[Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II] johntuck77:
We all know that the GN2 from Verizon has a ton of features disabled such as:

Blocked or added by Verizon:

- Permanently on Wifi Mode

- Bubble Notifications on Lock Screen

- Blocking Mode

- H+ network support (Yes this is truly a world phone if they wouldn't block it)

- Sim locked

- Locked Bootloader

- S Planner Widget (God I want to know why?)

- Can't continually scroll in Touchwiz but you get stopped on either side

- Tons of Bloatware

- Verizon Logo on Homebutton (Really not much of a problem just they were the only ones that did it)

- Multi-window was limited to 7 apps

- Photo Editor

Since I was in the mood to dig deeper and get answers I decided I would contact Verizon and see what they have to say to that. After getting nowhere with them I was told to contact Samsung since they were in charge of the whole affair.

For all your amusement I have included my email/chat conversation with Verizon and Samsung. It is awesome to see how they can write so much and say so little. Things that are written in BOLD ARE COMMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS

Lucas: Hi, thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support. How may I help you today?

Visitor: I was directed here to you by Verizon Technical support because I had some questions regarding features that were disabled on the Galaxy Note II

Lucas: Please let me know how may I help you.

Lucas: I will certainly help you with the information available in live chat.

Visitor: Can I send you a copy of the email exchange that I send to Verizon and how they responded to me - I can copy and paste it in the chat

Lucas: Yes, you can copy and paste the chat in the live chat window. Unfortunately, live chat is not provided with the feature to send via attach files.

HERE I COPY AND PASTE THE EMAIL I SENT TO VERIZON

Visitor: To whom it may concern,

I recently acquired the Galaxy Note 2 and it is an amazing phone, however please tell me why Verizon has disabled the following features on the phone:

- Bubble Notifications on Lock Screen

- S Planner Widget disabled

- Can't continually scroll in Touchwiz but you get stopped on either side

- Photo Editor deleted I understand why Verizon is disabling certain features such as locking the Bootloader but why were the above mentioned implemented when all the other carriers have them and they don't cut into the profit margin of Verizon?

Thank you and I am looking forward for an answer! A call from someone who knows the answers to this question would be very much appreciated.

John

I OMITTED THE FULL LIST SINCE SOME OF THEM WERE OBVIOUS SINCE VERIZON WOULD LOOSE MONEY

Visitor: This is my letter that I sent to them - when you are ready I will send you their response to it.

Lucas: Please give me 2 minutes while I go thorough the issue.

Visitor: take your time. Once you have read this part I will copy and paste you the response I got from Verizon.

Lucas: Sure.

Visitor: let me know when you are ready for the response

Lucas: Please let me know the response form Verizon carrier team.

Visitor: Good morning John, I apologize for the delay in response to your email. We have been experiencing higher email volume than normal which is causing delayed responses. My name is Brittani and I definitely understand your frustration with some features that you like being disabled on your Galaxy Note 2. Wireless carriers work very closely with the device manufacturers on the products that come out. While we worked with Samsung to bring the Galaxy Note 2 to Verizon Wireless, we do not develop the software or disable features on device. That is all built into the software of the phone. A possible reason that you might see different features from carrier to carrier is that we may be operating with a different software version. I honestly recommend that you reach out to Samsung for answers as to why some things are locked down and others are not. This is not information that I have available. They would have more knowledge on the topic since they actually created the software. I apologize for the inconvenience. Have a great day! Sincerely, Brittani Verizon Wireless Customer Service

SO IN OTHER WORDS IT WAS SAMSUNG THAT DISABLED ALL OF THOSE FEATURES - HARD TO BELIEVE BUT OK I PLAY THEIR GAME AND CHAT WITH SAMSUNG

Lucas: I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.

Visitor: take your time please

Lucas: I will be right with you.

Visitor: no problem take your time

Lucas: I understand that your concern about the missing features on Verizon Galaxy S 3, this is due to the fact that as the software changes after updating the phone depending upon the previous software performance Samsung will check with the device issues and delete the features that causes the issues and update the phone to new features. - SO IT WAS A SOFTWARE UPDATE? YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING?

Visitor: No GALAXY NOTE 2

Lucas: I am sorry for the typo error, I am referring to Galaxy Note 2 device.

Lucas: In fact that update released by Samsung will check with the previous software version performance and release the update for the phones accordingly.

Lucas: This the reason the features has been deleted by the Samsung with the latest update.

Lucas: I can understand how important you feel the feature to use. However, as per recorded issues and complaints Samsung will look upon the issues and update the software to fix such issues. THIS GOT TO BE A JOKE RIGHT

Visitor: So you are telling me that the S-Planner widget which works on every major carrier and the international version of the phone but Verizon even after the latest software update to 4.1?

Lucas: Please let me know if you have any questions.

Visitor: see above question please

Lucas: Yes, I am reading your content. Unfortunately, yes. ANSWERS LIKE THIS TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY BECAUSE THEY ARE SO HARD TO BELIEVE

Lucas: As I said the Samsung look upon the complaints and major issues with the phone depending upon the carrier, Samsung will update the phones and get the issue fixed.

Lucas: We sincerely apologize for inconvenience that might have caused to you.

Visitor: Oh no worries I know how to deal with the issue and fix it my way. Thank you for your help THANK GOD FOR ROOTING AND XDA DEVELOPERS

Lucas: You're welcome.

Lucas: If you want to report the feedback you can reach our Samsung voice support team at 1-888-987-4357, Mon-Fri: 7 AM - 9 PM (CST), Sat: 9 AM - 6 PM (CST).

Lucas: As support team is our higher support, they will look upon the issue and provide you with the solution to isolate the issue.

After this exchange it took me a while to digest this information - they really did tell me that it was a software issue! Thank God I have rooted and flashed another rom but it still bugs me how this was handled.

Would love to hear everyone's comments!

Take care and thanks everyone.