IFA 2012: Samsung Galaxy S III and Note 10.1 getting Jelly Bean ‘very soon’

The Samsung Galaxy Note II and the Samsung ATIV S stole the show at the Samsung pre-IFA event held a few hours ago. However, another notable mention at the show was in respect to Samsung’s existing gadgets, namely the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note 10.1. The brand has officially announced that these two devices would be getting an upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean ‘very soon'.

This statement is quite vague and no actual word on a specific date has been provided as to when Samsung would issue an update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. A recent report by SamMobile had stated that the brand is currently working very hard on an Android 4.1.1 update for all Samsung Galaxy S III devices, which include the US as well as the international variants. It states that Samsung may be changing the user interface a bit and may not keep it like it did with the Galaxy S II/Galaxy Note ICS Update where they kept everything exactly the same as the Gingerbread 2.3 firmware.

Around the corner?

It would come as really great news for owners of the Galaxy Note 10.1 as the brand has recently launched this pen-friendly tablet in India. Also, with the Galaxy S III officially here from quite some time, it would be great for the handset to get the latest Google operating software in the near future.

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At the pre-IFA event, Samsung took the wraps of its second generation Galaxy Note smartphone. This device boasts some pretty incredible features and comes with Google’s latest operating system Android 4.1 Jelly Bean straight out of the box. This smartphone is powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and the major talking point about the Galaxy Note II is that it features an all-new Air View feature.

Samsung states that Air View allows users to hover with the S Pen over an email, S Planner, image gallery, or video to preview the content without having to open it. This feature enables users to quickly search and see more information in one view without screen transitions.

Here is a quick look at the highlighted features of the Samsung Galaxy Note II:

• 5.5-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen with a 1280 x 720 pixel density
• 4G LTE, EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi HT40, NFC
• GPS with GLONASS and A-GPS support
• Bluetooth v4.0 with USB 2.0 Host
• 8 megapixel AF/ Touchfocus camera with full HD video recording and playback, 1.9MP VT Camera, BSI front facing camera
• 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions, all with expandable support up to 64GB
• 2GB RAM
• MHL for AV out

The brand has redesigned the S-Pen and Samsung states that the new S Pen is longer, thicker and ergonomically designed for the perfect grip. Therefore, it provides a more precise, comfortable, and natural writing and drawing experience.

Samsung states that the S Pen’s advanced features also provide enhanced capabilities to capture ideas instantly and to combine handwriting with any digital content directly on the screen. By simply pressing the dedicated S Pen button, the S Pen recognizes that users want to clip or edit the selected content on the screen. The Easy Clip feature allows users to outline and crop any content on the screen in any shape to save, share or paste. Once done cropping the image, users can freely edit the cropped content through colouring, shading or with their own personal handwriting.

As of now, there is no official word on an exact date when the devices will receive the Jelly Bean update, but surely more information regarding the availability of Android 4.1.1 for the Galaxy S III and Note 10.1 will be known in the coming few days.