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Android 5.0 Lollipop has apparently begun its worldwide tour to reach owners of Samsung’s Galaxy S5.
Released by Google on November 3, the latest flavor of Google’s mobile operating system is now available for the GS5 in Poland, blog site SamMobile said Wednesday. Poland has been used by mobile device makers as a starting point to test out new Android updates before it spreads around the world. As such, the Polish launch is a good sign that Lollipop should soon start to pop up in other regions.
The Polish version of the Galaxy S5 has the same model number as the version used in Europe, according to blog site SlashGear, which means European users could be next on the list. Samsung is also likely to launch Android 5.0 in its home base of South Korea at some point in the near future.
A similar scenario has played out with LG’s G3 smartphone. Owners of the phone residing in Poland were first on the list to receive a bite of Lollipop. Just a couple of weeks later, G3 owners in South Korea started seeing the update appear on their devices. Android 5.0 could reach GS5 owners in other regions before the month and year are over.
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The US is a different story, however. Android updates in the US can take awhile as they have to be tested by not only the device makers but also the mobile carriers who must also certify and plan the rollout. As such, Galaxy S5 owners in the US are unlikely to get a lick of Lollipop until 2015.
Android 5.0 is likely on the wish list of many Android users in part because it offers several changes, among them a new design aesthetic with animations and other visual effects. Notifications now appear on the lock screen. A new menu called Overview shows running apps as a stack of cards, and a new Battery Saver mode drills down the CPU and turns off background data when a device is running low on juice.
Motorola already started deploying Android 5.0 for its Moto X and Moto G phones in November. Google also started the update for its existing Nexus devices, such as the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 smartphones and the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets, but some users will have to wait awhile. A Google+ post from November 12 said that “the Android Lollipop rollout has started and will soon be available on most Nexus devices in the coming weeks.”
Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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