Jelly Bean fate on Galaxy S II unclear

After confirming that Android 4.1 will be hitting the Galaxy S III, Samsung is a bit less clear on the phone’s predecessor.The company did not provide any information on whether or not the Galaxy S II would be able to grab an update to the latest version of Google’s mobile OS, also known as Jelly Bean.

However, its silence also means that the update has not been scrapped. Previous rumors suggested there would be a Jelly Bean upgrade for the device by the end of the year.

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.