It’s taken a heck of a long time, but Samsung’s original Galaxy Note — the “phablet” that inspired a whole host of super-sized smartphones — is finally getting its much-anticipated Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean upgrade. The software is arriving over-the-air and via Samsung Kies to devices with the GT-N7000 model number, and it’s said to be hitting users in Asia first.

The Galaxy Note is no longer a top priority now that the Galaxy Note II is on the scene, but there will plenty of users who have been looking forward to this update — it’s arguably one of the biggest the device has received since it launched back in 2011, and it delivers a lot of the features that the Galaxy Note II is famous for.

It comes with all of the Jelly Bean improvements you’d expect — including Google Now and Project Butter — in addition to a whole host of enhancements to its TouchWiz interface, such as the “nature” UX, and features like multi-window. It also delivers a much-improved S Note experience, with applications like Paper Artist.

Although it may have taken some time, it’s great to see that Samsung is supporting the original Galaxy Note with an update like this. It’s almost 18 months old now, and its successor has been selling incredibly well, so the company could have decided to just leave the device on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. After all, some of these features are nice selling points for the Galaxy Note II.

It’s unclear where the software update will be headed next, but it shouldn’t be too long before it pops up in Europe. If you get it on your handset, but sure to let us know in the comments.

• ViaPhandroid