The launch of the Nexus 4 and Android 4.2 comes with a bit of sad news. Android Open Source Project technical lead Jean-Baptiste Queru announced today that the Nexus S and Motorola XOOM will not be updated to Android 4.2. Both devices will finish out their days on Android 4.1.2, just like the Nexus One was labeled as “too-old” to be upgraded to Android 4.0 last year.
Google isn't revealing the reason behind this decision, but we have a feeling that hardware limitations and the age of the devices have a lot to do with it. Android 4.1 runs quite well on both devices, but many users have complained that the latest update has significantly slowed down their devices. The Motorola XOOM was never a huge success, and most people who purchased the Nexus S at launch have likely upgraded to a newer phone by now.
However, not all hope is lost. A year after the Nexus One was abandoned, the development community is still working hard to make sure that the device is running on the latest version of Android. We have no doubt that the same will be true for the Nexus S and Motorola XOOM. Love you my Nexus S..