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Google and Samsung promise monthly OTA Android security updates

Google and Samsung promise monthly Android security updates
Google and Samsung team up for increased Android security
Both companies promise monthly security updates, but while Google revealed the devices that will get them, Samsung's plans are still unclear.

At the end of July, Stagefright became probably the worst security issue encountered so far by users of Google Android devices. Soon after Google patched it and carriers started to release their own updates for various handsets, addressing this vulnerability, news about a major change in the way Android is updated come out from both Google and Samsung.

According to Samsung's official global blog, the company "will implement a new Android security update process that fast tracks the security patches over the air when security vulnerabilities are uncovered." While they mentioned that such updates will be released "about once per month," other details are not available yet. The same source mentioned that "Samsung is currently in conversation with carriers around the world to implement the new approach" and more information should come out soon.

On the other hand, Google announced that "Nexus devices will receive regular OTA updates each month focused on security, in addition to the usual platform updates" and also revealed that Nexus devices will get major updates for at least two years from their launch, while security patches will be offered "for the longer of three years from initial availability or 18 months from last sale of the device via the Google Store." 

Google released the first such update yesterday to Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7, Nexus 9, Nexus 10, and Nexus Player.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2015 08 > Google and Samsung promise monthly OTA Android security updates
Codrut Nistor, 2015-08- 6 (Update: 2015-08- 6)