Google is patching the December bug and possibly other Jelly Bean issues.
Ed Caggiani of Talk Android reports that his Nexus 10 tablet was just upgraded OTA to Android 4.2.1, indicating that Google is now rolling out the latest patch to all Nexus devices. The update is reportedly rather small, a mere 1.1 MB in size, and patches the People app bug that nuked the month of December, preventing Jelly Bean 4.2 users from adding birthdays for contacts born during that festive month.
So far there's no indication as to what the upgrade brings to Android other than the People app fix, but additional reports indicate that the patch may address Bluetooth performance issues that arrived with Android 4.2. Additional stability and battery life improvements are also a possibility with this new patch.
While many Android partners may disagree, Google made a smart move by launching its Nexus program. The company can quickly launch updates on the fly without wireless carriers getting in the way. The People app bug is a perfect example: the fix was released in just weeks whereas a simple patch distributed through wireless networks would require evaluation, testing and possible additional bloatware – if it's even distributed at all.
Despite bringing several problems to the Android platform, the 4.2 update definitely improved performance and stability. It also added Gesture Typing, allowing users to glide their finger across the keyboard to type just like Swype and SwiftKey. The update also brought multiple user accounts, new Google Now cards, a Photo Sphere mode in the Camera app, and more.
"Android 4.2 allows devices to enable wireless display," Google states. "You can share movies, YouTube videos, and anything that’s on your screen on an HDTV. Just connect a wireless display adapter to any HDMI-enabled TV to mirror what’s on your screen quickly and easily."
This latest update, v4.2.1, is reportedly now being rolled out to the Nexus 4 smartphone, and the Nexus 7 and 10 tablets. Stay tuned for an actual change log from Google.
You are exactly right. Fragmentation may be the biggest issue facing Android. When I bought my Motorola Droid Bionic last year, Verizon said we would have ICS very very soon. We didn't get it until October of this year, yet for months leaks of ICS builds for it made their way to people and these leaks were very stable. The only explanation anyone could think of was Verizon dragging their feet and insisting on certain bloatware and what portion of the bloatware could be disabled.
This causes so many Android devices to be scattered as to what version they are using. One of the few things Apple gets right is how they push their weight around with the carriers. If Apple isn't allowed to control the OS and pushing it to the customer, that carrier doesn't get to carry the iPhone. There seems to some strong evidence that Apple was initially going to have Verizon be the first carrier of the iPhone, but Verizon was insisting Apple put in bloatware and/or submit iOS upgrades to them for evaluation and Apple said no and went to AT&T and AT&T agreed to Apples terms. This has been a good thing for iPhone customers because they get timely updates whereas the vast majority of Android users don't.
Google needs to stand up for Android to these carriers and demand a lot more control to push out updates and upgrades in a more timely fashion.
I'm assuming by providers you mean carriers like Verizon and AT&T etc. They do not do the OS upgrades, they leave those to the OEM makers (Samsung, Motorola, LG, etc), but yes, they do insist on bloat and other things.
That's why Google and their OEM partners need to stand up to the carriers to enable them to provide more timely updates to their customers.