14 DAY TRIAL // The Android 4.4 KitKat platform upgrade hasn’t been released for the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition smartphones out there, but Samsung has already published the kernel source for it.
You can now head over to the Samsung Open Source Release Center portal to grab the source code for the update, should you want to start building custom ROMs for the device.
The Google Play Edition Galaxy S4 features model number GT-I9505G, and shares the same hardware as the international LTE variant of the flagship device, namely model GT-I9505, as SamMobile notes.
This should allow ROM builders to come up with custom software for this device as well, courtesy of the aforementioned kernel source, though the TouchWiz interface would be missing from the package.
For those out of the loop, we should note that the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition was launched with the stock Android platform loaded on top, but that it is not considered a Google phone, the same as Nexus devices are.
However, the phone can deliver an almost unaltered experience to its users, while also being among the first to receive new platform iterations when they are made available from Google.
The Android 4.4 KitKat update is one of these, though it remains to be seen exactly when it begins to roll out to users out there.
However, considering the fact that the kernel source for the update has been already released, chances are that Samsung will kick off the deployment of the update very soon, maybe even as soon as today.
In the meantime, however, users and developers interested in learning more about what the Android 4.4 KitKat will bring new to Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition should head over to the aforementioned Samsung OSRC website to download the source code for it.
It was put up for grabs as version MKG, which suggests that the final firmware for the Galaxy S4 could arrive as I9505GUEUCMKG, SamMobile notes. Stay tuned for more on this.