Android 5.1 Lollipop

53 'Android 5.1 Lollipop' stories February 2015 - May 2015

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Android 5.1 rolling out to U.S. Cellular Moto X (2nd gen) and Moto E LTE

Tom Maxwell May 26 2015 - 2:24 pm PT

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We recently heard from Motorola Senior Director of Software Development David Schuster that the company was working on testing and rolling out Android 5.1 Lollipop to the Moto X (2nd gen) and Moto E LTE, and sure enough it appears that U.S. Cellular customers should see the update hit their devices pretty soon.

According to an Android software page on U.S. Cellular’s website, the build number for Lollipop on the 2nd generation Moto X is LPE23.32-21 while for the Moto E LTE it is LPI23.29-15. Since this is an over-the-air update you’ll need to be connected to WiFi to download the software update. To check if the update is available for your device yet, open the Settings app, select About Phone, and then System Updates. If it’s rolled out to you then you’ll see information about the update and be able to begin the installation process from this screen.

Droid Turbo getting three new metallic accent colors on Verizon starting May 28

Tom Maxwell May 19 2015 - 9:18 am PT

Starting May 28th, Verizon will begin selling the Motorola DROID Turbo in Gray Ballistic Nylon with a new choice of three different metallic accent colors. The accent colors customers will be able to choose from include metallic blue, metallic orange, and metallic violet. The DROID Turbo sports a 5.2″ Quad HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 and pixel density of 565 ppi, along with a 3900 mAh non-removable battery quoted for up to 48 hours of usage. Verizon’s model includes 32GB of onboard storage and no expandable memory slot.

While the DROID Turbo still runs Android 4.4 KitKat, it’s widely expected to receive a bump to 5.1 Lollipop very soon. The phone with new accent color options will go for $20.83 per month under Verizon Edge, or $99 with a 2-year contract. The retail price for a factory unlocked unit is $499.

Several new firmware updates now available for Galaxy A7, Galaxy Core Prime, more

Stephen Hall May 15 2015 - 1:46 pm PT

samsung-a7

Samsung likely has more devices to update than most smartphone manufacturers, and as such, they’re constantly pushing out updates to their never-ending list of handsets. Sometimes these are bigger updates—like a firmware update to Android 5.0 Lollipop—but more often they’re just very minor version bumps to fix bugs and close minor security holes.

SamMobile keeps track of all of these updates to Samsung’s handsets, and their latest list of recent updates includes firmware spanning Android 4.0 all the way to Android 5.0.2. Devices include the Galaxy A7, Galaxy Core Prime, Galaxy Ace 4 LTE, and more. Many of these are updates to devices in international locales, but at least one, the US Cellular Galaxy S6 Edge, is for a United States device.

Motorola starts soak testing Android 5.1 for the first-gen Moto E

Stephen Hall May 15 2015 - 8:38 am PT

moto-e

We told you a couple days ago that Android 5.1 had started rolling out to the 2015 Moto E, but now it looks like Motorola is soak testing the same version of Android for its much older first generation Moto E.

As per the change log on the company’s Indian support website:

We are excited to announce a new software update for Moto E (1st Gen.) by Motorola. This update brings Android™ 5.1 Lollipop to your phone along with other improvements.

For now the update is only hitting devices in India, but this means that it will almost surely be hitting other locales around the world soon. Android 5.1 includes support for multiple SIM cards, new device protection features, high definition voice calling, and more.

Android 5.1 Lollipop now rolling out to second generation Moto E

Chance Miller May 13 2015 - 5:42 pm PT

www.startwithmotoe.com:wp-content:uploads:2015:02:moto_e_announcement_us_final1.pdf 2015-02-25 09-08-31

According to several users on XDA, Motorola this evening has started rolling out Android 5.1 to the second generation Moto E. The update, since the Moto E is sold off-contract, should hit all users of the phone, on all carriers, at the same time.

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Motorola begins testing Android 5.1 update for 2013 Moto X, rollout to start in a few weeks

Chance Miller May 11 2015 - 5:36 pm PT

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In a post on Google+, Motorola this evening announced that the long-awaited Lollipop update for the 2013 Moto X will begin testing this week in both the United States and Latin America. Motorola’s Senior Director of Software Product Management, David Schuster, made the announcement and noted that the after testing via TestDrive is concluded, the update will start full deployment. Schuster anticipates that the full rollout will commence in a “few weeks.”

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Motorola preparing to rollout Android 5.1 to several Moto X models

Chance Miller May 5 2015 - 2:45 pm PT

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Update: Motorola has announced that Android 5.1 is officially now rolling out to the second generation Moto X.

It looks as if Motorola is preparing to rollout a wave of Android 5.1 updates. The company has just shared Android 5.1 Lollipop release notes on its website for a handful of its devices. Motorola has posted the changelogs for Android 5.1 on the 2nd gen AT&T Moto X, 2nd gen T-Mobile Moto X, and the U.S. model of the 1st gen Moto X.

