Jelly Bean on the Google Nexus S? It's coming...

Jelly Bean on the Google Nexus S? It's coming...
Jelly Bean me up, Scotty...

Users of the last generation Nexus S phone will be pleased to hear their Android 4.1 update is on its way.

The roll-out is currently available as an OTA update in certain parts of Asia with no word on when it will be coming to other parts of the world.

However, once these software versions start emerging, there's more than a decent chance that it will start running out to other international handsets too – we've had a word with Google and while it offered us no specific date, it did confirm the 'update is continuing to be rolled out'... so other markets shouldn't be too far behind.

Jelly Bean in the bag

But enough about the when – let's focus on the what and the woohoo of this little announcement. Firstly, Jelly Bean won't supercharge your Nexus S in the way Ice Cream Sandwich did, but will make things that little bit more intuitive.

For instance, you'll notice a notifications bar that can predict where you're going and alert you to traffic info on the way, and keep you up to date with your football scores (possibly when you're trying desperately to avoid them).

And you'll notice, thanks to the aptly-named Project Butter, a much smoother experience under the finger as Google has altered the UI code to offer a much better navigational system.

And the woohoo we referred to earlier was down to the fact the update seems to be happening so much sooner than before – ICS took months, whereas Jelly Bean's update cycle seems to be so much more efficient. Good times all round for Android fans.

Via PocketNow

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.