We've been eagerly awaiting official Android 5.0 Lollipop updates for our smartphones and tablets ever since Google announced the Material Design update to its mobile OS, but it looks as though the wait may be over - if you happen to own the 2014 version of Motorola's budget bargain Moto G, that is.
According to Ars Technica, unlocked US versions of the handset are downloading the Lollipop over-the-air (OTA) update now, hopefully meaning other territories can't be far behind. The update is a relatively small 386.7MB, meaning anyone with the 8GB version of the phone shouldn't struggle to free up storage space to install it. That's a far cry from the massive, multi-Gigabyte updates Apple has released for iOS 8, for which many iPhone owners were forced to purge their phones of music or photos in order to install.
As we've come to expect from Motorola, the Lollipop update will be almost entirely stock Android, with few (if any) manufacturer tweaks or enhancements, and definitely no custom skins. Instead it will focus on the Material Design upgrades, overhauled notification system, Project Volta battery improvements and multi-user support.
The report suggests the 2013 Moto G, which has almost identical internal hardware to the newer 2014 edition, hasn't yet received the update - suggesting Motorola is taking extra time to test Lollipop on each of its phones before releasing it to the public.
There's currently no indication as to when other Motorola handsets, including the 1st and 2nd generation Moto X, will be getting the update, or when territories outside the US will be eligible to download it. We'll be checking our handsets throughout the day, and will update this story if we hear official word from Motorola.
Today's update will come as a surprise to Nexus 5 smartphone owners, as it was expected Google's own handsets would receive a Lollipop update before any third party manufacturers.