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Android Lollipop adoption gaining momentum, nearing 10%

Chance Miller May 4 2015 - 4:27 pm PT

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Google has updated its Android distribution data this evening to reflect numbers collected during a 7-day period ending on May 4th, 2015. Android Lollipop, which has been struggling to gain adoption since its official release, grew to 9.7 percent this time around, up from just over 5 percent at this time last month. More specifically, Android 5.0 is running on 9 percent of devices, while Android 5.1 is on just .7 percent of devices.

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Google Play Store updated w/ new animation, popular quotes from reviews section

Chance Miller May 4 2015 - 2:47 pm PT

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Google today has started rolling out an update to the Play Store app that bumps it to version 5.5. The update doesn’t add much, but it keeps with Google’s trend of enhancing the design of its in-house apps. With Play Store 5.5, Google has added a new circular animation that appears when you tap on a TV show title.

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Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge to gain Guest Mode support with Android 5.1 update

Chance Miller Apr 29 2015 - 2:28 pm PT

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With Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google added support for multiple users sharing a single device. In its own infinite wisdom, however, Samsung decided not to include this feature on its Android 5.0 devices. According to a report from SamMobile, Samsung plans to add Guest Mode to its device with Android 5.1.

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Android 5.1 factory images now available for Nexus 4, 2013 Nexus 7 (WiFi & Cellular)

Chance Miller Apr 14 2015 - 9:23 pm PT

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Google has just posted the Android 5.1 factory image for the Nexus 4 (LMY47O), WiFi only 2013 Nexus 7, and cellular 2013 Nexus 7. The files are available from Google’s Android Developers website now. Google last month officially announced Android 5.1 and released factory images for the Nexus 5, Nexus 10, and 2012 WiFi Nexus 7. Earlier this week we saw OTA download links for the Nexus 4’s Android 5.1 update, as well.

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Android 5.1 OTA download link for Nexus 4 now available, here’s how to install it

Stephen Hall Apr 13 2015 - 2:01 pm PT

Nexus 4 - Impressionist Artists

Android 5.1 has been slowly but surely making its way to the slew of Nexus devices that still get updates, and the Nexus 4 was one—until just now—that still hadn’t gotten the latest version of Lollipop. The factory image still hasn’t been uploaded to Google’s developers’ website (we’ll update this post when that’s available), but some Nexus 4 owners are already receiving the update over-the-air and have kindly shared the download link—meaning you can get the update right now straight from Google’s servers.
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Android 5.1 factory image now available for 2012 cellular Nexus 7

Chance Miller Apr 8 2015 - 2:18 pm PT

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Google has just posted the Android 5.1 factory image for the 2012 cellular Nexus 7. The file is available from Google’s Android Developers website and comes in at 403MB. Google last month officially announced Android 5.1 and released factory images for the Nexus 5, Nexus 10, and 2012 WiFi Nexus 7.

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Android 5.1 lands on LG G Pad Google Play Edition as 5.0.2 hits AT&T HTC One M8 (Update: Galaxy S4, too)

Stephen Hall Apr 7 2015 - 9:49 am PT

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Update: It looks like Android 5.0 is rolling out to the AT&T Galaxy S4 as well.

The rollout of Android Lollipop (and, now, 5.1 as well) has just been this consistently nagging leaky faucet, and today comes with the introduction of more software updates on even more handsets. As we told you yesterday, AT&T’s HTC One M8 should finally be receiving the Material-laden software starting today. But on top of that, today also marks the day that LG’s G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition will begin receiving Android 5.1…
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Google releases new Android One ad promoting 5.1 upgrade aimed at India

Stephen Hall Apr 2 2015 - 7:50 am PT

Android One with Lollipop 5.1: Concert - YouTube 2015-04-02 09-49-43

Google has released several Android ads via the main Android YouTube account, but it appears that the company has now published the first cartoon Androidify-themed ad aimed specifically at India. The ad has appeared this morning on the Google India YouTube account, and features several Androidify cartoons playing what assumably is Indian-inspired music.

It appears that the ad is directly promoting the fact that even the low-end Android One devices are getting the latest version of Google’s mobile OS. “Things just got even better,” the ad says. “Android One upgrades to Lollipop 5.1.” The ad finishes out with a “Always the latest from Google” tagline, furthering the point that the company wants to fully support Android One in terms of software.

Check it out:

Thanks, Fedor!

Google Play Edition Moto G now receiving Android 5.1 OTA update

Chance Miller Apr 1 2015 - 6:04 pm PT

Moto-G-GPE

Google and Motorola this evening have started rolling out Android 5.1 to the Play Edition Moto G. The update carries the build number LMY47M and comes in at 171 MB. The update is rolling out now over-the-air, although as usual, it’s a staged rollout and could take a few days to hit your device (via Android Police).

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Lollipop for LG G2 starts rolling out in phases

Zac Hall Mar 30 2015 - 11:58 am PT

Just as the specs for the LG G4 appear to have been caught in benchmark results, owners of the older LG G2 may be seeing new life put into their devices shortly… at least if you own the Verizon version of the company’s 2013 flagship handset.

