Blogger World

Google has finally confirmed Android 5.0 'Lollipop', the biggest update to Android in years, will be arriving in the next few months. Announced alongside the Nexus 9 tablet and Nexus 6 smartphone, both of which will ship with Lollipop out of the box, it's one of the most hotly anticipated Android updates ever and one that promises to give Google's mobile OS a major visual overhaul.

Lollipop, which was first announced back at June's Google I/O conference as Android L, will also introduce 64-bit processor support and make battery life a priority as it goes up against Apple's iOS 8.

Google has been drip-feeding new features and announcements over the past few months, but now that an official release is almost upon us, we've rounded up all the facts to let you know what to expect – and when you'll be getting it on your smartphone.

Anyone with an older Nexus device such as the Nexus 5 smartphone, or Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets, will get over-the-air (OTA) updates - eventually. The Lollipop source code was released on the 4th of November, but OTA updates aren't expected to follow until at least the middle of the month. Google Play Edition handsets are also expected to get swift updates, and we're pleased to see the older Nexus 10 still getting some love from Google – even if it has now finally been discontinued.

Early rumours from AndroidPolice suggested the first OTA update would be released on the 3rd of November, but only for the Wi-Fi versions of the 2012 and 2013 Nexus 7, and Nexus 10. The Nexus 5 and two-year-old Nexus 4 would have to wait, as Wi-Fi and cellular devices take a little longer to develop updates for. Google seemingly confirmed that date in a note to app developers, revealing that the Lollipop software development kit (SDK) was available and that they could start testing their apps or publishing them to the Google Play store. It closed by saying consumers would get their first lick of Lollipop on the 3rd of November. However, this appears to be referring to the Nexus 9 - we're still waiting for OTA updates for other devices.

Android 5.0 Lollipop updates for other phones

Major Android releases are always eagerly anticipated, which makes being stuck on an outdated version because your phone manufacturer doesn't plan on releasing an update even more frustrating. We've listed every major manufacturer's official position on Lollipop below, and while it's good news for HTC, Motorola and Sony, it's grim reading for Samsung and LG.

THE VOCAL
HTC has pledged to update both the current HTC One (m8) and last year's One (m7) within 90 days of receiving the Lollipop source code from Google. Considering that AOSP code was made available on the 4th of November (not mid-October as originally reported), that means HTC customers should get an update by the 4th of January at the latest – assuming mobile phone networks don't slow down the process. The HTC One Mini and One Mini 2 will eventually get Lollipop too, but likely at a later date.

Motorola's strong ties to Google means it will almost certainly be the first manufacturer to get Lollipop updates on to customers' phones. It has promised to upgrade the original and 2nd generation Moto X (2014), the original and second generation Moto G (2014), and the Moto E, as well as the older DROID Ultra, DROID Maxx and DROID Mini, although there's no exact date for release yet.

Android 5.0 Lollipop features

Lollipop isn't all about looks; it will also include lots of clever new features. Personalised unlocking is one of our favourites. Essentially it makes your smartphone or tablet search for familiar Bluetooth gadgets, Wi-Fi networks, locations and even voice imprints to deactivate any lockscreen protections, letting you jump straight into your phone when it knows you're nearby. If the device can't detect any of these metrics, anyone trying to use it will be presented with the standard lockscreen.

The recent apps page will become the recent content page, displaying all your content in one list of Google Now-styled cards. You'll be able to jump between apps and the web, with links in Google search results jumping straight from the browser into the relevant part of an app. Although not strictly built into Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google will also be giving its mobile webpages and search an overhaul in time for its release. The Material Design will be carried across, along with smooth animations and a slicker interface.

Android 5.0 Lollipop performance

The biggest back-end change is the move from the Dalvik runtime to ART. Part of the operating system at a basic level, the ART runtime supports ARM, x86 and MiPS instructions, and a mix of AOT, JIT and interpreted code. Essentially Android now speaks a lot more languages and will work on more CPUs than its predecessor. This alone could improve performance by as much as twofold over Dalvik, without developers making any code adjustments. So far we only have early benchmarks from the Nexus 9 tablets to give us any indication of performance, but it appears that Nvidia's Tegra K1 processor and Android Lollipop are a potent combination; it outpaced every single other Android tablet available by a considerable margin. If you want speed, Android Lollipop should give it to you.

DirectX 11-level graphics will finally make their way to Android using the Android extension pack. This set of APIs support advanced effects such as tessellation, geometry shaders, texture compression and compute shaders, and have the potential to put mobile devices on par with games consoles and PC games.

Android 5.0 Lollipop battery life

Google has concentrated on improving battery life in Lollipop with Project Volta. Similar to how Jelly Bean's Project Butter was an effort to make animations feel smoother and more responsive, Project Volta includes a new battery historian to better visualise battery discharge. This will help users work out what a device was doing at any given point in a battery cycle to find out which apps are draining the most power.

A battery saver mode will be included in stock Android for the first time with Lollipop, after being a common tweak for third party manufacturers. It will activate automatically when your battery drops below a certain percentage, downclocking the CPU, disabling extra features like location reporting and dimming the display. Google says a Nexus 5 running Lollipop gets around 90 minutes of extra use over the course of a typical day, without actually changing how a customer uses their phone.