Samsung learns from its mistakes, says only that 4.1 Jelly Bean for the Galaxy S3 is coming “very soon”

During its IFA 2012 press conference, Samsung confirmed that an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update would be coming to the Galaxy S3 "very soon."

The journey began in December last year, when Samsung announced it would be bringing the then latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, to a variety of its Galaxy smartphones and tablets in early 2012.

As one of those devices was the best-selling Galaxy S2, this news garnered plenty of attention, but sadly, Samsung’s less than precise timing caused all sorts of problems. Owners became frustrated at the lack of Ice Cream Sandwich on their beloved phones, and Samsung worked as hard to placate the masses as it did on the update itself.

Even the mid-March confirmation of the update’s arrival was mismanaged, as networks still had to test it, plus in some cases the usually first-on-the-list SIM-free device owners had to wait longer than those with locked phones. It was all a bit of a disaster.

No sooner was Samsung’s nightmare over before it began again, as Google announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean a short while after the flagship Galaxy S3 phone went on sale…with Ice Cream Sandwich installed.

Jelly Bean on the Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 10.1

Rumors of a Jelly Bean update for the S3 soon started to spread, and now, during the IFA 2012 press conference, it was confirmed that Jelly Bean was about to make it to the Galaxy S3 too. Not only that, but the original Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet will join it too.

But Samsung has learned its lesson, as there was no mention of it coming in the next month, before Christmas or even just “in 2012,” with the spokesperson preferring to say only that it’s coming “very soon.”

If Samsung is sensible, it won’t say anything else until the update is about to make its way to the networks, when it’ll be out of Samsung’s hands. Any speculation will down to the press to make.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is a modest yet interesting update, with a variety of features that should work well on the quad-core Galaxy S3, and you can read all about them in our guide here.

So when could “very soon” mean? Well, soon is defined as a short time, and the addition of very emphasizes this, which in Samsung’s world could mean between now and next year. As with all Android updates, patience is needed, but at least we know it’s coming.