The Android fan base has been overloaded with Jelly Bean news recently—Samsung unleashed a slew of new Jelly Bean “Premium Suite” features beginning last week, and with each passing day it seems as if a new device is getting the upgrade. Today, news has surfaced that indicates Verizon’s Galaxy S3 handset could make the switch to update very soon.

In fact, rumors have said that the Galaxy S3 operating on Verizon’s network could receive the Jelly Bean update as early as Friday. This tip comes from Android news blog Android Community, but it’s important to remember that neither Samsung nor Verizon have spoken on the matter.

What’s most convincing, however, is that Verizon has begun showcasing Samsung’s flagship smartphone touting the Jelly Bean interface. The image shown on Verizon’s website depicts a stock version of Jelly Bean. A stock version of Android is the most basic version of the mobile operating system that comes with devices such as Google’s Nexus S and features no user interface overlay on top of the software.

Jelly Bean for the Galaxy S3 probably won’t look anything like that, seeing as Samsung has heavily skinned their version of Android with an interface known as TouchWiz. While the photo may not accurately depict what Jelly Bean looks like on the Galaxy S3, it is a positive sign for Verizon owners of the phone.

Earlier this week a version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean reportedly leaked for Verizon Galaxy S3 owners. It’s not the first edition of Google’s treat-themed operating system to leak, but it gave some impatient Android fans yet another unofficial Jelly Bean build to play with.

The version that surfaced last week was labeled with a Nov. 30 build date and is said to be the most accurate rendition yet. Android Community claims that this recently leaked operating system, available through the XDA forum, is official software from Samsung that hasn’t been publicly released yet. While this may or may not be true, it provides more evidence that Samsung could be closer to finishing its Jelly Bean build for Verizon’s Galaxy S3.

When the update does arrive finally hit Verizon, Galaxy S3 owners certainly have a reason to be excited. The new mobile operating system update brings more advanced features to Android device users, such as a fresh, smooth UI known as Project Butter and other additions such as the NFC-enabled Android Beam, Google Now, and an improved notification center and camera app.

Samsung also appears to be tying two of its flagship devices even closer together as the company rolls out these new updates. One of the many features to come with Samsung’s “Premium Suite” Jelly Bean pack is the Multi-Window feature that debuted with its Galaxy Note 2. This allows users to open multiple apps simultaneously and view them side-by-side by opening more than one window on the screen. This simulates more of a PC user experience, a Samsung representative said during the Galaxy Note 2’s Verizon launch.

Google has a long way to go if it wants Jelly Bean to become a widely used operating system, but as the year draws to an end the software seems to be spreading. The most recent statistics from Google’s developer dashboard indicate that Android 2.3 Gingerbread is still dominating the market, accounting for more than half of the software’s market share. Jelly Bean, however, is slowly but surely climbing, as it currently claims almost six percent of the Android market.

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