Android 4.4 KitKat finally its way to HTC One, Sony Xperia Z and the terminated Samsung Galaxy Nexus via three sources.

HTC One Official Android 4.4

HTC America recently announced an official Android 4.4 KitKat arriving on HTC One with a maximum waiting time of 90 days to its three variants. Developer Stephen Bird launched an AOSP fully functional Android 4.4 KitKat ROM for the AT&T, T-Mobile and international versions of HTC One.

According to Bird, he used binaries from HTC One's Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update on his Android 4.4 KitKat AOSP ROM and it is pretty much performing stably for an early build. However, early build contains some minor glitches and it includes the IR blaster, that currently is not working using the AOSP ROM.

Android 4.4 for Sony Xperia Z

Recent news pointed out that Sony Mobile will exclusively bring Android 4.4 KitKat to the Xperia Z1 smartphone and later to be sent out for Xperia Z1 and Z Ultra. But the XDA senior member pabx created an Android 4.4 KitKat AOSP ROM for Xperia Z smartphone running the build KRT16M - same firmware build on Nexus 5.

Among functions working smoothly on Xperia Z1 using the Android 4.4 AOSP ROM are as follows:

- Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC

- Audio

- Camera and movie recording

- Phone and SMS

- GSM mobile data

- Encrypted data

- OMX video for hardware accelerated playback

- Automatic display brightness

- No screen delay

However, there are some minor bugs found on the AOSP ROM such as selecting mobile network manually may cause "please wait" dialog and syncing problems with Google calendar but can be resolved by rebooting the phone twice.

All core applications are working smoothly and the overall system performance is quite stable for daily usage.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Revived

Google denied Android 4.4 KitKat on Samsung Galaxy Nexus due to the expiration of 18-month update window - standard used by manufacturers. But owners shouldn't be saddened for great news just happened.

Sprint variant of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus got an Android 4.4 AOSP ROM from the XDA senior member nolinuxnoparty designed to both maguro and toro codenamed devices. Similar with HTC One and Sony Xperia Z1 Android 4.4 ROM, the Galaxy Nexus ROM is based from Android 4.4 AOSP and currently in early stages.

This may be the last time Galaxy Nexus Sprint will get an Android 4.4 KitKat chocolate treat and hopefully, more developers will make more AOSP ROMs for other variants of the smartphone.

Some glitches found on the AOSP ROM includes graphic issues, GPS as toro, screenshot, camera and sensors while everything else such as phone calls and SMS are working perfectly which is decent enough for daily use.