LG confirmed last year that the G2 would indeed be updated to Android 5.0 following the rollout to the newer G3 device, and Verizon today shared that a phased rollout of Lollipop was underway for LG G2 owners. The upcoming LG G4, of course, is expected to ship with the Android 5.1 out of the box.
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Nexus Player shows up on Amazon UK for March 26 launch

Stephen Hall Mar 23 2015 - 7:51 am PT

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The Nexus Player has been available in the US for quite some time, but now we have a bit of an idea of when the device will be launching in the UK. As spotted by Engadget, the Nexus Player has shown up on the UK Amazon website with a launch date of March 26th and a price of £80. Sadly, that page seems to have been taken down already and the only listing for the device is currently via a third-party reseller (at a pretty decent markup).

In January, Google revealed that the Nexus Player would be coming to Japan by the end of February, its first market outside the US. More recently, Google posted the Android 5.1 factory image for the Nexus Player. If you’d like to, you can head over to read our full review that we published all the way back in November. We found it to be a useful new platform for Android, but a lot of its features can feel a bit half-baked.

Google posts Android 5.1 factory image for Nexus Player

Stephen Hall Mar 20 2015 - 10:24 am PT

player-overview-1600 Android 5.1 has slowly begun rolling out to Nexus devices over the last couple of weeks (and has been seen on Android One devices since February), but Google has today posted the factory image for the Nexus Player. Previously, Google updated the download page with links for the Nexus 5, 2012 WiFi Nexus 7, and the Nexus 10, and now you can manually update your new Nexus-branded Android TV set top box as well if you’d like.

Hit up Google’s developers site to find the Nexus Player’s Android 5.1 image, with build number LMY47D.

Android 5.1 now rolling out to T-Mobile’s Nexus 6 with VoLTE support, more

Chance Miller Mar 19 2015 - 1:13 pm PT

lollipop-screen-nexus-6

Android 5.1 was officially announced earlier this month, with rollouts gradually occurring for Nexus devices since then. Today, T-Mobile has joined in and started rolling out Android 5.1 to its Nexus 6 variant. The update carries the build number LMY47M and is unique to devices with T-Mobile SIM cards inside.

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HTC says only Google Play Edition One (M7) devices will be getting Android 5.1

Stephen Hall Mar 19 2015 - 9:55 am PT

HTC One M7 32GB 4G LTE Smartphone (GSM Unlocked) (Refurbished) | Groupon 2015-02-10 11-21-47

If you’re one of the unlucky few who’s still dependent on an old non-Google Play Edition HTC One (M7), a new Tweet today from HTC’s Mo Versi is not going to be the best news you’ve heard. According to the VP of Product Management, the One (M7) has received its last official software upgrade with the first version of Lollipop and won’t be getting Android 5.1.

@kennymaclean Only the GPE version of M7 will receive 5.1. Our target is early April. Thanks.

— Mo Versi (@moversi) March 18, 2015

That said, if you do have the Google Play Edition of the One (M7), this is great news. Not only will you be getting the update, but Versi says that it should be rolling out in early April.

In case you missed it, Wednesday was a huge HTC news day. The Taiwanese company came out to announce its Uh Oh protection plan, revealed that its M9 flagship will be hitting stores in the United States from April 10th, and Upleaks says the HTC One “M9+” should be coming out sometime in the next month or two.

Update: Mo Versi says to “Stay tuned.”

I heard you all on M7 5.1 for Carrier versions. Many of the fixes are already in our current SW, but understand your concerns. Stay tuned.

— Mo Versi (@moversi) March 20, 2015

Non-functional ‘Google VPN’ spotted in Android 5.1 to ‘protect you on open WiFi networks’

Stephen Hall Mar 13 2015 - 10:12 am PT

A new app has been discovered in the recently released Android 5.1 update called Google Connectivity Services (via Pocketables), and within—if you do a bit of digging and launch the “WifiAssistantOptInActivity” activity—you can find the above pop-up labeled as “Google VPN”. It looks like the Mountain View company could be preparing to launch its own VPN to increase security when joining an open WiFi network, and this might be the dialogue box that users will be presented with when doing so…
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Android 5.1 Lollipop OTA files start showing up for Nexus devices, here’s how to install them

Stephen Hall Mar 12 2015 - 6:45 am PT

Lollipop Forest

Google recently started publishing Nexus factory images for Android 5.1, but now download links for the over-the-air update are hitting the Internet. It likely won’t be long before your Nexus device has the update up and running (5.1 for the Sprint Nexus 6 started rolling out yesterday, for example), but if you just can’t wait to get your hands on those performance improvements, we’ve got you covered…

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Google begins to post Android 5.1 factory images for Nexus devices

Chance Miller Mar 9 2015 - 7:29 pm PT

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After making Android 5.1 official earlier this evening, Google has now started posting factory images of the latest version of its operating system to the Android Developers website. Android 5.1 factory images for the Nexus 5, Nexus 10, and 2012 WiFi Nexus 7 are now available to download.

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