Lollipop for the LG G3 and G2 on T-Mobile enters carrier testing phase, rollout imminent

If you’ve been keeping up with T-Mobile’s recently launched Software Updates page, you may have noticed some new activity. According to T-Mobile, the LG G3 and LG G2 should expect Android 5.0 Lollipop hitting their devices relatively soon. Both of the devices have officially left the “Manufacturer Development” stage and into the “T-Mobile Testing” phase for the major software update.

T-Mobile’s Software Updates page is a handy tool for keeping up to date with software updates for a variety of recently launched Android flagships, with the carrier defining their testing phase as the following:

“During this stage, the device will go through T-Mobile certification process testing to make sure you get the best quality software possible.”

While this will no doubt come as welcomed news to LG G3 (and G2) owners, we should note that the AT&T’s LG G3 received Lollipop nearly 6 weeks ago (Sprint’s a few days later), where the Korean model saw it all the way back in November. Needless to say, it’s been a long time coming. We’ve seen reports of the update actually lagging up the LG G3 more than usual, so you may want to consider factory resetting after updating to start fresh.

That being said, keep an eye for any incoming updates and feel free to drop us a line at press@phandroid.com if you see anything pop up. Cheers.

PSA: North American Nexus 6s have a tad bit of Verizon bloatware after Android 5.1 (even if you’re with a different carrier)

You might have heard that the Nexus 6 (in America, at least) is now starting to receive Android 5.1 Lollipop. You can even grab the OTA file right now and begin flashing it if it hasn’t already hit your phone. Most users will immediately notice a nice performance boost thanks to a large heap of bugs squashed by Google and co.

But those who dig even deeper might find something a bit unsettling: there’s a Verizon Backup app pre-installed. It can’t be uninstalled. It can’t even be disabled. And it’s there no matter which carrier you bought your Nexus through or who you have it activated with. It wasn’t on any of the firmware versions prior to Android 5.1, which makes sense considering Verizon’s Nexus 6 has just gone up for sale and it comes with Android 5.1 out of the box.

“The horror,” you might exclaim. “Big Red is evil,” you’ll shout. Before you grab those pitchforks and torches, though, there are a few things to note:

• As Google mentioned when the Nexus 6 was announced, every single North American unit is the exact same hardware and share the exact same firmware in order to allow people to use it on whichever carrier they wish.


• Verizon is not the only carrier to have one of these system apps included with the Nexus 6’s firmware. Sprint has an app called SprintDM that facilitates device provisions and activations for anyone who wants to use the Nexus 6 on their network, and it’s been there since the launch of the Nexus 6.


• The Verizon Backup app can’t be disabled or uninstalled, sure, but it’s a mere 32KB in size, doesn’t exist in your app drawer and — as far as we know — does nothing to adversely affect your user experience. You’ll find that you can now add a “Verizon Backup” account under the standard accounts menu in settings, but it’s just as easy to ignore as anything else in that menu.

So we know this behavior isn’t new, but what we’re still trying to figure out is why Verizon’s Backup has to be included as a system app in the first place. SprintDM’s presence makes sense because it’s a necessary component to get the Nexus 6 automatically activated on the company’s network (which, in turn, is necessary since it’s possible to use any Nexus 6 on any network).

The only plausible explanation that comes to mind is that Verizon Backup requires some sort of low-level system access to work properly for those who need to use it, and Verizon doesn’t want to chance someone either not having the proper background service or accidentally uninstalling/disabling the app.

That’s just a guess, though — we won’t truly know until we can hear it from the horse’s mouth. We’ve reached out to some of our contacts to see if we can get an answer to all this, but in the meantime be sure not to freak out if you notice the app taunting you in your list of installed apps. It’s harmless, and you’ll probably forget it’s even there by the time the day is over.

HTC One M9 will be covered against accidental damages, even carrier switching [RUMOR]

The battle between the next-generation of Android flagships is heating up. While it’s increasingly becoming harder to compete on raw hardware alone, OEMs are now forced to get a little more creative, looking to software or other services to gain that edge.

Last year, we saw HTC introduce the “HTC Advantage” which — aside from promising to deliver major Android releases for flagship devices — also offered a free, 1-time replacement of the display for the HTC One M8. It was a nice gesture, even if it was only limited to the first 6 months of the device’s life. For the One M9, HTC could be 1-upping that service on every level.

As Android Central is now reporting, HTC could be planning to introduce their new “UH-OH” Protection service (this is more than likely what HTC was planning on announcing during tomorrow’s event). The service will cover a new HTC One M9 purchase for up to 1 year from date of purchase and not just the display — even water damage.

Probably the most interesting addition is carrier switching is also covered, meaning if you change carriers during this year, you’ll get a free replacement to a compatible One M9 wherever your travels may lead you.

Suddenly, those early “overheating” reports don’t sound like the end of the world after all, right?

