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Android 4.4.3 KitKat Update Appears at U.S. Carrier

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Google’s rumored Android 4.4.3 KitKat update has been spotted once again ahead of its highly anticipated release for the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, Samsung Galaxy S5, and others.

For weeks, the Android 4.4.3 KitKat update has been the subject of rumor and speculation thanks to a series of leaks, sightings, and rumors that all captivated the Android community. The latest Android 4.4.3 KitKat tease doesn’t come from Motorola, Samsung or Google itself, but it comes from the United States fifth largest carrier, U.S. Cellular.

Mistake or not, the Android 4.4.3 KitKat update appears destined for the Galaxy S5.

Mistake or not, the Android 4.4.3 KitKat update appears destined for the Galaxy S5.

On the U.S. Cellular Android download page, the Samsung Galaxy S5 is listed as having Android 4.4.3 KitKat, an update that hasn’t been released by Google but an update that has been rumored for the Samsung Galaxy S5. The base band version refers to the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update and we haven’t seen any U.S. Cellular Galaxy S5 owners boast about Android 4.4.3 KitKat so it’s not clear what’s going on here.

The Android 4.4.3 reference has been up on the carrier’s website for at least a few days now. Google’s cache only goes back to May 25th so we can’t say when it first appeared.

Samsung Galaxy S5 vs Galaxy S4 vs Galaxy S3 -  Build Quality

It could be that this is just a simple mistake though given all of the rumors that have been floating around about the Samsung Galaxy S5 Android 4.4.3 KitKat update, we can’t help but wonder if it’s something more than that.

Rumors point to a Galaxy S5 Android 4.4.3 KitKat update release in the next few weeks so it’s also possible that U.S. Cellular simply got ahead of itself. It wouldn’t be the first time that this has happened with Android 4.4.3.

In April, Sprint announced plans to roll out the Nexus 5 Android 4.4.3 KitKat upgrade. The update, it said, would deploy from April 14th to April 21st. Shortly after making the announcement, after a grand total of zero Nexus 5 users got the update, Sprint confirmed that the update was delayed indefinitely due to problems.

Samsung Galaxy S5 vs Galaxy S4 vs Galaxy S3 - Comparison

Since then, we’ve seen Google out the Android 4.4.3 KitKat update not once, but twice. In fact, the company leaked the entire Android 4.4.3 change log into the Android Open Source Developer Project ahead of its release. Since then, we’ve seen Motorola tease the update inside a Moto E promotional video and we’ve seen it appear on Samsung’s website.

Recent Android 4.4.3 KitKat rumors point to a release for the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A and noted HTC leakster LlabTooFeR maintains that the update will arrive for the HTC One M7 and the HTC One M8 in either May or June, specific release dates not yet known.

Android 4.4.3 KitKat is expected to be a massive bug fix update aimed at alleviating many of the issues that arrived with Android 4.4.2 KitKat back in November. Owners of Google’s Nexus 7, Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and Nexus 10 have been extremely vocal about the problems plaguing Android 4.4.2 KitKat and rumors suggest that they will be getting the upgrade down the road.

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The update is expected to tackle everything from VPN issues to camera problems though it’s also expected to contain unique enhancements for carrier-branded devices. For instance, Sprint’s delayed Nexus 5 Android 4.4.3 KitKat update should enable Sprint Spark band 26 and band 41 when it arrives.

Google’s update is all but confirmed at this point and with Google I/O fast approaching, it could be that we finally see a release in the near future. Google typically announces its updates shortly before the release which means that Android users probably won’t find out about the Android 4.4.3 KitKat update’s release date until the day that it arrives.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Simon Belmont

    05/29/2014 at 8:45 am

    “Aimed at alleviating many of the issues that arrived with Android 4.4.2 KitKat back in November.” Wrong.

    Android 4.4 originally came in November. Android 4.4.2 didn’t roll out until December.

  2. chazzmatt

    05/29/2014 at 10:05 am

    I think Google is trying to wrest the Vaporware winner title from “Duke Nukem Forever”.

    Enough with the rumors and sightings. Just RELEASE it already! Google, how hard can it be just to do a bug update?

  3. sampler

    05/31/2014 at 7:29 am

    In deed, just release. Streaming audio with bleutooth sucks…… On Nexus 7.

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