Seeing that Google announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean last week during its Google I/O conference – where it also announced its home entertainment device, the Nexus Q, among a few other things – Android users are surly antsy to get the latest version of the OS onto their devices. Well, Nexus S and Nexus S 4G owners are in luck; two guys from the XDA forums – DeXmax and CooLoserTech – have ported Jelly Bean 4.1 to the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G, respectively.
Of course, there are still a few kinks. Currently, audio, wireless connection, and the ambient light sensor – among a few other minor things – aren’t working as of now across both ports. So, what is working? The touchscreen, Bluetooth, GPU, camera, soft keys, NFC, butter, SD card reader, ADB, and USB are all in order.
Announced just last week, Android Jelly Bean brings quite an assortment of improvements to the table, such as faster and smoother transitions and an overall snappier user experience, expandable, actionable notifications that allow you to say, quickly follow up on an email thread with multiple people, or instantly call someone back if you missed their call earlier, improved widgets that can resize on their own when appropriate, the ability to quickly swipe to the filmstrip view to see and make small edits to the photos you’ve just taken, an improved keyboard and dictionary, better accessibility to those who may be visually or hearing impaired, Android Beam, which allows you to share photos, videos, contacts and more with other Android devices through NFC, and Google Now, a smart personal assistant that can quickly fetch relevant information for you.
Other improvements have also been made to the OS as well, such as a better, redesigned search, and improved voice search that, along with Google Now, is set to go head on against Siri.
Earlier this week, Jelly Bean ports were also made available for the Galaxy S II, the HTC One X and the mighty-might Galaxy S III. But, like any other port, these are relatively unstable, but provide a great way to taste Jelly Bean ahead of official launch for the respective devices.
Click on these links to grab the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G ports of Android Jelly Bean 4.1 from the XDA forums. Also linked to are the respective forum threads that contain more information on how to get everything installed and running.
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