The 5.1.1 update of Android Lollipop is here, and the first to get it is the Nexus Player.
In the past weeks, there have been reports of another Android update coming, and there were even screen captures of rumored 5.1.1 builds for the Nexus 7 and 9 devices. The first reports showed a glimpse of the new Android build in the audio latency page set up by Google to measure updates on previous Android versions. The page indicated the 2013 Wi-Fi version of the Nexus 7, together with the Nexus 9, running on new LMY47S and LMY47W builds. Both versions list 5.1.1 Android as their operating systems.
Now, Google has released the official factory images for the 5.1.1 Lollipop update for the Nexus Player. In order for users to update to the latest Lollipop version, they must download the factory image file, build LMV47V, from Google's developer site and flash their Nexus Players.
Since Google has already started rolling out the Android 5.1.1 update, it is expected that other Android devices would receive it in the next few weeks. To date, many devices run on the previous Lollipop 5.1 and even 5.0. In the case of the Nexus devices, the Nexus 9 still runs on the previous 5.0.1 update, while the Nexus 7 has to be upgraded from 5.0 to 5.1 via factory images since an over the air update is still not available.
There are no details yet on what tweaks and fixes the new 5.1.1 update will bring, but observers note that it may bring the needed fix for the memory leak issues that have been plaguing the earlier 5.0 update and continued on to the 5.1 version. Also, the new 5.1.1 might be the version to provide support for the Android Wear's latest update, to counter the increasing popularity of Apple's recently-launched Apple Watch.
