Word from HTC about Jelly Bean support came right on the heels of the Android 4.1 launch. Now, HTC has posted a Frequently Asked Question page on Jelly Bean updates. If you’re sporting an HTC One X or One S on Truphone SIM (or if you’re one of the many Truphone VoIP app users) and you’ve been waiting for an update, HTC has good news for you:
We’re looking forward to providing our HTC One X and HTC One S customers with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) along with our latest version of HTC Sense. As with any software upgrade, we work closely with our carrier partners to ensure we deliver the best experience possible on our devices.
After internal testing, we test the software on live networks in order to confirm the experience matches our expectations, and carrier expectations, for performance, connectivity and platform stability. While testing takes time, we’re working quickly with our carrier partners to rollout these updates. We’ll provide information on availability once the software is ready for release.
HTC says that although they are laser-focused on their 2012 devices such as the One X and One S right now, they are considering their “ability to provide updates to products from 2011.” However, users with a device that includes less than 512 MB of RAM or less are likely out of luck as far as updates are concerned. In addition, all device updates will include the update to HTC Sense 4+.
Also on the FAQ page is HTC’s response as to why updates take so long to release, something many users on Android have grown accustomed to but are still irritated by nonetheless:
Our goal is to make sure that an upgrade provides an improved customer experience and that means a high standard of quality for hardware compatibility, adapting device or carrier specific customizations, testing by HTC and partners, addressing device hardware constraints, and many other factors.