The Galaxy Reverb is a budget phone on a budget network, the kind that we generally expect to be released, promptly forgotten, and never, ever updated to a later version of Android. But lo and behold, several Virgin Mobile customers on both Reddit and Android Forums are reporting that their phones are receiving over-the-air updates to Jelly Bean 4.1.2. One poster stated that he'd spoken with a Virgin representative who said the the OTA was scheduled for May 22nd, but at least a few seem to have been updated early.

• Samsung Galaxy Reverb Coming To Virgin Mobile For $249, Pre-Orders Start Now
• Motorola: DROID RAZR, Bionic, Atrix HD And More All Getting Jelly Bean
• [Update: LG Optimus L9, Too] T-Mobile's Galaxy S Relay 4G Getting Its Bump To Jelly Bean (Build T699UVBMC5) Starting Today
• [Cyber Monday Deal Alert] Get $100 Off Of Virgin Mobile's HTC EVO V 4G ($150), Samsung Galaxy Reverb ($100), And HTC One V ($50)

Suddenly, A Wild Jelly Bean 4.1 Update For Virgin Mobile's Samsung Galaxy Reverb Appears [Update: Official] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Looks like every carrier in Canada (give or take a couple) decided to announce GS4 pre-orders at the same time. The good news, though, is that if you're on Telus, Bell, Virgin, or Videotron, you're one step closer to landing yourself a shiny new phone. The device is available for pre-order on all four of the aforementioned carriers, with a shipping date of April 27th for the former three.

Customers on Telus and Bell will be able to grab this handset for $200 with a three-year agreement (yikes!); Videotron customers will see the same price, though there's no word on agreement terms in the PR.

• Samsung Galaxy S4 Now Available On Canadian Carriers Rogers, Bell, TELUS, Virgin, And More
• Major Canadian Carriers Announce Impending Availability of Galaxy Nexus
• Canadians Rejoice - HTC Incredible S Now Available From Bell And Virgin Mobile
• The Galaxy Nexus Is Coming To Rogers And Telus In Canada On January 13th

Telus, Bell, Virgin Mobile, And Videotron In Canada Announce Galaxy S4 Pre-Orders - Starting Today was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Did you ever watch Mystery Science Theater 3000? If not, you should. You can start with the episode where they watch Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. A made-for-TV movie starring Raul Julia. A man you may know better as Gomez from the Addams Family.

• [Update: It's Official] T-Mobile G-Slate Rumored To Be Launching On April 20th
• Galaxy Note For T-Mobile Spotted In The Wild, Probably Not Difficult Since It's Visible From Space
• [New Game] Astro Shark HD Takes A Bite Out Of The Play Store
• T-Mobile G2 Prices Leaked: $200 On Contract, $500 Off Contract

The More I Watch This Virgin Mobile Ad Luring T-Mobile Customers Away With $100, The More It Makes Sense And That Scares Me was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

• Virgin Mobile And Boost Mobile Get Their First 4G WiMax Handsets: The HTC EVO V 4G And EVO Design 4G, Respectively
• Sprint Will Begin Pay As You Go Service On January 25th, But Standard Sprint Phones Aren't Invited To The Party [Update: Sprint Confirms]
• EVO Shift 4G Specs Leaked, Could Be Sprint's Desire Z
• [Cyber Monday Deal Alert] Get $100 Off Of Virgin Mobile's HTC EVO V 4G ($150), Samsung Galaxy Reverb ($100), And HTC One V ($50)

Boost's First LTE Phones Are The HTC One SV And ZTE Force, Coming March 7th; Virgin Mobile USA Adds Galaxy Victory 4G LTE was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

• Samsung Galaxy S II Coming To Bell, Virgin Mobile, And SaskTel In Canada, US Still Lies In Wait
• Major Canadian Carriers Announce Impending Availability of Galaxy Nexus
• Canadians Rejoice - HTC Incredible S Now Available From Bell And Virgin Mobile
• Telus, Bell, Virgin Mobile, And Videotron In Canada Announce Galaxy S4 Pre-Orders - Starting Today

HTC One Comes To America: AT&T, T-Mobile, And Sprint Confirm Release Plans, Canadian Carriers Too [Updated] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

The budget smartphone, which comes with a 4-inch capacitive display, 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM and 2.5GB of internal storage, is available for just £79.99 through Virgin Media on pay-as-you-go. If you'd prefer to be on a monthly contract, prices start at £18 for non-Virgin customers, whilst those who have an existing Virgin Media package can get it for £13 a month.

On the lowest monthly tariff, you'll receive 500MB of data, 200 minutes and 500 texts.

• Samsung Galaxy S4 Available For Pre-Order In The UK From All Major Networks, As Well As Carphone Warehouse, Phones4u, And Amazon
• Sony Xperia T Now Available On Three UK From £30 A Month, Pay As You Go Version Available For £399.99
• Samsung Galaxy Note II Now Available On Three UK From £34 A Month, Pay As You Go Available For £499.99
• [Updated] AT&T Jumps On The Shared Data Bandwagon, Confuses All Its Customers In The Process

ZTE Launches The Blade III With Virgin Media In The UK For £79.99 PAYG Or £18 On Contract was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

If you're Cyber Monday shopping for a new phone and intend on ditching the "traditional" carrier for a much more affordable pay-as-you-go plan, Virgin Mobile may be a good place to start looking. For today only, the Sprint subsidiary has knocked $100 off three of its most popular phones: the HTC EVO V 4G is now $150, the Samsung Galaxy Reverb is $100, and the HTC One V can be scored for just $50. Those are all insanely good deals on some pretty decent hardware.

