If you have a Galaxy S III (and probably a Note II) and are stuck in a two year contract, don’t fret. The Galaxy S 4 may have come out, but the owners of these older devices are going to get a lot of the software features introduced yesterday. Samsung VP Nick DiCarlo said “Anything that we can do that’s not dependent on hardware like infrared, we’ll definitely bring to all the flagship devices.”

This continues Samsung’s trend of amazing updates. With the Galaxy S II and original Note getting Jelly Bean, complete with the newer Nature UX and many of the features of the S III/Note II, Samsung is supporting older devices and keeping customers happy. Now they say the same thing is to happen for current gen Galaxy owners in the form of an update to 4.2.

With that update, you may get new features such as:

Camera-related:

• Drama Shot: takes up to 100 photos in 4 seconds, and overlays them into one
• Eraser: if someone walks into the shot, you can easily remove them
• Dual mode: use both cameras at the same time
• Sound & Shot: captures an image with sound
• Dual Video call: Use both cameras while on a video chat, presumably only works with Samsung’s ChatON software
• …and more

Various software:

• S Translator: translates nine different languages in real-time – both text to speech andspeech to text.
• S Voice Drive: Control your phone with your voice while in the car – it can even read SMS messages and the like back to you.
• S Travel
• S Health: With accompanying accessories – S Band, Body Scale, and Heart Rate Monitor – the GS4 will help you get healthy. Given that you actually use the stuff, of course.
• Air Call accept: simply wave your hand over the screen to answer a call. Neato.
• Group Play: not as dirty as it sounds, this lets users share music, photos, documents, and games with devices around without the need for Wi-Fi or even a cellular AP. It’s magic.
• Share Music: Plays the same song on multiple devices in real-time.

If Samsung is going to keep us happy with our older devices, instead of practicing planned obsolescence like many do, we couldn’t be happier. Hopefully we’ll see these updates soon. What do you guys think of this?

PGMag | Android Police