If you're an Android user, and sick and tired of hearing all about the upcoming iPhone 5 and the iOS 6, then here's some good news for you: Jelly Bean updates are on the way. Yes, Jelly Bean was unveiled a couple months ago by Google, but only a handful of devices run the latest version of Android. Joining the club, ASUS has officially rolled out a Jelly Bean update for its Transformer Pad TF300 tablet, making it the second tablet in the world to have an official Android Jelly Bean version.
ASUS announced the update through a Facebook post.
"We are pleased to announce that we will be rolling out a major software update for the ASUS Transformer Pad TF300, which will bring AndroidTM 4.1, Jelly Bean to the device for the first time in North America. In addition to this being the first of our planned Jelly Bean updates for the Transformer Series, we have also added a range of new features, including new power saving options, global file search and several improvements to the pre-installed apps," read the company's Facebook post.
Owners of the TF300 should be receiving an update notifying them when their Jelly Bean upgrade is ready.
This makes the Transformer Pad TF300 the only tablet other than the Google Nexus 7 to run Jelly Bean. ASUS also plans on releasing more Jelly Bean updates for its Transformer series of tablets in the near future.
Jelly Bean is the latest version of Android, and promises a smoother and more robust experience. New features in the operating system include Google's voice assistant, Google Now, and the ability to wirelessly transfer data using NFC technology with Android Beam.
Devices are slow to get Android updates because the manufacturer has to tailor the open source system to their handset or tablet, and then wait for carrier approval for distribution across the networks.
Samsung is also pursuing Jelly Bean updates aggressively, and if all goes according to plan, the Korean electronics company could have the most handsets running Jelly Bean in the coming months. Confirmations of Jelly Bean updates for the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S2 smartphones come from SamMobile, who also states that a Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 2 will be receiving an upgrade to Jelly Bean by the fourth quarter of 2012.
There is no word on Android Jelly Bean for any of Samsung's tablets, but other companies such as Acer and Toshiba have announced that they are working on Jelly Bean upgrades for their tablets.