Android 5.0 Lollipop was announced earlier this week, and the OS will make its official debut on the trio of new devices - the Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Nexus Player - that were announced alongside it. But those who aren"t yet ready to buy a new device will be wondering when their current ones will be updated to the new OS, if at all.
Google has confirmed that many of its earlier Nexus devices will be getting the update first, but other manufacturers will be announcing their own Lollipop update plans separately. Of the leading global OEMs, some have already revealed details about which of their devices will get Android 5.0.
HTC
HTC already has plenty of experience with Lollipop, having worked with Google on developing the Nexus 9 tablet.
As GSM Arena reports, HTC has so far confirmed that four of its handsets will get the update. The HTC One (M7) and One (M8) will both get Lollipop within the next 90 days. The One mini and One mini 2 are also due to be updated, but the delivery schedule for these devices has not yet been finalized.
This is unlikely to be an exhaustive list of device eligible for the update, so if you"ve got one of the company"s other recent handsets, don"t panic just yet.
Sony
In a blog post on its site, Sony has confirmed that it will bring Android 5.0 to its entire Xperia Z Series of devices, all the way back to the original Xperia Z, which was released in February of last year. However, it will be some time before the update rolls out, as Sony says that it won"t actually start upgrading devices until the "beginning of 2015".
First to be updated will be the Xperia Z Ultra Google Play Edition, followed by the "core Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z2 series", with other Z devices receiving the update later.
What is not yet clear is what Sony"s plans are for updating other handsets in its range. The Xperia Z - the oldest of those confirmed to receive Lollipop - is now 20 months old; but last month, Sony announced that four of its more recent handsets, between 13 and 17 months old, would not get any further updates, with two of them remaining stuck on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
Motorola
Like HTC with the Nexus 9, Motorola worked closely with Google on the development of the Nexus 6 handset. In a blog post, the company has announced a complete list of all of the devices that will get Android 5.0 in the months ahead:
- Moto X, first- and second-generation
- Moto G, first- and second-generation
- Moto G with 4G LTE
- Moto E
- Droid Ultra
- Droid Maxx
- Droid Mini
Motorola has not yet revealed details of when it intends to begin updating these handsets, but encourages users to stay tuned to its software upgrades page for more info.
NVIDIA
NVIDIA worked with both Google and HTC on the Nexus 9, but the graphics chip manufacturer also has an Android device of its own. The company has confirmed that its Shield Tablet will get some Lollipop action, but it has not yet shared any info on when the update will be made available.
Google Nexus
As we reported yesterday, Google has confirmed that many - but not all - of its Nexus devices will be upgraded to Lollipop "in the coming weeks". But the folks over at Android Police have managed to grab a bit more info on exactly when these devices will get the update.
In the next few days, the Android 5.0 SDK and system images for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 will be made available on developer.android.com.
However, the first over-the-air updates will not begin until November 3, and these will only be for the Nexus 7 (2012 and 2013) Wi-Fi models and for the Nexus 10. The OTA updates for the Nexus 4, Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 LTE will follow later in November.
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We"ll keep a lookout for further announcements by major manufacturers on their Android 5.0 update plans, so stay tuned to Neowin, and be sure to follow us on Twitter @NeowinFeed so we can keep you up to date.
Motorola image via Phandroid; NVIDIA shield image via Android and Me