When Google announced Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich late last year, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was also unveiled as the latest Google flagship handset and the first smartphone to get first dibs on the latest iteration of the Google mobile operating system at that time. And being a Google developer device, it was also a given that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is always first in line in whatever updates or new software versions Google will be releasing in the future.
A couple of weeks back, there were already speculations that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is already slated to get updated to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and this much was confirmed when the Google Play Store listing for the handset included the supposed update to Jelly Bean in the description of the handset. The thumbnail of the handset, although a bit miniscule, also showed the handset sporting an official Jelly Bean wallpaper which further strengthened the said allegations.
And now that Google has already broke the cover of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at the ongoing Google I/O expo, the only thing missing in the equation of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the timeframe when the latest Android version will land on the handset. There are speculations that the Android 4.1 refresh will be made available for the handset by next month but there has been no solid word yet coming from Google about the matter so every rumor should be treated with care and taken with a grain of salt.
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However, if you are rocking a Samsung Galaxy Nexus for your mobile weapon of choice and are just itching to see how Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will look and feel on your smartphone, the hardworking fellows from the developer communities, particularly those from XDA-developers, have already managed to cook up a Jelly Bean ROM for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
However, the developer who managed to come up with this Jelly Bean ROM, who by the way goes by the handle “tgascoigne” confirmed that the JB 4.1 ROM boots but is largely unstable as of the moment. He further announced that he hasn’t had the chance to thoroughly test the ROM but has confirmed that it is not for daily use. Since this is just an early release, it is only expected that a lot of things are still not working and some of these are Wi-Fi connectivity, Camera and Audio on the handset but the developer said that there could probably more. As of the moment, only the Bluetooth, hardware acceleration and sensors of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will work on this Jelly Bean ROM.
For those interested in checking out how Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will look like on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, tgascoigne has a word of caution: only flash this ROM on your handset if you are desperate to get a peak before its official release. Otherwise, you are better off waiting for that time when Google will officially rollout the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Buy the Samsung Galaxy Nexus starting at one penny.
