Android Jelly Bean has HTC 'excited', but no update yet
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is here, but when will it show up on your phone? HTC is the first to say it doesn't know yet.
Here we go again. The current version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, is on barely a handful of Android phones and along comes Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the next generation of Google software for mobile phones and tablets. Jelly Bean is built-in on the Google Nexus 7, but when will your phone get Jelly Bean?
That's the very reasonable question posed by CNET reader Jordan Peck today, who specifically wondered when his HTC Sensation XE will get updates to both the latest version of HTC Sense and Jelly Bean. We asked HTC, and here's what HTC said:
"We are excited about Google's unveiling of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but don't yet have an announcement about HTC devices running the new OS version. Watch this space for more information".
No announcement as yet. So why have we brought you this snippet of what can only charitably be described as news? Because if there's one thing we learned from this year's Ice Cream Sandwich debacle it's that any word from manufacturers, no matter how inconclusive, is better than none.
Secondly, we want you to know we've already begun chasing manufacturers to find out about Jelly Bean updates. This is not a definitive answer to the Jelly Bean question, but the first step towards revealing when your phone will get that all-important update.
And we figured while you're here we can ask you for your opinion on the subject of updates. A year since Ice Cream Sandwich was first unveiled, the vast majority of Android phone are still on the previous version, Gingerbread. With the arrival of Jelly Bean, those phones are two updates behind -- does that mean manufacturers have let us down, or have we developed an unwarranted sense of entitlement to always have the latest software? Will you feel cheated until you get Jelly Bean, or are you happy living in the now? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
We'll keep you posted on Jelly Bean updates as soon as we hear from HTC, Samsung, LG and the rest. For now, Jelly Bean is scheduled to arrive on a lucky few devices in mid-July, including the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Motorola Xoom -- and of course, the Nexus 7.
For more on the subject, check out our guide to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and our guide to every version of Android.