Verizon Galaxy Nexus Beaten to Jelly Bean by Non-Nexus, Again

Just in case there were any Verizon Galaxy Nexus owners holding out hope that their device was still a Nexus smartphone, the dream is over. Asus, once again, has beaten Verizon to Jelly Bean as the Asus Transformer Pad 300 has received Android 4.2 Jelly Bean ahead of Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus, the last Nexus in the U.S. that is without an upgrade to Android 4.2.

Read: Verizon Galaxy Nexus Android 4.2 Roll Out Closer Than Ever.

Last night, Asus announced that the Transformer Pad 300 in the United States is now the proud owner of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, the most current Android update from Google. The update should now be available to owners through the device’s settings and those who choose to upgrade will be taken from Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

The update is rolling out OTA, Over-the-Air, which means that some owners may not see the update today. Still, owners will definitely want to check in the settings as is this an update worth getting.

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean brings a number of features to the table including improvements to Google Now, a gesture-enhanced Keyboard, a Quick Settings function, lock screen settings and more. It’s an incremental update from Android 4.1, but it’s still a sizable update nonetheless.

What this roll out also means is that the the Verizon Galaxy Nexus Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update has been beaten to the punch by Asus. Unsurprising, given that Asus did the same thing to Verizon back in August of last year.

Read: Samsung Galaxy S4 Might Steal Android 4.2 Feature.

In August, Asus rolled out Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for the Transformer Pad 300 beating the Verizon Galaxy Nexus to the punch by more than a month. The Verizon Galaxy Nexus Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update didn’t arrive until late September.

We have seen signs that a roll out could be close but thus far, neither Samsung nor Verizon has confirmed an Android 4.2 roll out time frame for a device that was once thought to be Google’s very best Nexus effort.

Instead, owners of the Verizon Galaxy Nexus have to once again watch as a non-Nexus gets a Jelly Bean update first.