Galaxy Note 3 begins Android 4.4 rollout, will proceed like molasses to a phablet near you

By Joshua Sherman January 18, 2014

android 4 2 kitkat begun rolling samsung note 3 note3 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you’re an owner of Samsung’s hefty Note 3 phablet, then you’ll be happy to know there’s chocolate in your future. Samsung has just begun its preliminary rollout for Android 4.4 KitKat in Poland, which means eventually your device should get it, too.

The Galaxy Note 3 was released in September, and it has since become an extremely popular phablet, with more than 10 million sold since. Since it’s been so popular, it’s a no-brainer that we’re already seeing Samsung prepare the device for Android 4.4, which was released about a month after the Note 3, back in late October.

Android 4.4 isn’t exactly a mind-blowing improvement to the OS, but it does bring some must-have features for any avid smartphone user. Android 4.4 adds general performance and stability improvements, as well as the option to choose a default SMS application, letting users choose between their favorite messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or even Google Hangouts. Since the Note 3 runs Samsung’s exclusive TouchWiz interface, it probably won’t include the Google Experience, which is Google’s new launcher featuring the iconic search bar at the top.

Poland has been selected by Samsung to be the “test region” for the launch of this new Android OS, and once it meets Samsung’s desired performance it’ll bring it to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, American users will be at the whim of their carriers before they see this update – unless of course they flash a custom rom with Android 4.4 already built in. Either way, it’s good to see Samsung keeping up with Android just months after the launch of KitKat.

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Joshua Sherman is a contributor for Digital Trends who writes about all things mobile from Apple to Zynga. Josh pulls his…

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