For those waiting for the 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update for their Samsung Galaxy S3 or Note II handset, it appears you will unfortunately be waiting quite a bit longer. According to Sammobile twitter account the 4.2.2 update has been delayed until at least November. The reason given is due to a new TouchWiz for the handsets.
Samsung delayed 4.2.2 for Note II and S III. Reason new TW for S III and Note II.
— SamMobile (@SamMobiles) June 11, 2013
Recent leaks of ROMs and specific apps from the Galaxy S4 for the Galaxy S3 and Note II, show that they run quite acceptably on the slightly older models, so the conspiracy theorists are theorising that the real reason for the delay is so that more people feel inclined to upgrade to the newer, Galaxy S4 or perhaps an updated Note 3 in September.
SamMobile is far from an ‘official’ comment from Samsung, however they have been fairly accurate with this type of information in the past. If indeed the reason for the delay really is TouchWiz bugs or the introduction of a newer version of Touchwiz that is holding up an upgrade to the latest version of Android; then it is possibly a good argument to look at purchasing a ‘Google Edition’ model of the Galaxy S4, if it launches outside the US.
Call me sceptical but if this was an issue with software they would not have a time for release. Surely if they purely had software issues why would they know when these issues would be fixed? Wouldn’t that be an unknown? It’s like asking for an ETA for a ROM on Xda-Developers or asking someone how long is a piece of string. Either way in my opinion it is not good enough. The Galaxy S3 is only 12 months old now and the Note II even less, so for both to fall nearly a full year behind the Android ecosystem is a slap in the face to those that purchased the models.
If you purchased a Galaxy S3 or Note II does this delay annoy you? Will it affect future purchases from Samsung?
Of the other phones from the same generation as the S3 and Note 2, how many have 4.2.2? HTC One X, LG Optimus G and 4X HD, Sony Xperia S and Z – none of them. Guess it’s slaps in the face all round, not buying from any of them in the future. /sensationalism
Having come from a LG device that promised ICS but instead delivered Gingerbread a year late, I am hard to disappoint.
you make a good point. but just because one company is shizen doesn’t mean they all should be. Its a great chance for one manufacturer to distinguish themselves and rise above the pack.
But but, I’ve ditched TouchWiz for the wonderful Apex Launcher…
I’m wondering though how this is affected by Telstra’s local “quirks”? The Hong Kong-sourced Note 2 I initially bought wouldn’t work with Telstra and went back (well got refunded after several weeks by Paypal after the seller refused to respond in any way – DWI – avoid them like the plague!).
Do we need to specifically wait for Telstra to advise an update or is a generic one OK?
yes, if you are waiting for a local provider to roll it out I think it would be a while longer. Telstra need to nextG optimise it of course.. as well as the usual testing that normally takes a month or 2 minimum.
Hearing this makes me want to stay with nexus branded phones now. Was having my doubts but I really don’t want to be caught up in the BS.
When I bought the note II I already knew coming from a s2 that Samsung are terrible (like most manufacturers) with updates! If the latest and greatest toys are important you need to buy new hardware to get that, if you just want to play with current android root and get a custom Rom!
And they should have a ruff idea for software, unlike CM or another xda style rom they are NOT developers developing for fun in their spare time at home, it is their Monday to Friday 9-5 job so dates and goals etc are expected!
Samsung aren’t bad with updates. In fact, they’re the best of all Android manufacturers considering they’re top dog. The thing that delays updates is network carriers. This is also coming from Sammobile, it’s a rumour. Take it with a grain of salt.
But when talking about unbranded non-carrier specific releases it still doesnt matter. Theyve had more than enough time to come to grips with the hardware I believe its more to do with selling new products. People that carr about timely updates are also the type (usually) to care about upgrading to a new phone more regularly. Having the latest software WILL prolong me from buying a new phone. Not getting it tho also makes me look elsewhere. My next phone will be a nexus device for sure.
Yeah, feels good being on my Nexus 4. Although it does have pretty horrible battery life. But I did know that when buying it.
people keep whinging about the battery life, why is it so bad? I can easily get a day of moderate to heavy usage with 3G on the whole time in dodgey reception
Mate, I am a heavy user. And I mean 200-300+ texts a day sometimes. I browse the net with my 3G a lot, send a lot of MMS’, do a bit of gaming. It’s just not up to it. Not to mention it gets very hot. The phone was optimized pretty well. But not in terms of battery life. Not at all.
The upgrade from 4.1 to 4.2 doesn’t matter.
What will matter here is the Touchwiz update. That’s the stuff people will notice.
Perhaps if the Touchwiz update is going to be major and time consuming to finish, they should scrap all plans of using 4.2 and go straight to 5.0.
Touchwiz?? Geez get rid of that steaming pile of cow dung. Apex Launcher is the go. And DC iKonz adds nice polish to it too.
rooted mine, already at the latest, 4.2.2, CM10.1 🙂
I have been thinking of dumping cm 10.1 on mine. any problems i had been waiting for a stable but that doesn’t seem to be coming any time soon. i also noticed that some people have been having issues with the camera.
It certainly does have a long way to go. Battery life is not as good as it is on Stock, but I can live with that. I haven’t had any issues with the camera yet. Time will tell when it reaches stable.
Pity most roms on the i9300 are shit. I went back to stock eventually because I always encountered problems. Best one so far was PA.
I read the headline and was already preparing myself mentally to say what you’ve said. Thank you