Galaxy Nexus gets Jelly Bean

Although it should have been the first to receive an upgrade, Sprint’s Galaxy Nexus is now finally getting Jelly Bean.

Of course, the word “finally” is used just to note that the Nexus devices have always been at the very top of the list for Android updates. Compared to other devices, though, the Galaxy Nexus is still getting Jelly Bean fairly early.

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 of Google’s latest numbers reported earlier this month, Jelly Bean is powering around 1.2% of all Android devices. The market is still dominated by version 2.3, Gingerbread.