Google’s Sundar Pichai confirms plans to launch an MVNO wireless carrier and their motive behind it

Before we had our bit of morning fun over at the Android booth, Google’s Sundar Pichai — who heads the Chrome and Android teams — took to the stage at the Mobile World Congress opening keynote. The full talk was quite interesting and chock full of discussion about the now and the future.

Most of what you care about is in the future. Thankfully Pichai confirmed a few different rumors we’d been hearing since 2014 and earlier. The biggest confirmation was that Google certainly is exploring opportunities to introduce a new wireless service that leverages WiFi technology to facilitate ultra affordable mobile service.

Google’s not trying to become the next Verizon, nor do they expect to. Instead, the company will look to work with those carriers in an effort to help push connectivity and network stability forward.

Solving issues like seamless hand-offs between WiFi and cellular and the ability to have two calls automatically reconnect in the event of a drop are just a couple of the things Google wants to explore in their venture. We know it’s not purely about money — Google’s revenue stream is healthy enough as is — so we know their motives are fueled by their never-ending desire to innovate.

Google didn’t confirm who they’d be working with to get this off the ground (rumors suggest Sprint and T-Mobile are likely candidates), but the company will hopefully have more formal details to share at Google I/O later this year.

Canadian carrier Rogers says Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge to get Android 5.1 in June

While we like to get our word on software updates from official sources, getting it from a carrier is the next best thing. Rogers — a leading Canadian carrier — is claiming that the upgrade to Android 5.1 for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will be on tap this July.

An exact date wasn’t given, and these expectations are always subject to change so perhaps it’s not worth getting excited just yet. We also know that even if the date is accurate, the same may not be true for other carriers and regions.

That said, the Galaxy S6 isn’t really in dire need of an immediate upgrade to Android 5.1 — that is, unless that update brings the memory leak fix we’ve been waiting for Samsung to deliver. Most people are happy enough on the current build of Android 5.0, and if Samsung can fix some of the current issues folks are having (such as this one) with a quick maintenance patch or two ahead of the next major revision we’ll be just as happy.

[via MobileSyrup]

Carrier branded Galaxy S5 G900F receives minor OTA update in Europe to 4.4.2 G900FXXU1ANH6

New firmware update with build number G900FXXU1ANH6 and as been continuously  rolling out on Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900F. The  software build G900FXXU1ANH6  is still based on Android 4.4.2 and continually hitting the carrier branded Galaxy S5 in Europe. Several users of Galaxy S5 with T-Mobile and O2 branding receives the 4.4.2 G900FXXU1ANH6 and has said  that it brings additional system stability improvements and performance enhancements.

In addition, the G900FXXU1ANH6 has similarity on previously rolled out 4.4.2 updates with build numbers G900FXXU1ANH4, G900FXXU1ANG9 and G900FXXU1ANG2 that we have seen some improvements and it much smoother and snappier user experience. Some noticeable changes is the fingerprint sensor which as lot better now and show fewer errors than before.Thus, errors are mapped to the finger scanner app. You can also see the new unlock pattern which the color one has changed while it also has new lock screen previews that tells you what effect you choose when you select lock screen effect. This update is somewhat resemble the upcoming Android L that have been mentioned that makes all applications work well in ART (Android Runtime), enabling the system much faster.

Technical Details of G900FXXU1ANH6 4.4.2 Update

Here goes the firmware build info of the 4.4.2 update build version G900FXXU1ANH6 for Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900F.

• Version: Android 4.4.2


• Baseband version: G900FXXU1ANH4


• Kernel version: 3.0.4–2089850


• Build number: KOT49H.G900FXXU1ANH4


• AP: G900FXXU1ANH6


• CSC: G900FTMZ1ANH2


• CP: G900FXXU1ANG8

The update is now available via Over the Air  (OTA) update and weighs around 90 to 100 MB file size.

The update will bump up the baseband version to G900FXXU1ANG8 from previous G900FXXU1ANG2 and G900FXXU1ANE2 depending on carrier network operators. Again, the G900FXXU1ANH6  update is only available for carrier variants Samsung Galaxy S5 in Europe.  Just see the updated list below to learn more which carrier and countries have already received the 4.4.2 G900FXXU1ANH6 update.

Galaxy S5 SM-G900F 4.4.2 G900FXXU1ANH6 Firmware Update List

Updated list of Android 4.4.2 Firmware Build number G900FXXU1ANH6, for International Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900F - released on October 2014.

