Android 4.1.2 Update on the Samsung Galaxy SIII (SGH-I747)

Calling all SIII owners in North America! As the 1-year anniversary of the North American SIII comes around, your prayers have been answered. 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is now available for the Samsung Galaxy SIII LTE (SGH-I747). It was a disappointingly long wait as this update came out for other SIII models many months ago. This 200 MB update can be downloaded and installed through Samsung Kies or Over-the-Air on your device.

A demonstration of Multi Window

The 4.1.2 update brings the Samsung Premium Suite to the SIII. This includes a host of "new" features. Your device may already have some Premium Suite features through segregated updates in the past months. The features in the update include:

Smart Rotation
With Face Detection enabled, the phone will intelligently rotate with your head. For example, if you are lying down, the phone will not switch to landscape when smart rotation is enabled.

Multi Window
A long awaited feature first shown on the Note II, Multi Window allows for 2 apps to be used at the same time. The screen will be split into two sections, one for each app. This feature redefines multitasking on a mobile device, eliminating the need to switch between apps. If you do not like any of the other features, multi window alone should be reason enough to download this update.

Buddy Pages
Included in previous updates, Buddy Pages help to quickly find apps when using your SIII. For example, if you plug in headphones, a Buddy Page will appear to suggest apps that you may like. There are also buddy pages for docking and when roaming.

Tag Buddy
This feature allows more information to be stored with your pictures and videos. It notes the weather, the location, and who is in the photo on the picture.

Enhanced Pop-Up Player
A great feature that originally shipped with the SIII, the enhanced version of the pop-up video player allows for screen resizing and controls for play/pause.

Auto Share Shot
By enabling NFC and Auto Share Shot, two compatible Galaxy devices can be connected and when the host device takes a picture, it will also appear on the other device.

Information Ticker
Also included in previous updates, information tickers such as Facebook or Stocks can be displayed on the lock screen for quick access to information.

Reader Mode
This feature restructures the webpage to better fit on the device. It is only available when using the stock internet browser.

Some other features that users have noted is an improved Gallery and improved HSPA+ speeds. The screen shot UI has also changed. Rather than a scanner like white bar, the phone shows a white border around the screen, like when a picture is taken.

This update brings the above rather gimmicky features to your device. This update is also available on other Galaxy devices such as the Note II, but the same update was released at around January. This was a good move by Samsung to bring some new life to the SIII but since it took them so long to release in North America, users may have already found alternatives to these now standard features.