Galaxy Nexus Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update starts rolling out

With Android 4.2 recently announced, several owners of older Google flagship handsets are curious to know when their handsets will be updated to the latest flavour of Jelly Bean. This information may come as good news for those, as Google is now serving Android 4.2 Jelly Bean to a range of its older devices, including the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 7.

If you own a Galaxy Nexus, you should receive a notification for the update on your handset. In case you haven’t, head over to Settings>About Phone> System Updates to get the latest version of Android.

However, not all Galaxy Nexus devices are being updated to Android 4.2 yet. There are three versions of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone: the Galaxy Nexus Takju, which is sold through the Google Play Store; an international version called the Galaxy Nexus Yakju; and the Galaxy Nexus Yakjuxx, which is sold by Samsung.

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Android 4.2 getting activated on Galaxy Nexus smartphones

As of now, only the Galaxy Nexus Takju is receiving the Android 4.2 update. The international version, the Galaxy Nexus Yakju was the first to receive Android 4.1.2, and it should be only a matter of time before this handset receives Android 4.2.

Google has recently announced Android 4.2, and this version still retains the Jelly Bean branding like Android 4.1. The camera app of Android 4.2 now features the Photo Sphere, which enables users to take high resolution, 360-degree photographs on all axes, giving the pictures a look much like Google Street View. You will instantly be able to share the photograph on whatever medium you desire, including Google Maps, if you want to make the picture public.

The new keyboard, making its debut in Android 4.2, supports gesture-typing. This allows you to type out words without having to tap on the screen, and instead, sliding your finger across the keyboard over letters that are part of the word. This is a lot like the Swype keyboard by Nuance that is commonly found pre-installed on Samsung devices.

Another big feature in the new version is the ability to have multiple profiles for tablets. This allows users to share their tablets without the fear of having their privacy compromised due to another person using the same device. Users can have a separate profile with different accounts, settings, and apps, for different members of the family, for instance. Schools could use the same tablets for different children from different classes.

One more major feature of the latest version of Android is the update to Google Now, a service that Google introduced with the Jelly Bean version (4.1). Google has added more features to Google Now. The service can now alert you of flight and hotel recommendations, as well as about nearby attractions, photo spots, movie times, and concert timings. All this comes thanks to the new Knowledge Graph by Google, which, according to Google, gives you more information on things you didn’t even know you were looking for. While looking for websites, the new Knowledge Graph could lead you to more in-depth information on subjects that are closely related to your search.

The update will also add the Miracast functionality to the Android platform. It will allow users to display the content playing on their screens to a TV, DVD Player, or any other device that supports Miracast. A trade name for Wi-Fi Direct, Miracast is an 802.11n compatible network for display-sharing.