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A new version of Android seems to be on the horizon in the very near future, folks. Google’s own Android One site for Indonesia has been updated to suggest that the affordable smartphones will ship with the “latest” version of Android 5.1. As far as we know that version doesn’t yet exist in any official capacity, so either this was a mistake (there are multiple instances of “Android 5.1” mentioned on the webpage) or Google is preparing to make an announcement soon.
Sightings of Android 5.1 on a variety of Nexus devices have been hitting Phandroid’s servers for a few weeks now, but we weren’t sure if they were spoofed (you can easily edit a file or two on your phone to make it appear as something it’s not) or if Googlers were actually testing out some new digs. Android Police also seems to have secured an Android One phone that does, indeed, ship with Android 5.1 loaded up:
It’s quite odd to see Google opting to jump to 5.1 from 5.0.2 with what appears to be a long list of issues still needing to be addressed (if you can get through all the troublesome spam at their issue tracker you’ll see what we mean).
Perhaps Google stuffed so many fixes into this version that it deserved such a big jump. Perhaps there are some cool new features to dig into, as well (such as proper support for WiFi calling that’s said to be on the way for carriers like T-Mobile through a forthcoming update).
For now, though, there isn’t much to know about it, and we’re hoping that will change at some point later today or later this week.
Why in the world would 5.1 already be shipped on devices before the code was even submitted to the AOSP master branch. Something isn’t adding up
The Android One phones aren’t shipping yet. Note future tense: “to suggest that the affordable smartphones **will ship** with the “latest” version of Android 5.1.”
These devices hasn’t shipped yet…
I’m seeing photos of the device and a box next to them. Even if they aren’t shipping to customers they’re shipping to retailers or something. In any case, why would 5.1 be installed onto commercial devices before the code has even been submitted to AOSP?
Revew / testing / validation devices?
I guess. It just seems strange that Google would allow them to be installed on retail ready devices before being pushed to AOSP. Installing them on internal devices in Google’s own labs makes sense. But not production ready retail units. I dunno, it just doesn’t make sense.
I was under the impression that the AOSP master branch got updated before any device received the update
Not sure where you got that impression… There’ve been Nexus updates where the AOSP push of drivers and such came weeks later. And the code for 3.0 never made it to AOSP that I’m aware of…
These are the first phones under the program, I totally buy Google working out bugs in update/process with not only the manufacturer, but their carriers/reviewers/etc.
This does not make sense….Its gotta be a typo or something. No AOSP but its already on devices?
No devices that are available yet. Meaning it’s in testing still, and marketing people jumped the gun.
that makes so much more sense
While the rest of the world is still on KitKat with flagship phones
and my droid turbo doesn’t have lollipop yet…. what a joke…
Cm12 d850 since mid November.
forbes says it is out and available now. http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/02/04/google-confirms-android-5-1-lollipop-launches-immediately/
Forbes’s writers are about as knowledgeable and credible in regards to technology as I am in neuro-surgery. They dumb their tech articles down so much it’s a miracle that they don’t become more idiotic themselves every time they write an article. Business Insider and the Wall Street Journal so the same thing.
GOOG has since removed all references to 5.1 on that site.