iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users are just becoming acquainted with iOS 6, released by Apple last week, but for Android users, accessing a new firmware is a different ball game entirely. Android Jelly Bean (4.1) arrived some months ago, with the fledgling Google Nexus 7 among the first devices to ship with the new OS as standard, but thanks to the fragmented nature of Android, users of even the most powerful devices have been left waiting.
While fragmentation isn’t always a bad thing, it certainly is when you’re waiting for an Android OTA, and it’s a problem which plagued Jelly Bean’s predecessor – Android Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) – from the get-go. Astonishingly, at present, many devices – notably the Motorola DROID Bionic – still await even an ICS update – a firmware which released towards the latter stages of last year, and although the focus of many Android users’ attentions is now the buttery-smooth Jelly Bean, the flawed updating system is still a point of frustration to many running Google’s mobile OS.
In order to offer some clarification to its millions of worldwide smartphone and tablet owners, Samsung has listed a total of fifteen devices set to see Android 4.1 along its flagship Samsung Galaxy S III. Unfortunately, no details have been revealed with regards to a time bracket, but here, via SlashGear, is the apparently classified list:
- Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
- Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
- Galaxy Note 10.1
- Galaxy S II
- Galaxy Note
- Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus
- Galaxy S Advance
- Galaxy S II LTE
- Galaxy Music
- Galaxy Chat
- Galaxy Ace 2
- Galaxy Beam
- Galaxy Ace Plus
- Galaxy Mini II
- Galaxy S DUOS
Although, not mentioned in the list, the Galaxy S III has already started to see the Jelly Bean OTA as pointed out by a member over at XDA-Developers (via TheNextWeb). It’s also worth noting that Samsung revealed that the Galaxy S III will get Jelly Bean in October but they’ve already started to push out the update a little earlier. Sit tight, as the complete roll out will take some time to complete. The roll out may be further delayed due to carrier review of the update.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is surprisingly omitted, although the slate – subject to much controversy during the court case with Apple in San Jose – has been superseded by the significantly advanced Galaxy Note 10.1. What’s more, sales of the slab have hit a brick wall, and with the embarrassing story that consumers had returned in their droves it having erroneously thought it was an iPad, it’s little surprise the Korean company seems to be silently shuffling it into obscurity.
If your device is unlocked, then naturally, you’re likely to see Jelly Bean first, since carriers like to spend days / weeks / months – or an infinite amount of time – adding their own software, which causes so many delays.
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