Country/Carrier	Availability
Albania
Albania (Vodafone)
Austria
Austria (3 Hutchison)
Austria (A1)
Austria (Telering)	Yes!
Austria (T-Mobile)	Yes!
Belgium
Belgium (Proximus)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (Glubol)
Bulgaria (MTL)
Bulgaria MTEL
Croatia
Croatia (O2)
Croatia (Vipnet)
Croatia (T-Mobile)	Yes!
Cyprus
Cyprus (Cytamobile Vodafone)
Cyprus (Vodafone)
Czech Republic
Czech Republic (O2C)
Czech Republic (Vodafone)
Czech Republic (T-Mobile)	Yes!
Denmark
Estonia
Faroe islands
Finland
France
France (Bouygues)
France (Orange)
France (SFR)
Germany
Germany (O2)
Germany (T-Mobile)	Yes!
Germany (Vodafone)
Greece
Greece (Vodafone)
Hungary
Hungary (Telenor)
Hungary (Vodafone)
Hungary (T-Mobile)	Yes!
Iceland
Ireland
Ireland (3)
Ireland (Meteor)
Ireland (O2)	Yes!
Ireland (Vodafone)
Israel (Cellcom)
Italy
Italy (T-Mobile)	Yes!
Italy (Vodafone)
Italy (Wind)
Kosovo
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia/FYROM
Macedonia/FYROM (T-Mobile)	Yes!
Moldova
Montenegro
Montenegro (T-Mobile)	Yes!
Netherlands	Yes!
Netherlands (Vodafone)
Netherlands (T-Mobile)	Yes!
New Zealand
New Zealand (Vodafone)
Norway
Norway (Telenor)
Poland
Poland (Orange)
Poland (Play)
Poland (PLUS)
Portugal (T-Mobile)	Yes!
Portugal (Vodafone)
Romania
Romania (Cosmote)	Yes!
Romania (Orange)
Romania (Vodafone)
Russian Federation
Serbia
Serbia (Telekom)
Serbia (Telenor)
Serbia (VIP)
Slovakia
Slovakia (T-Mobile)	Yes!
Slovenia
Slovenia (Mobitel)
Slovenia (Si.mobil)
Southeast Europe
Spain
Spain (Vodafone)
Sweden
Sweden (3)
Switzerland
Switzerland (Swisscom)
United Kingdom
United Kingdom (EVERY)
United Kingdom (H3G)
United Kingdom (O2)	Yes!
United Kingdom (Vodafone)
x I will just update this list on daily basis and add up more countries...

How to Upgrade the Galaxy S5 SM-G900F to the latest 4.4.2 Software Update

Samsung always advises us to prepare the following important notes to consider before performing the software update.  I have also added some useful insights why you should follow this procedures to keep your  phone in safe.

Recharge the phone’s battery – You should make sure your device is fully recharged before performing the software update. Do not also remove the battery during the software update is in progress. A power failures may cause damaged to your device that might results as we so-called “soft-bricks”. If this happens your device may just stuck on Samsung logo or welcome screen and can’t reboot normally.

Backup important data – You should back-up your important files, including contacts, emails, messages, photos, videos, apps and other stuff. Like I said while during software update process is interrupted there is a possibility that your data stored from your device internal SD card may lose or deleted when a sudden unexpected failure happened and it forces you to perform a factory data reset which basically wipes your phone’s memory.

Galaxy S5 has no root – Your device should not be modified or rooted, there is a certain circumstances that a modified and rooted Galaxy S5 SM-G900F may not accept any official software update anymore or it can accept an update but it might harm your device once the update has made. Learn about the new Samsung KNOX security suite. Most known error that says ‘firmware upgrade encountered an issue, please select recovery mode in kies and try again‘ or “Your device has been modified Software update are not available” you should try to avoid that from happening.

Update to  G900FXXU1ANH6 4.4.2 via Over-The-Air (OTA)

 This is usually how the carrier branded or locked Samsung Galaxy S5, performs a software update.  This method is Firmware Update through over the air or called as OTA update, which usually a notification message will directly sent to you from your network provider or Samsung and notifies you that there is a new update available for download.  If you did not receive any notification messages you can manually check fro the update instead.  Doing this you may only tap on your Galaxy S5 SM-G900F Settings>>About Device, tap Software Update.

• Find “Software update”


• Slide your finger down the display starting from the top edge of your mobile phone.


• Tap the settings icon.


• Tap About device.


• Tap Software update.

It will automatically tells you that a new update is available or your software is up to date when there is none yet. You can simply tap install now when you want to perform an update or install later.

Update to G900FXXU1ANH6 Through Kies

The second method is a firmware update through Samsung Kies. You may head-over to your  local Samsung support page from where you can download Samsung Kies from there, and install it in your Windows or Mac computer. Choose the new Kies 3 which supports the Galaxy S5 SM-G900F and other Samsung devices running with Android 4.4.2 and up to Android 4.4.4 OS .  Once you installed Kies 3, all you need is connect your Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900F to the computer using the USB cable, then simply run and follow Kies on-screen software update instructions.

If you already received this update, just do shed us some info on how the G900FXXU1ANH6 4.4.2 software update performs on your Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900F.

 

The post Carrier branded Galaxy S5 G900F receives minor OTA update in Europe to 4.4.2 G900FXXU1ANH6 appeared first on GalaxyS5Update.