Jelly Bean for SGS3: Rolling Out Europe; Canada Before Holidays; US Maybe Next Year

[dgstorm]

We have a multi-story mashup for you guys regarding Jelly Bean for the Samsung Galaxy S III. First, the flagship phone is already getting the Jelly Bean rollout across Europe. Users in France, Spain, Romania, and Austria already have received the Android 4.1.1 Update. This rollout is going to start spreading across Europe quickly and we should start hearing reports from other countries as well. Next, we have news for Canadians. Their rollout should show up before Christmas. In fact, a message posted on Twitter by Samsung Canada, both Note and S3 owners “can expect Jelly Bean to arrive before the holidays." Finally, Samsung released an official statement (shown below) indicating that the U.S. version of the SGS3 will see it "in the coming months," which is vague enough that it likely means it won't be until early next year.

You gotta love the glacial pace at which American carriers allow updates.

Samsung Mobile to Begin Jelly Bean Update with TouchWiz® Enhancements for Galaxy S® III Smartphones in the U.S.

Available in the coming months, the Galaxy S III update offers the latest Android™ platform; new camera, video and customization enhancements; and access to ESPN’s ScoreCenter app with custom AllShare® integration

DALLAS — October 17, 2012 — Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC (Samsung Mobile) – the No.1 mobile phone provider in the United States and a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the No. 1 smartphone provider worldwide1 – continues its commitment to bringing the latest innovation to market with the rollout of Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, the latest version of the world’s most popular smartphone operating system, to all Galaxy S III smartphones in the U.S. in the coming months.

The update will be made available both over the air and as a download via Kies, Samsung’s content sync and software update solution. The specific timing and update method will be announced by each carrier partner, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular.

Galaxy S III owners will receive the Jelly Bean update as well as a host of new and enhanced TouchWiz features, making it a faster, richer and more responsive device experience. Samsung’s best-selling flagship smartphone just got even better.

Samsung refined and enhanced the Galaxy S III experience by adding new capabilities to the camera, video and user interface, including:

Camera Enhancements:
New live camera and camcorder filters offer a range of new ways to spark your creativity. Warm vintage, cold vintage, black and white, sepia, color highlights (blue, green, red/yellow), and many more are selectable from the main camera screen.
Pause and resume while recording video allows users to string together multiple captured video clips from a party, birthday or sporting event into a single file with no post editing required.
Low light photo mode takes advantage of Galaxy S III’s best-in-class High Dynamic Range (HDR) capabilities and offers an optimized mode for low light and indoor photos.
Pop Up Play Update: Users can now easily resize or pause the Pop Up Play picture-in-picture video window, taking full advantage of the Galaxy S III’s powerful processor and large 4.8-inch screen.
Easy Mode: Easy Mode is a simplified user experience option for first-time smartphone owners, providing large home screen widgets that focus on the device essentials. The Easy widgets include both 4×2 and 4×4 arrangements of favorite contacts, favorite apps, favorite settings, clock and alarm.
Blocking Mode: Galaxy S III owners can disable incoming calls, notifications, alarms and LED indicators for a designated period of time.
Improved Usability: Users now have multiple keyboard options with the addition of the Swype® keyboard.
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean offers users a smoother, faster and more fluid experience with expanded feature functionality, including:

Google Now™: Google Now gives users the right information at the right time, like how much traffic to expect before leaving work, when the next train is scheduled to arrive at the subway station or the score of a favorite team’s current game – conveniently delivered as notifications. Additionally, Google Now provides powerful voice assistant functionality across a range of domains, including weather, maps, navigation, search, image search, flight status and more. Google Now can conveniently be launched from the lock screen shortcut or by a long press on the menu button from any screen.
Rich Notifications: Notifications can now expand and shrink with a pinch to show the right amount of information a user needs. Notifications have been enhanced so action can be taken without having to launch the app first – like sharing a screenshot directly from the notification.
Automatic Widget Adjustment: Customizing the home screen is easier than ever before. Users can simply place a new icon or widget on the screen, and existing icons will move out of the way to make space. When widgets are too big, they automatically resize to fit on the screen.
In addition to the operating system update, Samsung and ESPN worked together to integrate AllShare® technology into ESPN’s popular ScoreCenter® application. This means Galaxy S III owners will now be able to wirelessly push on-demand ESPN global sports coverage and highlights from the ESPN ScoreCenter app to their Samsung SMART TV™. When on the same Wi-Fi network as a Samsung SMART TV, a sharing icon will appear within the ScoreCenter video player which allows users to seamlessly push what they are watching to the TV. The ScoreCenter app with AllShare integration is available today for download through S Suggest™ on all U.S. Galaxy S III devices.

