Polish LG G3s Getting Lollipop, Moto X Soon
Despite announcing that its newest version of Android – Android 5.0, aka Android L, aka Android Lollipop – would begin hitting compatible devices starting last Monday, so far almost zero handsets have received the official over-the-air operating system update. However, yesterday LG announced that owners of its flagship smartphone, the G3, would start to see the new OS on their devices starting this week. The catch? It’s all starting in Poland, of all places.
According to LG, Lollipop will start in Poland, “to be followed by other key markets in the near future.” As to why it’s starting in Poland, the company didn’t offer any kind of explanation. No offense to Poland, but it seems like an odd choice given the fact that LG is based in South Korea, and that Poland isn’t typically the first territory that comes to mind in terms of being on the bleeding edge of the smartphone market.
Meanwhile, Motorola has given a select few owners of the Moto X 2014 Pure Edition access to the new version of Android. According to a post on Android Police from last week, Motorola has started its “soak test” for Android 5.0. That would seem to indicate that the owners of other Moto X handsets from this year (and hopefully the 2013 model of Moto X, too) will soon receive the update.
Last week, we heard that the Android L rollout was delayed due to some last minute bug squashing that needed to happen. As a result, owners of the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 handsets have yet to enjoy the fresh and sweet Lollipop goodness we’ve been promised – though rumor has it we’ll see the update starting on Wednesday. I’d like to believe that owners of the Nexus – you know, the flagship Android device – would get the newest version of the OS sooner than LG G3 owners in Poland.
One of the reasons the new Android update is worth reporting on is the very fact that it’s so mysteriously doled out to users. Unlike iOS users, Android users have devices of all different kinds. It’s simultaneously the best and worst aspects of using an Android device. On the one hand, you’ve got tons of choices in terms of what smartphone you want to use, but on the other hand, that very fragmentation leads to fewer great apps being developed for Android, and compatibility issues throughout the ones that are.
As such, that means that device-makers and mobile carriers get their say in terms of when Android users will get new versions of the OS. Meanwhile, Apple can do whatever it wants with new versions of iOS.
[Sources: LG, Android Police]