Samsung Preps Android 7.0 Nougat Update For Galaxy S7 And S7 Edge
Though Samsung's been a bit preoccupied with its global recall of Galaxy Note 7 devices, it hasn't forgotten about owners of Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones. The South Korean handset maker is in the process of testing firmware upgrades to Android 7.0 (Nougat) for both phones, though there's no mention of a specific release date just yet.
Rolling out major firmware updates is not a quick and easy process. There's a lot of testing that's involved, both on the part of the handset maker and the wireless carrier, as both often times add their own custom software and features to the mix. That means several rounds of testing and validating, while simultaneously juggling newer smartphone releases.
That's the primary reason why new (and newer) Android builds are slow to roll out devices on a massive scale. As it currently stands, Android 7.0 has been out a month and is installed on less than 0.1 percent of all Android devices—not enough to register a sliver on Google's pie chart. Android 5.x is the most widely used version of Android at the moment, with Google reporting the two-generation old Android build being installed on 35 percent of all Android devices, followed by Android 4.4 KitKat (27.7 percent) and Android 6.0 Marshmallow (18.7 percent).
Be that as it may, the folks at SamMobile claim to have spotted a Galaxy S7 phone running a test version of Nougat. The test firmware is labeled G930FXU1ZPI9 and is being evaluated in Poland where Samsung Europe is headquartered. While there's no word of a release date just yet, the letter "Z" has previously been used by Samsung to indicate an upcoming major release, so hopefully a roll out will come sooner than later.
If we had to guess, we'd peg the release for sometime after October 4, which is when Google is scheduled to unveil the Pixel and Pixel XL, a pair of flagship phones running Nougat.
Rolling out major firmware updates is not a quick and easy process. There's a lot of testing that's involved, both on the part of the handset maker and the wireless carrier, as both often times add their own custom software and features to the mix. That means several rounds of testing and validating, while simultaneously juggling newer smartphone releases.
That's the primary reason why new (and newer) Android builds are slow to roll out devices on a massive scale. As it currently stands, Android 7.0 has been out a month and is installed on less than 0.1 percent of all Android devices—not enough to register a sliver on Google's pie chart. Android 5.x is the most widely used version of Android at the moment, with Google reporting the two-generation old Android build being installed on 35 percent of all Android devices, followed by Android 4.4 KitKat (27.7 percent) and Android 6.0 Marshmallow (18.7 percent).
Be that as it may, the folks at SamMobile claim to have spotted a Galaxy S7 phone running a test version of Nougat. The test firmware is labeled G930FXU1ZPI9 and is being evaluated in Poland where Samsung Europe is headquartered. While there's no word of a release date just yet, the letter "Z" has previously been used by Samsung to indicate an upcoming major release, so hopefully a roll out will come sooner than later.
If we had to guess, we'd peg the release for sometime after October 4, which is when Google is scheduled to unveil the Pixel and Pixel XL, a pair of flagship phones running Nougat.