With the Jelly Bean update, the Galaxy S III will also add support for some exciting new accessory experiences.

AllShare® Cast Wireless Hub: The AllShare Cast Wireless Hub accessory allows users to wirelessly mirror their phone screen to any HDTV or HDMI® display. Whether it’s sharing pictures, browsing the Web, playing games, streaming music, watching videos or projecting business presentations, users can control the action on the big screen wirelessly from their smartphone. AllShare Cast Wireless Hub even supports licensed content playback of premium TV and movies.
NFC One Touch Pairing Support: Galaxy S III can now pair with supporting NFC Bluetooth® accessories in a single touch. The Samsung Galaxy HM3300 Bluetooth headset will be the first Samsung portfolio accessory to support this functionality (available in the near future), allowing users to pair their headset by touching it to the back of their device.

[Miller6386]

Something to remember with this (GREAT POST BY THE WAY) is that when we do receive our updates in the US they are 99% flawless...... I would rather wait an extra month or 2 and have a fully functioning stable official release rather than get a buggy release with a ton of updates all the time...... Running my own business I am a FIRM believer in "Do it right the 1st time, because you aren't getting paid to do it a second."

[LeeSc10]

As the old saying goes... Good things come to those who wait. :thumbup:

[Amazonfemme]

I'm thinking a dev or two will get their hands on a leak and we'll have JB here in the U.S. well before next year. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

[Ricowan]

This is absurd. There's no way the US version should take any longer than the European version. Are you guys saying that the Euro version is full of bugs? BS.
This is simply the carriers playing in an arena they shouldn't be involved in... software. They should be ISPs only and have no say in the OS or the hardware. If they're concerned about customer support, they should divert that to the manufacturers and stay out of the damn way.

[CR6]

uuhhhh...not really. The S3 DID come out overseas a good 6 weeks before the US version. It's also a completely different processor in the international version. If you're really dying to get your hands on JB, there are plenty of stable roms to choose from. A number of our members have been running buttery smooth JellyBean goodness for quite awhile now.
The difference is, the International phones (carriers) don't load them up with bloatware. All of the US carriers do and so this has to be taken into account when new updates are released. All you have to do is go back and look at all the problems the Galaxy S2 had when the carriers released ICS before it was ready. Check out our sister site "galaxyforums.com" and you'll see literally dozens and dozens of posts from upset people who had their S2's completely screwed up with an update and was released before it was ready.
Just sayin.....

[Miller6386]

I agree fully CR.... Yes it sucks that US carriers have all the extra bloat they add to our machines but it comes with the territory.... I don't know how much the INT version sells for but I am guess it probably isn't $199...... No matter what happens with anything someone will always love it and someone will always hate it.... I HATED my TBOLT when I first got it ONLY because of all the bloatware on it.... After having it for 3 months and desperately needing wireless internet at home I started looking into and studying rooting..... I was amazed how easy it was and better yet after it was done I was able to DELETE any program so its not a huge deal anymore as long as we have root.....

I also feel that in NO time we will have a leaked version and am willing to bet within a week of that we will have it running smooth enough to be a daily driver..... I know none of this means anything to those who have no desire to root but it's a small price to pay (waiting) for something like JB.... We should consider ourselves fortunate that Samsung even decided to include us in an update.... They could be greedy and make everyone who wants the new software to upgrade to a new device that has it......

[Amazonfemme]

I'm actually fine with the idea of downloading a JB rom ... but last I read, all of them had some issue or other that made me hesitate (camera not working, etc.). I need to go back and read some more to see if there's a rom that's got everything in good working order. I'm also happy enough with the Synergy rom that I don't mind waiting for official JB.

[Miller6386]

I'm actually fine with the idea of downloading a JB rom ... but last I read, all of them had some issue or other that made me hesitate (camera not working, etc.). I need to go back and read some more to see if there's a rom that's got everything in good working order. I'm also happy enough with the Synergy rom that I don't mind waiting for official JB.

Thats where I am at with it.... The phone is still new enough to me that waiting another month or even 2 won't hurt me.... There is only 1 feature of JB I am looking forward to anyhow and that is the Email previews in the notification drop down.... Other than that my phone doesn't lag or give me any grief in that department....

[CR6]

We'll have to wait for Goose to chime in here. Supposedly he's running a pretty stable JB rom....don't recall which one though.
But I'm the same way.....I like everything to be working. And this phone is perfect as is, so I'm in no rush for it to get here. (although it will be nice!)