Several U.S. carriers have pushed out the Jelly Bean update for their variant of the Samsung Galaxy S3. While some devices have received the update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, some subscribers are still awaiting the update.
We take a detailed look at the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update scenario for the Galaxy S3 for major U.S. carriers.
Here's a round-up of the status and what we know about the Samsung Galaxy S3 Jelly Bean updates thus far.
AT&T
Earlier in January this year, AT&T pushed out the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for its variant of the Galaxy S3. The software update from ICS to Jelly Bean for the Galaxy S3 owners in the U.S. came several months after the international versions of the smartphone got updated to Android 4.1.
No leaks for Android 4.2 for AT&T's Galaxy S3 have emerged and the carrier is yet to confirm the software update. However, rumors are rife that Samsung and a U.S. carrier are prepping for the release of the Android 4.2 update, so we could see AT&T follow suit.
The update, however, will take a while to roll out, judging by AT&T's past record of lagging behind international models. The Android 4.2 software update is set to hit international models in May or June, which means that AT&T subscribers may have to wait until fall for the update to arrive.
Moreover, the AT&T Galaxy S3 is yet to get the Premium Suite update. The carrier could well push out this feature in a future update.
Sprint
Sprint was the first U.S. carrier to push out the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update in Oct. 2012. Galaxy S3 owners on Sprint are also among the lucky few to get a taste of the Multi-Window View feature, which the carrier pushed out via the software update L710VPBMD4 on April 25, 2013.
However, when it comes to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, neither Samsung nor Sprint have confirmed anything. But unlike AT&T, Sprint is known for pushing out updates speedily so subscribers on the carrier can breathe easy.
T-Mobile
Owners of the Galaxy S3 on T-Mobile, like AT&T and Sprint, are yet to receive the software update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. T-Mobile is usually in the middle when it comes to software roll outs and could well follow Sprint's release of the same.
It is not yet known whether T-Mobile would release an update to bring the missing Premium Suite features in the near term. No word on the release of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for the carrier's Galaxy S3 either.
U.S. Cellular
U.S. Cellular pushed out the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update for its Galaxy S3 subscribers earlier in March this year. The carrier is a tad unpredictable when it comes to pushing out software updates (remember the delay in Android 4.1 for the Galaxy S2?). However, U.S. Cellular too is expected to push out the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update in the near term, possibly before Verizon.
The carrier did not push out the Premium Suite or any of its features for the Galaxy S3 when it rolled out Android 4.1.2, but it could very well do the same soon.
Verizon
Verizon pushed out the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update in March this year, a few days after it was reported that Samsung was ready with Android 4.1.2 for its devices and would be releasing it shortly. Verizon is also the only U.S. carrier to have a confirmed Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update leak. The impending Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update leaked a while ago, hinting that Verizon is hard at work getting the software ready for release.
As far as the Premium Suite feature goes, Verizon is yet to optimize the Multi-Window View feature for the Galaxy Note 2 and could well bypass it.
