During their first Google I/O 2012 keynote on Wednesday Google announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The latest version of Google’s mobile operating system comes packed with all kinds of good stuff, including a much smoother, faster interface, better notifications, and a very impressive Voice Search feature.
Android developers were, of course, able to get the developer preview of Jelly Bean on Wednesday following the keynote. The rest of the Android community, though, is just going to have to wait until Jelly Bean ships in mid-July (or however long after that it takes for their respective carriers and device manufacturers to roll out the update). Or so it seemed.
In what has to be some sort of record, the Jelly Bean developer preview was leaked to the public within 24 hours of Google’s keynote. Initially it was only available for the GSM Galaxy Nexus (the one you buy from Google Play). In almost no time at all, though, the kinks had been worked out to make Jelly Bean compatible with Verizon’s LTE version as well.
The leak was posted at RootzWiki, who included a link to the download, along with instructions for installing Jelly Bean on your Galaxy Nexus. The only drawback – if you can call it that – is that it requires you to root your phone. Of course, RootzWiki also posted the obligatory disclaimer: this isn’t an official release, in fact it’s still a beta. So while you’re free to install it on your phone, don’t be surprised if it turns out to be a little (or a lot) buggier than you’d hoped.