Samsung Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean update incoming

The Gadget Show  Tuesday 07 August 2012

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is just about the fastest, smartest mobile you can buy right now, but it’s currently missing one extra ingredient: Android Jelly Bean, or version 4.1 to those keeping count. Google released this new version in late June, just a few weeks after the super phone went on sale – but according to a new report, a Samsung Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean upgrade is already nearing release.

According to Samsung fan website Sammobile (Which has been on the money with previous Samsung leaks), a Samsung Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean upgrade suitable for public release is being tested right now.

Its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S2, is also being tested on Android 4.1 right now, but Samsung has yet to decide that it will upgrade the 2011 phone too – the same is reportedly the case for the gigantic, wildly successful Samsung Galaxy Note too.

Check out our Galaxy Nexus 7 video review here

While it’s not confirmed, a Samsung Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean update will likely bring many of the headline new features Google introduced in 4.1, including significant speed improvements, a smarter notification tray from which you can view entire messages and inboxes, and Google Now, the search company’s clever new intelligent assistant.

Unlike iOS on the iPhone, Android updates are sadly a bit of a mess right now. Google releases the source code for each version, but it’s then up to the phone manufacturers and networks to tweak this to work on their devices and roll it out to the public. Samsung received a lot of criticism for its roll out of Android 4.0 on the Samsung Galaxy S2: hopefully a rapid Samsung Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean update will make amends for this.