Next week is Google’s I/O developer conference, but it appears that news is leaking this week. Anyone purchasing a GSM Galaxy Nexus on the Google Play site will see the following message at the time of checkout: “[S]oon the first phone with Android 4.1, Jell….” Unless Google has renamed the next Android version to Jell-O Juice or something similar, Jelly Bean is surely Android 4.1 and the Nexus will have it first.
This information first appeared in an XDA Developers forum post on Thursday, but was later spotted by Computer World blogger JR Raphael. I’ve since verified it by placing a Galaxy Nexus in my cart with Google but since I already have one, I canceled the process just prior to payment. Clearly, we won’t know what Google has added to Android 4.1 until next week, but Galaxy Nexus owners will be happy to be the first to have the updated software.
News of Android 4.1 hitting the Nexus first is a perfect example of why I generally buy Nexus devices for my Android use. Even though I found the Galaxy S III to be an outstanding phone with better overall performance than my Nexus, I personally prefer the latest and greatest software on my phones and tablets. I’m also partial to the stock interface of Android, which is vastly improved with Android 4.0.
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