Now that we have the Verizon version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in our hands, what better thing to do than start messing with it? First up, we need to unlock the bootloader. If you want to have the bootloader unlocked, it’s better to do it sooner rather than later because the phone is completely wiped after it is unlocked.

This is a fairy easy and quick process, but as usually, we can’t take responsibility for what happens to your phone. Just make sure to follow the instructions, and if you have any problems, let us know and we will help you all that we can.

1. You need to get the Samsung driver. Go here, click the software tab, and download. I think mine auto installed the driver when I plugged the phone in, but the link is here anyway in case it doesn’t.

2. Get the Android SDK (here, and make sure to download the .zip, not the .exe) and set up ADB. Further instructions here for Windows and here for Mac OS X.

3. Download the Fastboot tool.

For Windows
For Mac

4. Place the fastboot tool in the same folder as ADB. It should be in SDK/platform-tools if you are on the newer version of the SDK. If you are on an older version, ADB might be in SDK/Tools. Either way, just make sure ADB is in the same folder.

5. Turn on USB Debugging on your Galaxy Nexus. To do this, go to Settings>Developer Options and then check USB Debugging.

6. Connect the Galaxy Nexus to your computer via USB cable.

7. Open a command prompt. On Windows, hold shift and then right click in the SDK/platform-tools (or just tools) to open a command prompt.

On OSX, you will have to open a terminal and CD to the correct place.

8. In the command prompt, type:

adb reboot bootloader

9. The phone will now boot into the bootloader. It should look like this:

10. Once your Galaxy Nexus is in the bootloader like the above picture, go back to the command prompt and type:

fastboot oem unlock

A new screen will come up giving a brief overview of what unlocking the bootloader does. Use the volume buttons to scroll to yes, and use the power button to select. Your Nexus will now unlock and reset itself.

One mistake I made the first time around was being impatient. Make sure you wait until the phone completely boots up. It might take about 5 minutes, but it will. It might even bootloop for a little bit. Mine did, but you just have to wait it out. If you do this correctly, nothing can go wrong. There is nothing being exploited or hacked, so it should be pretty smooth.

Once it is booted back up, just sign into your Google account and get back to enjoying your awesome new phone and this awesome new operating system.

Hey, you can even enjoy Flash on it now!

Happy unlocking!

Via: Geek.com and Droid-Life

Written by: BearDroid on December 15, 2011.