As we started living in May, we discovered that all owners of the S3 would be receiving Android 4.4.2 KitKat after initially fearing that it wouldn’t come because that is what several rumors and inside sources were suggesting. However, it was well before that time in March that we new Bell, one of the Canadian phone carriers mentioned here, would be getting Android 4.4.2 KitKat for the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2. This post is all about the S3 and today we learned that the traditional update is coming to bell, TELUS mobility and Rogers as an over the air update otherwise known as an OTA.

These are an excellent way to update the software as long as you are within the region that they roll out to. In this case, it will be everybody in the country of Canada who gets these coming in as a system notification alerting you that your smartphone is ready to update. You can follow the prompt when you see it for a quick installation or you can check manually by navigating your path to Settings > More> About Device> Software Update.

Galaxy S3 KitKat

Normally we see wireless providers issuing these updates one at a time in the United States and also in other parts of the world. It looks like Canada have gone with their own approach and are starting to deliver these all at the same time which is fantastic for the end users who don’t have to be subject of companies playing the favorite game. If it continues that way in the future, it will be one less headache when trying to decide which network to subscribe too when choosing a smartphone.

The new software is pushing through to Galaxy Note 2 users in the same country at the same time. For the Note 2 the file size is around the 500 MB mark and for the Galaxy S3 it’s more towards the 400 MB mark. If you have any experience with file sizes, you’ll understand that it is a significant upgrade that should be done using a stable home WiFi connection. Give this one a miss from the mobile data because it uses up too many data and the risk of it being interrupted is high because it will take a while before it finishes. We want to update to the new firmware without interruptions for the safest experience. Depending on your data speed from phone or home routers it will take anywhere from 20 minutes to one hour to finish installing. You might want to consider that before you start and set aside an appropriate time to do it even though you are surely antsy to get cracking.

No matter what way you choose to download and install the OTA you should backup personal data such as call logs, contacts, photos, videos, music, SMS and MMS texts and more. It is especially true if you decided to take the risk of using mobile data because you don’t have WiFi at the moment. The chance of needing a factory reset is greater than what it would have been using the WiFi. The S3 comes with 32 GB of built-in storage space, and that is great to backup to if you have space left. If not try using one of the microSD, microSDHC or microSDXC card options available that manage to store an extra 64 GB of space. There’s also Google Drive that loves to host data for you if you need more and if you struggle backing up your apps trying to use an application such as helium available from the Google Play Store to help you out.

The battery is 2100 mAh and gives users 22 hours of talk time when brand new. Obviously it has a lot of miles on most people’s handsets to date so it won’t last that long anymore. Make sure you have enough battery power to see you through the update because we won’t be connected to the computer to take advantage of the USB charging this time.

I’ll list a few features you will notice, and I’ll try my best to do them in order, so you don’t get lost with what I’m saying. After the first reboot, you will see a new white camera app icon in the bottom corner of the screen. It’s a big image and easily recognizable due to its size and a big camera shape. You can slide this upward now to access the camera app that was only available after unlocking previously. It is great for people taking happy snaps of you, so you don’t have to yell out your password combination across the room instead. It won’t give them access to any photos that people took previously, so they remain secure. The keyboard receives updates in landscape mode, and it receives a significant Emoji update with many smiley face symbols you can include in your conversations now. The notification tray has a new font. There is wireless printing support, online email editing, white status bar icons including the battery, WiFi and signal strength come to give a stock Kitkat feel. When the battery drains or signal is not full, it will show translucent white bars. Music player control improvements; multitasking enhancements, there’s a full screen immersive mode that you can delve into rich content without any distractions like the status bar in your way.

Easter Eggs have a long tradition inside of Android operating systems. The developers enjoy giving the fans something to play with to spark their passion for getting to know these software incremental updates and why not? Gingerbread had the Zombie Androidpocalypse which is nowhere near as scary as it sounds. Honeycomb gave us the Tron: Legacy Bee; Ice Cream Sandwich wowed us with the Nyandroid that I ma still trying to understand. Jelly Bean offered the Jelly Bean mini-game and now we have the KitKat magic tiles. I like Kitkat the best because of its Tetris style game and also the other images and pages it shows leading up to the final stage. To check out the new Android 4.2.2 Kitkat, Easter Egg go to Settings > About phone > Tap the build number fast and often and the letter K will show up. Tape, and it will spin then be greeted with the official logo that rips off the chocolate bar. Tap that screen again to find the end game.