HTC EVO V 4G

• 4.3-inch qHD display
• 1GB RAM
• 5MP rear shooter with 3D imaging, 1.3MP front camera
• 4GB internal storage, microSD card slot
• 1730mAh battery
• Android 4.0 with Sense 3.6

Samsung Galaxy Reverb

• 4" display
• 1.4GHz single-core processor
• 768MB RAM
• 5MP rear shooter
• 122.40mm x 64.20mm x 11.40mm, 128.7g
• Android 4.0

HTC One V

• 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255
• Adreno 205 GPU vinyl
• 512MB RAM
• 4GB ROM (1GB available for apps) with microSD slot
• 3.7-inch 480 x 800 display
• 1500mAh non-removable battery
• 5MP rear camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.0
• FM Radio
• Dimensions: 4.73" (L) x 2.35" (W) x 0.36" (D)
• Weight: 4.06 ounces
• Android 4.0 with HTC Sense 4.0

Buy:

EVO V

Galaxy Reverb

One V

• Virgin Mobile And Boost Mobile Get Their First 4G WiMax Handsets: The HTC EVO V 4G And EVO Design 4G, Respectively
• [Deal Alert] HTC EVO LTE Now $0.01 For New Customers And Upgrades From Amazon Wireless
• Samsung Galaxy Reverb Coming To Virgin Mobile For $249, Pre-Orders Start Now
• [Deal Alert] HTC EVO LTE Only One Penny From Amazon Wireless For New Sprint Customers

[Cyber Monday Deal Alert] Get $100 Off Of Virgin Mobile's HTC EVO V 4G ($150), Samsung Galaxy Reverb ($100), And HTC One V ($50) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Pay-as-you-go service is getting more and more appealing with each passing day, and Virgin Mobile just announced the Samsung Galaxy Reverb - an Android 4.0 handset that should offer a decent amount of bang for the buck.

Specs:

• 4" display
• 1.4GHz single-core processor
• 768MB RAM
• 5MP rear shooter
• 122.40mm x 64.20mm x 11.40mm, 128.7g
• Android 4.0

While those specs are mediocre compared to the flagship phones of today, it's hard to deny the allure of a device that goes for $249 without contract on a carrier that offers equally as affordable plans.

The Galaxy Reverb is available for pre-order now with an expected ship date of 9/19; you can get yours in by heading right here.

• Suddenly, A Wild Jelly Bean 4.1 Update For Virgin Mobile's Samsung Galaxy Reverb Appears [Update: Official]
• [Update: Confirmed] T-Mobile's New Unlimited Data Plan Will Actually Be Unlimited
• Sprint To Start Throttling Virgin Mobile Smartphone Data - A Sign Of Things To Come?
• PSA: T-Mobile's New Actually Unlimited Unlimited Data Plan Launches Today

Samsung Galaxy Reverb Coming To Virgin Mobile For $249, Pre-Orders Start Now was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Last week, we took at a look at the best tablets for students and parents alike. Today, we've picked through the hundreds of offerings out there to pick the best overall and best on-a-budget smartphones on all the major carriers. As a bonus, we took a look at the latest offerings on some of the more popular pay-as-you-go carries, which can oftentimes be the best choice for a student.

With that, let's get started.

Best Overall

For the first time in the history of forever, there is one clear winner for "best Android phone" on all major carriers:

The Samsung Galaxy S III

As I started working on this roundup, I realized after completing two carrier breakdowns that nothing would trump the GSIII on any of the Big Four (or U.S.

• The Galaxy S III Is StraightTalk's First LTE Phone, Available Now For $439.99 - Uses Sprint Network
• Galaxy Nexus Coming To Canadian Carrier WIND On February 3rd For $249 (with WINDtab+)
• [Deal Alert] Wirefly Is Selling Pre-Orders For Sprint's Galaxy Nexus For $150, LG Viper For $20 (With New Accounts), Teases You With Cheap, Unlimited LTE
• [Deal Alert] Samsung Galaxy S III 32GB For Verizon $199 From Amazon Wireless And Wirefly ($50 Off)

Back To School Buyer's Guide 2012: The Best Smartphones For Students (Or Anyone Else) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

A few months back, HTC let slip that the lowest-end member of its One family, the One V, would hit "a variety of US partners" come summer. It looks like that rollout is already firing up, as Virgin Mobile USA today announced that it's now selling the prepaid handset for $199.99.

As with all other members of the One series, Virgin Mobile's One V will come with Beats audio and Sense 4 on top of ICS, for better or for worse. As a reminder, here's the full spec list:

• 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255
• Adreno 205 GPU vinyl
• 512MB RAM
• 4GB ROM (1GB available for apps) with microSD slot
• 3.7-inch 480 x 800 display
• 1500mAh non-removable battery
• 5MP rear camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.0
• FM Radio
• Dimensions: 4.73" (L) x 2.35" (W) x 0.36" (D)
• Weight: 4.06 ounces
• Android 4.0 with HTC Sense 4.0

Needless to say, the One V isn't going to be breaking any records in terms of horsepower, but considering it's only $199.99 prepaid (no contract), it should be worth a look for Virgin Mobile customers nonetheless.

• HTC Announces The One V For The U.S., Set To Arrive On A 'Variety Of U.S. Partners Later This Summer'
• HTC One V Coming To US Cellular Stores July 6th, Now Available Online For $129.99 After $100 Rebate
• The Tiny HTC Desire C Makes Its Way To Cricket Wireless For $179
• [MWC 2012] T-Mobile USA To Carry HTC One S, Its Thinnest Smartphone Yet - Available In Spring 2012

HTC One V Makes Its US Premiere With Virgin Mobile - Available Today For $200 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.