14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like Google has just released a new version of its mobile platform. Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is now available for download OTA (over the air) and provides slight hardware changes among other things.
The new build is especially aimed at AOSP (Android Open Source Project), on which lots of custom ROMs are based. The new update is said to offer performance and stability improvements to AOSP.
The announcement went live several hours ago when Google’s (GOOG) Android Open Source Project technical lead Jean-Baptiste Queru mentioned the update would be pushed through Nexus 7 tablets.
“We're releasing Android 4.1.2 to AOSP today, which is a minor update on top of 4.1.1. As a note to maintainers of community builds running on Nexus 7: please update to 4.1.2 at the first opportunity. Future variants of the grouper hardware will have a minor change in one of the components (the power management chip) that will not be compatible with 4.1.1. The build number is JZO54K, and the tag is android-4.1.2_r1.”
As we already reported, this update adds a minor hardware change to the Nexus 7, but also includes landscape support for the stock launcher.
Although there's no timeframe for the release of this update to other devices, the Galaxy Nexus has been specifically mentioned as the next smartphone that will receive the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update.
Several improvements and fixes to the Search ability have been included in this update as well: fix history navigation functionality; faster ajax requery while typing; ignore ENTER key when performing requery to avoid reload; improve results reveal with minimum height for proper div.
Although Google has yet to release an official changelog for this Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update, it looks like Nexus 7 owners have been able to gather the full list of changes from git logs. Check it out here.