accepted over at Verizon's site so make sure your bank accounts are in order and purchase one if our Samsung Galaxy S4 review convinced you to buy one.

In terms of pricing, the Verizon version of the S4 will sell for the $199 that the carrier had promised. That's the same price you'll pay over at AT&T, though $50 more than you'll pay at Sprint. T-Mobile, meanwhile, is asking for $149 down on the handset. Still, a week less to get your hands on the S4 is sure to be a welcome surprise for many Verizon customers.