We have already discussed that some of the Galaxy phones including the Galaxy S5, S4, Note4, and Note 3 are going to receive the KitKat upgrade to Android 4.4.4, but some will have to wait until Android 5.0 (Lollipop).  The last time we reported on the Galaxy S series, the prediction was January 2015. 

A recent report from Ubergizmo states that those waiting for the Lollipop update on the Galaxy S5, S4, Note 4, and Note 3 are probably going to have to wait until "early next year".  Samsung is testing Android 5.0 for the most recent Galaxy mobiles, and there is even videos of Android L being tested on the Galaxy Note 4. 

So far, the only Android Lollipop rollout has been to the Samsung Galaxy S5 model SM-G900F that is in Poland.  The SM-G900F is an international variant of the Galaxy S5, and it shows that European countries are probably going to be the first ones to receive the Android Lollipop update.  A French carrier SFR has had its schedule of Lollipop updates leaked, with the Galaxy series planned for December of this year.

According to Android Pit, there is an unofficial version of the Android 5.0 update available for the Sprint version of the Galaxy S5.  This unofficial update should be taken at the user's own risk, and can be downloaded on the XDA Developers site.  Other Galaxy S5 variants such as SM-G900I and SM-G900M, can also find a Lollipop update that is an early build on the XDA Developers Forum, promising that the G5 will have the Nexus experience.

Gotta Be Mobile has also stated that Samsung is fairly secretive about its Galaxy Android rollouts and release dates and it also puts a lot of the control in the hands of individual carriers.  In other words, different carriers will have different times for the Lollipop update to appear on different devices.  The carriers probably have the release date information, but they might not be able to release at this time.

Since I happen to have a Galaxy S5 on Verizon, I attempted to download software updates from the Settings menu and discovered that I am "completely up to date" with Android 4.4.4.  Most news seems to report that the Galaxy S5 will be the first to receive the Lollipop update, and Gotta Be Mobile also states that Sprint "already has the update in testing and is progressing towards a final release to the public-at-large". 

So it looks like "early 2015" going to the release date that Galaxy users are going to have to cling to, even if it is very vague.  It would be very fantastic if all the carriers announced that the Lollipop update was available this month, like it will be for SFR subscribers.  This would certainly be a great holiday gift for all Samsung Galaxy users.