Samsung has finally announced that the US version of the Samsung Galaxy S3, read- on Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint and other carriers, would be getting a jar full of Jelly Beans in the coming months. Which is fantastic news, considering this is one of Samsung’s best selling phones ever in the US, and it is only fair that loyal customers, irrespective of which carrier they got the phone from, get to taste Android 4.1 Jelly Bean sooner, rather than later.

The only catch is that Samsung has not mentioned any specific timeline by which the update will be made available over-the-air or via KIES. The only probable reason for Samsung’s non-committal stand on the timeline could be that each carrier might take its own time to test the new version of Android, before actually pushing it out to the general population. Hence it then becomes incumbent on each carrier to announce the specific date and update method to its customers.

The bump-up to Jelly Bean will bring quite a few enhancements to the device, notable ones being:

  • Touchwiz based features – Blocking Mode, Easy Mode
  • Additional Options in Camera Settings
  • Google Now
  • Expandable Notification Bar
  • Video and Customization enhancements
  • Access to ESPNs Score Centre App with custom AllShare integration
  • Multiple keyboard Options
  • Pop-up Play Update
  • Overall UI smoothness and performance
  • …and a lot more

While custom updates and Jelly Bean based ROMs for the US Galaxy S3 have been around for some time, there is nothing like an official update to make the phone feel brand new again. For now, let’s wait and watch when the Android 4.1 update comes out.

Which US carrier do you think will be the first to release the jelly Bean update for the Galaxy S3?