Recent news from multiple sources online have the Sprint Galaxy S III receiving an over the air update to the Jelly Bean 4.1 Android operating system during the month of October in the United States. Sprint confirmed the rollout began on the 24th of this month in Poland, moving forward to other markets. Many times, in advance of an operating system upgrade, handsets will undergo software updates which prepare them for the upcoming over the air OS transfer. That appears to be the case, as the Galaxy S III 4G Android smartphone for Sprint just received a software upgrade which focuses on a few key areas.
The OTA update to software version L710VPLI3 is ongoing currently, and will deliver a brand-new SWYPE keyboard, as well as improved 4G LTE connectivity for Sprint’s brand-new 4G LTE system they recently rolled out in the US. Sprint also made an announcement just last week that an additional 100 large metropolitan areas in the US would receive access to the new 4G LTE system in the United States by the end of the year. The L710VPLI3 software upgrade also improves EAS sync features and SMS messaging. To see if the update has hit your phone yet, simply tap on “Settings” then “About Phone,” and follow the on-screen prompts to download the software.
The Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III 4G Android smartphone hit the their wireless system in June of this year, and helped the US models of that best selling Android handset do something that no other smartphone has done since the first iPhone was released in 2007. According to industry analyst Canaccord Genuity, during the month of August the Galaxy S III outsold the iPhone 4S, the first time that has happened when an iPhone and its competitor were available on all four major US wireless carriers. Genuity tech analyst T. Michael Walkley has been reporting on cell phone sales the past 10 years, using 50 to 100 retail outlets scattered across the United States for sales data, and he stated that his company has noticed “weaker iPhone 4S sales at AT&T/Verizon/Sprint” while Galaxy S III sales have been strong.
The handset has sold more than 20 million units in just its first 100 days of sales availability. Offered in either Pebble Blue or Marble White, the GS III handset delivers Near Field Communications (NFC) wireless support out-of-the-box, supporting data share apps like the GS III S Beam data share application, and the Google Wallet wireless retail payment processing app as well. The handset delivers one of the largest high resolution screens in the entire smartphone marketplace, a 4.80 inch Super AMOLED display with 720 x 1,280 resolution.
