This was pretty quick. An Android 4.1.2 firmware update for Samsung Galaxy S3 has been leaked on the web, thanks to SamMobile. The firmware version is XXELK4 and brings a plethora of new features to the flagship phone of Samsung, including the much touted Multi-view feature,which allows you to cascade two applications simultaneously as well a few apps from the Samsung Galaxy Note.
What’s New in Android 4.1.2?
1. Multi-View
Originally a feature of Samsung Galaxy Note II, Multi-View lets you cascade two apps simultaneously allowing you to desktop-style multitasking on your big screen phone. It won’t change your life radically, but will sure come handy in situations, like when you want to text and browse the web at the same time. This is a small yet very impressive feature that perfectly makes use of the gigantic screen. 
2. Page Buddy
The second new addition in our list, Page Buddy is a context-based home-screen that appears as soon as you plug-in your earphones or dock. For earphones as an example, it includes a music player and a video player widget by default and new ones can be added manually as well. Further more, the applications in the dock area also change according to situation as well.
3. New Apps
Apart from new features, the new Android 4.1.2 XXELK4 firmware for Samsung Galaxy S3 also includes a set of new applications:
1. Gallery: Taken from the Note II, the new update brings a visual overhaul to the gallery application, especially for organization of photos. You can now create a new album, move and copy photos in the new gallery eliminating the need of a separate file manager to do the same job.
2. Paper Artist: Paper Artist is another small app from Galaxy Note II, which lets you give paper effects to your photos and draw on them. There’s nothing much to talk about it – it’s a very basic drawing app.
3. OfficeSuite: The new update also brings in a new office application – OfficeSuite. The app included in the phone, however, is a trial version, which only includes… Samsung earlier used to include Polaris viewer application on their phones.
Smart Rotation
Smart Rotation disables auto screen rotation by using the front camera to detect the orientation of the user’s face and rotates the screen accordingly. It’s quite similar to the way how Smart Stay works.
Improved File Manager
The file manager app that comes pre-installed has been improved as well. The app now has a bookmarks start-screen for shortcuts to your most-frequently accessed folders. The update also includes select check-boxes beside every file item as well.
Customizable Notification Panel
Samsung has finally included a way to customize the hardware toggle buttons present in the notification window. The buttons can now be re-arranged and added/removed by going into the Settings > Notification Panel.
How To Upgrade?
We’ve written a detailed tutorial describing the steps required to flash Android 4.1.2 XXELK4 in Samsung Galaxy S3:
Full credits goes to SamMobile for the firmware.Is It Safe? Are There Any Bugs?
Completely safe. I’ve been using the firmware for almost three days and I haven’t come across bugs of any kind. The firmware is smooth, free of flaws and completely safe to try. To sum up in a word, the whole upgrade that Samsung is going to deliver to us in a few days truly Impressive. We were blown away by the new features that Samsung has packed in. You can ask me if you have any questions regarding this firmware.
