Motorola RAZR and RAZR MAXX now getting Android Jelly Bean update

Motorola is continuing with its rollout of Android Jelly Bean to its RAZR family of smartphones, with the RAZR and RAZR MAXX both now in its sights. As of the end of last week the update has started the gradual rollout process to both phones.

Both phones will be upgraded to Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean, as per Moto’s promise to update. The two phones were only updated to Ice Cream Sandwich back in Q4 of 2012, so we have to applaud the quick turnaround from Motorola. They join the RAZR i and RAZR M, which both also started the Jelly Bean update process recently.

Users on Verizon Wireless in the US have already started receiving the update over the air, although at the moment there’s no clear path as to which countries and networks will get the update and when. We do know that the update will arrive directly to the phone via a Wi-Fi connection however, so it should be a nice and straightforward process.

The update adds the usual Jelly Bean goodies including Google Now search and added speed and smoothness thanks to Google’s Project Butter technology. Interestingly the update will remove some of Motorola’s Motoblur skin, with some apps and widgets removed and replaced by Google’s own stock options – perhaps this is something Google has controlled through its ownership of Moto.

Aside from the usual Jelly Bean improvements Motorola has also upgraded MOTOCAST to be a standalone app that’s now much faster that it’s on its own. Moto’s My MOTOCAST, My Gallery, My Music, World Clock and some other widgets have also been given the boot.

To check for the update head into Settings > About phone > System updates.