While I personally haven't seen this update hit my Nexus 7 tablet as of this article, Google is reportedly now rolling out its Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean" update to its Nexus 7 tablets and the Galaxy Nexus phone. The news arrives by way of Google+ as the company announced the worldwide launch of its Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 products.
"There’s been so much interest for the Nexus lineup that we’ve sold out of some of our initial stock in a few countries!" the company said on Tuesday. "We are working hard to add more Nexus devices to Google Play in the coming weeks to keep up with the high demand. You can learn more about Nexus devices and stay updated here."
According to Google, Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean" takes the speed and simplicity of the Android 4.x platform to a different level by offering a completely new camera experience, a new form of typing, support for multiple users on tablets, Wi-Fi sharing and more.
"With support for multiple users, you can give each person their own space," Google states on its what's new webpage. "Everyone can have their own homescreen, background, widgets, apps and games – even individual high scores and levels! And since Android is built with multitasking at its core, it’s a snap to switch between users – no need to log in and out."
One of the cooler aspects of Android 4.2 is "Daydream", a feature that displays useful and "delightful" information when the device is idle or locked. Info includes pictures stored on the device, news from Google Currents and so on. But Google is also pushing better performance as one of the update's biggest features, promising "buttery" graphics and "silky" transitions. Guess we'll see in a few hours, eh Google?
"More reactive and uniform touch responses mean you can almost feel the pixels beneath as your finger moves across the screen," Google states. "Jelly Bean makes your Android device even more responsive by boosting your device's CPU instantly when you touch the screen, and turns it down when you don't need it to improve battery life."
Android 4.2 will also provide the ability to "Beam" photos and videos to another NFC-enabled device, better widgets, better accessibility and more. A full list of features can be accessed here.
