OS updates

Owners of Sony's Xperia S tablet will finally get a crack at Android 4.1.1, aka Jelly Bean, early today.

Sony expects to push the update to its production server sometime between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. PT. Xperia S owners will then receive a notice in the bottom right Notification Area alerting them that a system update is available. Users can also follow the steps outlined on Sony's System Update page to manually check for the latest Android flavor.

The update will be available in the U.S, Canada, and Latin America. … Read more

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket owners finally have their shot at Android 4.1.

Available as of Wednesday, the Jelly Bean flavor of Android can be downloaded courtesy of AT&T.

Users can update their OS to Android 4.1.2 by following the how-to page on the carrier's Web site. The update does require Galaxy S2 Skyrocket users to download the software through Samsung's Kies and then sync it with their mobile phone.

Jelly Bean offers a number of enhancements over its predecessor, as an AT&T blog points out.

The notification screen organizes updates … Read more

On what should be a quiet Good Friday, speculation is flying over an Android-themed event that Facebook has scheduled for next Thursday.

Of course, the most low-hanging rumor fruit is that the company will really-we-mean-it-this-time introduce the endlessly discussed "Facebook phone." This is one rumor mill that makes me ill so I'll defer to BGR's Zach Epstein to explain what I think the chances are of such a device. (Spoiler: there's not a chance)

Please, God, no Now I could be wrong. And if I am, I'll say so next week if the rumored HTC Myst … Read more

Sprint today announced an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1.

As is the case with other Android 4.1 updates, this version of Jelly Bean will give users new and enriched features such as Google Now and Project Butter. Other noteworthy additions include actionable notifications as well as smarter widget placement and arrangement.

Sprint is also using the upgrade to include a couple of bug fixes and minor details. The device's self activation client is getting a small tweak, and a Wi-Fi Qualcomm driver fix helps automatically connect to most recent … Read more

HTC quietly confirmed today (or should I say quietly and brilliantly?) that its custom Sense 5 interface will come to select 2012 Android smartphones. A post on the company's Facebook from last week tells of multiple models which should expect the new HTC experience.

The short list of devices tapped for the HTC Sense 5 UI are the HTC One X, One X+, One S and the HTC Butterfly. HTC does not explicitly name which iterations will see the update though it mentions "global variants." Depending on how loosely this is interpreted, we might see the Droid … Read more

Owners of Sony's Xperia T and Xperia V can expect a dose of Android 4.1 sometime soon.

Sony said yesterday that it's begun deploying Jelly Bean to its initial batch of Xperia smartphones. The Xperia T and Xperia V are first on the list, while the Xperia TX is due sometime in March. The rollout will continue to ramp up over this month and next, Sony added.

Xperia owners will receive a notification when the update is available for the model of phone they have. Most users will be able to download the software over the air. … Read more

The Sprint version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has begun receiving the Android 4.2 software update, according to various reports surfacing this week.

The 98MB file can be manually downloaded and installed, but the carrier has yet to make any formal announcements.

CNET has contacted Sprint for comment and will update the article with any response.

Sprint may have been months behind Verizon releasing the Galaxy Nexus, but the smaller carrier has been much more active in offering updates. The Verizon model, for its part, is still running Jelly Bean 4.1.1.

While this isn't the worst … Read more

Owners of the original Galaxy Note can soon look forward to a host of new features courtesy of Samsung's Android 4.1 Premium Suite.

Touted on the Galaxy Note Web page, the upgrade will deliver Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean, to the original Note. But the Premium Suite kicks in several of its own options.

A Multi Window feature lets you view and perform multiple tasks on the same screen. A Popup Note helps you write down information while on a call, while a Popup Video and a Popup Browser allow you to catch a video or surf … Read more

The original Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx have begun receiving their over-the-air update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, according to a report at Android Central.

The update is clocking in at more than 300MB, so it's recommended that you upgrade over Wi-Fi only, unless you've got a high or nonexistent mobile data cap. Many people are reporting in the Android Central forums that their updates are failing to complete install on first try, too.

To check if you've got the update, go to Settings, About Phone, and then System Update.

The update comes on … Read more