Category: Lollipop

If you are on T-Mobile here in the US and carry the Sony Z3, you are about to have a good Wednesday. Starting today the carrier is rolling out Lollipop to the device and with the update will also come support for LTE Band 12.  The news came via Twitter thanks to T-Mobile’s Des Smith who tweeted the update would be coming via an OTA (Over The Air) update to the device.

Software Update: @TMobile #Z3 – #Lollipop + Band 12 support! Should start after Midnight Pacific ✌Des pic.twitter.com/766pvQpKsq

— Des (@askdes) June 2, 2015

It’s good news for sure as the Sony Z3 has been a popular device globally and one that is more than capable of running the latest version of Android.

If you have followed my site for the last few weeks you will have noticed a lot more Android updates.  It’s partly because I have to use an Android device for my day job but also it is good to expand horizons.  I’ve never been a big fan of Android.  I don’t really like the UI although it is certainly better than the last time I really tried to use one, circa Ice Cream Sandwich.  But it’s still not may favorite.  That’s Windows Phone.  I love the personal experience of Windows Phone that despite Google’s best efforts – and Apple’s with iOS for that matter – just can’t replicate well.

One factor about Windows Phone that I and many other sites and users have moaned about however is the upgrade process.  While an update may be available, it could take months or never for that update to hit your phone depending on your country and if your phone is locked to a carrier.  Everyone’s favorite example is Verizon and the Lumia Cyan update which never came out.  Instead, owners of the Lumia ICON (Lumia 930 in the rest of the world) had to wait a full year before that got it and Lumia Denim at the same time.  A year.  It’s unacceptable and is something that Microsoft has said they are addressing with the release of Windows 10 Mobile.

If however you are thinking that the Android grass is greener, guess again.  The upgrading of Android devices to the next version of the OS, Lollipop, if fraught with problems, delays and phones that, while can run it, will never get the update.  Compounding this is the sheer number of devices that are out there and all the possible permutations of Android that have to be developed to support those devices.  By Gartner’s estimate, there are over 18,000 versions of Android out in the wild today.  18,000!  That makes a uniform, systematic upgrade virtually impossible.

Canadian carrier Rodgers is reporting that the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge will be receiving the Lollipop 5.1 update later this summer.  In a post on Android Central today, the carrier is slating the June time frame for the release of the update which will bring several new features including a guest mode and the ability to shoot photos in RAW format.

For those scratching their heads, yes, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge did ship with Lollipop but it was the 5.0 version.  The 5.1 update, in addition to the features I mentioned, brings other substantial improvements to the platform including better security and battery performance.

BLU over the weekend announced that Android Lollipop will be coming to a wide range of their devices over the course of this summer.  In a post on Google+, the Florida based company posted that they will have the latest version for their devices in the May and July time frame depending on the device.  The news is good for those who have the devices, especially those on the mid to lower end where Lollipop upgrades from many OEMs are coming few and far between if ever.

For owners of the Google Nexus 9 Android tablet, today is a good day.  The over-the-air update to Android Lollipop 5.0.2 is now rolling out and you should check your device to see if you have it available.  Navigate to Software Update under About Device and you can check for the update there (or if it is already downloaded to your device, you’ll be prompted to apply the update.

Now for those of you scratching your head and thinking, “But didn’t Google release Android 5.1.1 for other devices, including the older Nexus 7 tablet?”  Why yes, yes they did.