I am completely torn on whether to keep the Verizon S3 or sell it and put the profit towards the Samsung variant.
My primary concern is whether the limited root access on the encrypted Verizon variant will prevent updates from coming as quickly to the developer version. As in, if the dev version gets JellyBean months before the Verizon variant, and we have to wait for an official OTA because Samsung/Verizon take way too long to issue updates anyways.
Thoughts?
No version of the GS3 is going to get a Jellybean update from Samsung any time soon. Samsung will have to do a LOT of work to Touchwiz to incorporate it into Jellybean. I would not expect Samsung to have it ready until the end of this year at the earliest.
THEN, the dev device (and probably the international version) will get the Jellybean update from Samsung.
THEN, the rest of the carriers (minus Verizon) will get the Jellybean update (probably months after Samsung finishes it).
THEN, the VZW GS3 will get the Jellybean update some time next year after everyone else has it.
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Of course, I'm referring to official OTA updates. There will likely be leaks, and custom ROMs that incorporate Jellybean (like CM10) but only time will tell if we get them working good on the VZW GS3. The development version will make it easier, but we really don't know yet how much development time will be put into it, or if everything will be interchangeable between the dev version and subsidized version.
So if you're looking to stay on the official upgrade path OTA, then I don't think either the subsidized version or the dev version will get Jellybean until the end of the year AT THE EARLIEST. The official version from Verizon probably not until next year. But if you're looking to stray from the official upgrade path, you can probably get custom roms for the dev version that incorporate JB a short time after the dev version is released. The subsidized version, we still don't know because the work is still being done.
Personally, I'm just going to stick with the subsidized version and enjoy it. I'm using it with Nova Launcher and there's not much I miss from AOKP or Jellybean. Google Now and the updated Voice Input are the only major things that i miss. The GS3 interface is already buttery fast, and Samsung has already added a lot of things to Touchwiz that are in custom roms (power menu, lock screen icons, etc).