HTC says to expect Google’s next Android release in March

Android smartphone manufacturers are still struggling to bring all their hardware up to Android 5.0 Lollipop, but Google’s not been sitting idly by as they prep those updates. Instead, we’ve seen it deliver a number of further releases, from 5.0.1 and 5.0.2 to the mysterious 5.1 that’s yet to even grace the Nexus lineup. Now we’re wondering what might be next as HTC’s Mo Versi makes reference to a forthcoming Android maintenance release scheduled for next month.

Versi mentions the release in regards to HTC’s plans for a GPe One M7 bugfix update, but we’re less interested in that particular model so much as we are curious about just what this maintenance release might be. Several theories have been raised, and just how newsworthy this information is depends a lot on what Versi was actually referring to.

There’s a chance he’s just talking about 5.0.2, but as that’s already out there on the AOSP, it would be odd to refer to it as what’s “next” for Android. And while we’ve already seen sparse signs of 5.1, it’s a little more believable that he could mean something more like a formal release of that version – Nexus, GPe, and all.

Normally we wouldn’t be so excited about a boring old maintenance release, but considering the number of outstanding Lollipop issues that continue to frustrate users, we’re well curious to see what this March update ultimately brings.