<p> <i> 14.03 pm </i>

Can Lollipop Save The Samsung Galaxy?

As part of Google’s continued development of Android, the latest version of its mobile operating system (v5.0, commonly known as Lollipop) is slowly rolling out to existing handsets. After a short ‘trial period’ in Poland Samsung has started the over-the-air process on the Galaxy S5 range in a number of larger territories.

Ahead of the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S6, what does the Lollipop offer existing users, the established manufacturers, and the tempestuous Android ecosystem?

It’s worth nothing what has and has not changed. Samsung is already heavily invested in its own UI layer for Android. The TouchWiz styling is still heavily present on the Lollipop’ed Galaxy S5, and while there are flashes of Google’s material design ethos, the look and feel of the applications and the handset is broadly similar.

The majority of Lollipop’s impact is invisible to the end-user, as Google reworks the lower levels of the Android stack. Project Volta will be of particular note – anything that improves battery life can only a be a good thing, and the viewable statistics are a great help. The switch to using ART runtime will provide better compatibility and an improved  ’app experience’ for the end-user going forward.

Lollipop is an important stepping stone for Android, as it makes the jump to 64-bit computing while retaining compatibility with 32-bit hardware. Preparing the lower levels of code to accept code higher up the stack that will run on the various hardware configurations is key. Lollipop running on existing hardware allows that hardware to stay relevant for longer, and of course that means that users of current smartphones (like the Galaxy S5) will not be left behind. Converting existing users to buy another Samsung device is a key marketing strategy for the South Korean company.</p>