Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Motorola Mobility unit will offer a $100 credit to consumers who purchased an Android device that is not in line to upgrade to Android 4.1, a.k.a. Jelly Bean.
Motorola Mobility unveiled three new Droid-branded Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) devices Wednesday: The Droid Razr M, the Droid Razr HD and the Droid Razr Maxx HD. All three smartphones will roll out running Android 4.0, dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich, but will upgrade to Jelly Bean by the end of this year.
Motorola Mobility CEO Dennis Woodside said the $100 credit must be applied toward any one of those three handsets. To qualify for the upgrade offer, consumers must have purchased a Motorola-manufactured Android device released since the beginning of 2011, and that device must be on the short list of phones that will not run Jelly Bean for technical reasons.
"We know that keeping current on the latest Android operating system is important to all of our users," Woodside said. "We will upgrade most of our devices that were launched since 2011 to Jelly Bean very soon, but there are a small number of devices that can't be upgraded without degrading the phone performance." Motorola Mobility will specify which devices are eligible for the offer at a later date.
Android Jelly Bean, unveiled in late June during Google's annual I/O developer conference, promises a smoother and more responsive UI across the system, highlighted by triple buffering in the graphics pipeline for more consistent rendering as well as synchronized touch to reduce latency. Jelly Bean also brings a revamped homescreen that automatically adapts to fit content along with Google Now, which includes personalized information like local weather and traffic updates.
Google's Android Developers dashboard reveals that only 1.2 percent of devices run Android Jelly Bean. Android Ice Cream Sandwich now powers 20.9 percent of devices, while 57.5 percent of devices still run Android 2.3, a.k.a. Gingerbread.
