We're all, ok maybe most, excited to get the latest Android Lollipop on our smartphones but it seems that the first device to receive the updated OS outside of Google's blessed Nexus line won't be a smartphone at all. NVIDIA has just released a teaser video showing Android 5.0 on its SHIELD Tablet and, in the same breath, mentions that the software update will land on the tablet this November.
This revelation is just a tiny bit surprising but almost also foreseeable. Aside from a very few custom apps and UI changes, the latter mostly revolving around its DirectStylus 2, the SHIELD Tablet is pretty much a vanilla Android experience, quite close to what Google is offering on a Nexus device. So it isn't completely extraordinary that NVIDIA would be able to push out such an update quickly, which has already been doing in the past. We just never realized how soon it would be, beating all other OEM devices in the market.
Aside from Android 5.0, the update will also bring in new versions of NVIDIA's specialized apps. In particular, there's a redesigned Dabbler, NVIDIA's foray into a more artistic scene with the help of its quirky pressure-sensitive capacitive stylus. A new SHIELD Hub will also be there to greet gamers when they update their tablets. Other than those, it's a pure Lollipop experience just as Google envisioned it.
For even more good news, NVIDIA revealed that the SHIELD Portable will also be getting Android 5.0, dispelling all doubt regarding the older gaming handheld's future. Unfortunately, NVIDIA wasn't ready yet to give out a rough estimate as to when that update will arrive. Even more unfortunate is that there is still no mention of the non-SHIELD NVIDIA Tegra Note 7.
SOURCE: NVIDIA