The new look of Android
Android 5.0 "Lollipop" is finally in the wild. After first getting a lick of Android "L" back at Google I/O in June, Google announced today that the official roll-out of the biggest changes to Android in years, including its new "Material design" look, begins now.
The Google blog post included no other details regarding timelines, but it seems safe to assume that Nexus and Google Play edition devices will be the first to see the new update, followed closely by recent Motorola models and a few others, depending on how nice the various carriers decide to play with modifying and then sending out over-the-air updates.
I've already checked for updates on the Moto X and Motorola Droid Turbo that I've got sitting around my office, but keep getting told that Android 4.4 KitKat is just exactly the right operating system for me for right now.
For the moment, the just-released Nexus 9 tablet may be the only way to get a taste of Android 5.0 until other Nexus updates become available and the Nexus 6 ships later this month.
Meanwhile, newly redesigned Google apps with that Material look have started to emerge from Mountain View. We've already seen Google's new email concept app, Inbox, which seems to be in line with the same look and feel. This morning Google unveiled its new, overhauled Google Calendar app and Pocket has also just seen an update today as well.
Like Inbox, the new Calendar app opens the door to Google Now, turning certain emails like hotel reservations or concert ticket purchases into calendar events automatically. Tapping into the same database of information Google has gathered on you, the new calendar app also brings a new feature called "assists" that is basically a kind of personalized autocomplete that suggests people, place and titles as you type. And of course, it has a new look based on Material design.
The new-look apps are available to Nexus 9 owners now and anyone else who happens to be in the first wave of the Android 5.0 roll out. They're also slated to hit Google Play for devices running Android 4.1 and up in the coming weeks.
Sources: Android blog, Gmail blog
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