Users may have expected Samsung to continue its tradition of being slow to update, but it seems the latest version of Android, 4.1 Jelly Bean, could arrive just over 2 months after Google's unveiling. It could be released alongside the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on August 29. A video from YouTube (below) shows the update in detail.

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The build number of the device in the video is i9300XADLG4, and i9300 is the model number of the Galaxy S3. Reports of an update to Samsung's smartphone came from SamMobile recently, stating that the Galaxy S2 and S3 could receive the update. The former seems less certain, according to the report, perhaps due to weaker internals.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean does not bring huge visual changes -- partly because of TouchWiz, Samsung's custom user interface, and because 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich did the majority of the work.

Instead of visual changes, users will get access to voice recognition service Google Now. It updates information in real-time, from a changed flight terminal to the score of a favorite football team's current match. Search is also available, performed by tapping a microphone icon. Whereas Siri, Apple's personal assistant currently exclusive to iPhone 4S, displays results in a card, Google Now shows information in Google Search. A search for a specific person will show a brief description and a picture, for example.

Jelly Bean also brings Project Butter, a behind-the-scenes improvement that definitely brings noticeable improvements to the speed of Android. Users can also get expandable notifications, rather than having to open an app, by pinching the alert.

Users impatient for the update can always head to the XDA-Developers forum -- or a similar source -- and install the update. 

While this update may not mean that Android 2.3 Gingerbread is dethroned from its position as the leading version of Android, it could be a message to other manufacturers to expedite the update process. Jelly Bean takes just under 1 percent of the Android device market share, according to Google's latest data.

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