Google Pushes Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Update for Galaxy Nexus

As promised by Google at the I/O developers conference, the search giant has begun rolling out Android's latest 4.1 (Jelly Bean) Over-The-Air (OTA) update starting with Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ devices.

Owners of Galaxy Nexus devices will receive a notification for update over the next few days. The devices already using Jelly Bean, provided on the developer units at the I/O conference, will still receive the update since it is newer than the developer version, reports GSMArena. To manually check the Jelly Bean update in your Galaxy Nexus, go to Settings>About>System Update.

After updating, users will be able to enjoy all the new features of the Jelly Bean. The next devices to get the Android 4.1 update are CDMA Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and Motorola Xoom later this month.

The successor to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) brings several improvements, including a revamped , smoother User Interface (UI) thanks to Project Butter, a better notifications system and home screen management, as well as an improved voice search, text input with offline voice typing, an improved camera app and enhanced Android Beam capability. Google claims that Jelly Bean makes everything feel fast, fluid and smooth.

The Galaxy Nexus, the first smartphone to run on the Android 4.0 operating system, was announced in October last year. The smartphone is equipped with the latest technology including Google Wallet and Near Field Communication (NFC). The Galaxy Nexus features a 4.65in Super AMOLED display, a five megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.3 megapixel front camera. It is powered by a dual-core Texas Instrument (TI) OMAP 4 Cortex-A9 chip clocked at 1.2GHz.

Those who cannot wait for the OTA update to arrive and wish to manually update their Galaxy Nexus to Android Jelly Bean can follow the below-mentioned instructions. But before proceeding ensure that your phone is running on Android 4.0.4. The steps are compatible only with the GSM version of Galaxy Nexus.

Steps to install Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

1) First download the Galaxy Nexus Toolkit and install the toolkit along with the drivers. Now download the rooted ROM. The Deodexed ROM will allow for easy theming whereas the Odexed ROM will allow for future OTA updates from Google. Now transfer the desired ROM to your Galaxy Nexus.

2) Start the Toolkit. Connect your phone to your PC with USB Debugging mode enabled. Now select appropriate model of your phone from the Toolkit.

3) Select options to flash any of the custom recovery (TWRP or CWM Touch/Non-Touch)

4) After the recovery is flashed, reboot your phone into Recovery by switching it off. Then press both Volume buttons simultaneously and Power button. Use the volume up/down button to navigate and select the Reboot to Recovery option by pressing the Power button

5) After you boot into recovery, select the wipe data/factory reset option and then format/system option under mounts and storage. Select install zip from SD card and go to the ROM you have transferred to your phone (step 1) and wait for the installation to complete

6) Once the ROM is flashed, reboot your phone.

Your Galaxy Nexus is now running on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) updated version.