Asus has become the first manufacturer to announce tablets that will be updated from their current version of Android to Jelly Bean.
The latest edition of Google’s mobile OS, officially known as Android 4.1, will be coming to the Transformer tablet, as well as the Transformer Prime and the Transformer Infinity.
Asus said in a statement that these upgrades “are all scheduled … in the coming months. We will provide further guidance on our expected timeframes for these updates near their release.”
The Jelly Bean upgrade could be considered a minor update for the Android platform, which is why it only brings the version number up to 4.1 instead of 5.0.
The most functional aspect of the update is that it looks different depending on the kind of device, so 7-inch tablets have a different presentation of Jelly Bean than 10-inch tablets or smartphones.
Among the updates are increased enhancements to the speed and performance of Android, new and sleeker widgets for the home screen, expandable notifications, and a more user-friendly app for viewing and deleting photos.
It also offers a new touchscreen keyboard for even more seamless text input, as well as new features for the ever-growing list of near field communication (NFC) devices, allowing users to tap phones together to enable things like photo sharing.
As for Asus, it said, “We are still investigating Jelly Bean updates for other devices, but we are not in a position to confirm whether any other products will be eligible for an update at the moment.”
