10:19 AM
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Samsung Galaxy S4 Google edition photographed running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
Preliminary screen shots surface.
Photos of the next version of Android running on the vanilla edition
of the Samsung Galaxy S4 have cropped up online, adding weight to
reports that the freshly baked software will land on the just-released
handset next month. Brought to the tech world’s attention by Sam Mobile, the images show an ‘About Phone’ screen which names the Galaxy S4 Google Edition by its official model number and indicates that it is powered by the yet-to-be-released 4.3 version of Android.
The Jelly Bean logo that's clearly on show in the photos also appears to confirm that the new software will be an iterative take on the current 4.2 version of Android.
That means it definitely won’t be a major overhaul of the platform that's seemingly set to arrive with the mooted Key Lime Pie edition (aka Android 5.0) of Google’s OS.
Previous reports indicate that the search giant will likely push out Android 4.3 to the Galaxy S4 Google Edition as early as next month, making it the first Android phone to get it.
'Vanilla Android' phones, that is those that feature a version of Android free of manufacturers’ customisations, are almost always first in line for platform bumps. This is because there is no need to carry out extra work and tests to ensure that new software is compatible with manufacturers’ services and apps.
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