Better late than having to wait till the next year should be enough to justify waiting this long, but Samsung is finally rolling out the Jelly Bean updates for the Galaxy S3 on AT&T in the US, and on Rogers, Bell, Telus and SaskTel in Canada, both over the air and via the PC Suite software Kies.
Android 4.1.1 might not be the newest version of Android anymore (almost three versions old if you count incremental updates like 4.1.2 or 4.2.1), but it is nevertheless an important update that will improve the experience for users over Android 4.0, thanks to improvements like a smoother and more responsive interface, expandable and actionable notifications, Google Now, and overall noticeably better performance.
As for Samsung’s TouchWiz-related changes, here’s what you are getting with the Android 4.1.1 update:
Camera
- New camera/camcorder filters: warm vintage, cold vintage, black and white, sepia, color highlights(blue, green, red/yellow), and many more.
- Pause and resume recording
- Low light mode (uses HDR)
Phone-wide
- Pop Up Play can be resized and paused
- Introduction of Easy Mode: large Easy widgets (for first-time smartphone users)
- Introduction of Blocking Mode: disable incoming calls, notifications, alarms, and LED indicators for a designated period of time
- Introduction of Swype® Keyboard (bundled)
- AllShare® Cast Wireless Hub support
- NFC One Touch Pairing Support: pair a supported Bluetooth device via NFC
So there you have it. Samsung continues to update more and more of the Galaxy S3 to Jelly Bean, and it seems that this time carriers are moving fast with the approval process. Well, except Verizon of course, who will no doubt take a bit more time to roll out the goodness of jelly beans to its customers.
The update should be arriving on your Galaxy S3 imminently, so make sure to keep that Wi-Fi connection active and also to make a check on Kies on your computer.
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