Galaxy Note II Android 4.3 update kicks off … in India

While Samsung seems to have had some issues upgrading the Galaxy S III to Android 4.3, the wait seems to be finally over for Galaxy Note II owners with “international” versions of the device – the GT-N7100 and GT-N7105 models – beginning to receive the update.

The catch? Samsung has only begun rolling out the update in India.

The update brings a number of improvements and new features to the device, which hasn’t seen a major update in quite a while:

• GALAXY GEAR Support
• TRIM Support (Makes the device much faster)
• Samsung KNOX
• Samsung Wallet (Pre-loaded)
• Better RAM management
• Core UI elements updated to the ones on the Galaxy S4 (Galaxy S4′s theme all over)
• New Samsung Keyboard
• GPU drivers have been updated (Higher GPU benchmark scores)
• New Lockscreen: Multiple Widgets, improved ripple effect than Android 4.1.2, ability to change clock size and set a personal message
• New screen modes (From S4): Adapt Display and Professional Photo
• Daydream
• Driving mode
• Actionable notifications
• Move-to-SD-card feature
• New Camera mode : Sound and Shot
• New Additions in Notification Centre
• Completely revamped Settings UI (Tabbed interface – Exactly like the Galaxy S4)
• Implementation of Voice controls (Let’s you control various parts of the phone using voice commands – Galaxy S4 feature)
• New Samsung Apps: Calculator, Clock, Contacts, Gallery, Music
• Full screen Samsung apps
• New S-Voice (from Galaxy S4)

Those of you hoping to see some of the Note 3‘s S Pen features make their way to the Note II will be disappointed as the update doesn’t bring anything new in this department.

As the update is seeing a staged rollout, there’s no ETA for when it’ll hit our shores. If you bought your Note II from an Australian carrier you’d best check with them about the status of the update, but if you’re anxious to get it first you can install the update yourself of course, but this isn’t something for the faint-of-heart.

Are you a Galaxy Note 2 user? Have you been waiting for the Android 4.3 update or have you downloaded it via another source? What do you think of the new features set to come? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below