Sprint get's 4.3..... Verizon still nothing!

News on the internets today includes the notice from Sprint that their Galaxy Nexus Variant will be getting 4.3 in the next few days. While, its not the 4.4 Kit Kat release that we are all waiting to hear about later today, its still better than the NOTHING that Verizon has released or even talked about.

Still left waiting....


DnT
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Did Verizon's internal clock reset?

So, I've been waiting for 4.3 to roll out for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus.... but not a peep has been heard. No leaks, no test groups, nothing. Which makes me wonder, did the JWR66Y update that rolled out on August 21, 2013 for the GSM Galaxy Nexus restart Verizon's internal "testing" procedures? According to Verizon's response to complaints about customers being unable to activate Nexus 7's with LTE, their testing process takes between 4-6 weeks to complete and certify a device for their network. I'm starting to think that Verizon probably has similar testing for updates and were mid-test when the bug fixes rolled out... and that sent them back to the beginning. If that is the case, and the clock re-started on 8/21, I should re-calibrate my predictions right? Though, Verizon's updates never seem to fall in that 4-6 week window.

So... if Verizon matches their speed with the 4.2.2 update of 19 days to a soak test and 36 days to release, that would've put us at September 9th for the soak test. So, let's assume Verizon goes back to their 50 days to soak test schedule from the 4.1 update. That puts the soak test at around October 10th.  Only time will tell.

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DnT

Start the clock...

Today Google officially announced Android 4.3. They stated that the Galaxy Nexus (along with the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10) would be getting that update, with updates beginning to get pushed out today. So let the "Verizon delay clock" begin....

Here's the Galaxy Nexus update history for comparison.  The 4.2.2 update came fairly quickly in only 36 days (by Verizon standards).  Based on that timeline, I'm hoping for an August 12th "soak test" followed shortly thereafter by a leaked version...and then an official OTA around August 29th.  Only time will tell.




4.0.4: ICS update
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4.0.4 was pushed by google (GSM) around March 30th.
4.0.4 was soak tested by Verizon on May 1st.
4.0.4 was pushed by Verizon around May 31-June 1

So, right on 60 days to 4.0.4


4.1: Jellybean
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Google began updating their GSM Nexus to Jelly Bean (4.1) on July 10th.
Verizon's soak test started on August 29, 2012.
An early leak was posted online in the first week of September. (I installed on 9/5)
The full update was rolled out 9/21

So about 73 days to Jelly Bean 4.1.


4.2: JB update
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The 4.2 update began rolling out on November 13, 2012 to the Domestic GSM variant "takju". 
4.2.1 was pushed out with a bug fix on November 27, 2012.
The Sprint CDMA variant started updating on January 30th, 2013
Verizon NEVER saw 4.2 or 4.2.1


4.2.2: JB update
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4.2.2 was released on February 11, 2012
4.2.2 hits Verizon testers on March 2, 2013 (only 19 days! That has to be a record)
On March 4, 2013 a leaked version was posted online. (I installed it on 3/5)
4.2.2 begins hitting Verizon Galaxy Nexus phones OTA on March 19th, 2013 (36 days - a Verizon record I'm sure!)

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DnT

Jelly Bean for Verizon (UPDATE!)

While the official Jelly Bean update for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is still MIA, there is a leaked version (JRO03O) that has been making the rounds on the internet. 

(UPDATED 9/21) The official Verizon update has arrived! Users are reporting the update is now available via Wi-Fi ONLY for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus. Get on Wi-Fi and hit that 'Check For Update' button now! 

I installed the leak on my rooted GN on September 5th and have been running it since. I thought I'd share my impressions here for those who may have grown impatient.

Jelly Bean definitely shows marked improvement in the responsiveness of the phone in terms of swiping, scrolling, and opening apps. Google Now offers some really intriguing features, but at this point for me they offered little value. The updates on sports scores were nice (at least once Google got NFL scores going for week 2!). I imagine people who do a lot of travelling would love the flight updates and travel features, but as I rarely move about the country (and even less about the world), they were of little use to me. Same goes for traffic updates - I work from home so traffic notifications offer me no help. I tried to  activate "places" to get updates on nearby events or businesses but I never had a card show up. Its possible I just hadn't given Now a chance to learn about me before disabling it.  The real issue for me, though, was the seemingly large increase in battery usage attributed to map/location-related programs. Under Better Battery Stats, there were no fewer than 5 different processes responsible for 'waking up' the processor on my phone, some with significant usage. Location services have always seemed to use an excessive amount of background processor time which always bugged me, but the increase I saw with Google Now active was just too much.

(Update: I'm giving Google Now another shot but with limited location features to see if it works any better)

The most obvious other change I saw in Jelly Bean was the device settings page. Instead of the previous "accounts & sync" line, Android 4.1 brings all your accounts to the main list for easier access and modification. I really don't find this to be a valuable addition as I rarely ever find myself adjusting things like app syncing. I usually keep all but the minimum necessities OFF. I feel that this change didn't add anything and just cluttered up the main settings screen and forced me to scroll more to get down to things like 'developer options' and 'about phone'.

The most useful change in Jelly Bean is the notification bar. Aside from the font style and color change, the notifications are far more useful. Instead of a very limited listing of your notifications, Jelly Bean provides you with a very detailed list of what's waiting for you including the content of SMS messages and an extended amount of info from received gmails, not to mention the ability to call contacts directly from missed call notifications.  It really makes the notification bar so much more useful.

As far as functionality goes, the radios did not appear to offer me any improvements over the prior versions, but then again, I never had major problems despite being in a borderline 3G/4G area.

[Note: If you were rooted on ICS and flashed the Jellybean update, you probably lost root and don't even know it. To regain root, copy this updated SU zip file to your sdcard and then install the zip through cockwork recovery.]

-DnT

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