Samsung aficionados are abuzz with an expected upgrade of their Galaxy S5 phones to the 5.0 version of Android's latest operating system, dubbed "Lollipop." The release is "all but confirmed," GottaBeMobile.com noted.

Behind the fever is a SamMobile story and video that previewed an update to the update.

"A month ago ... Samsung was still working on making TouchWiz [the phone maker's front-end touch interface] compatible with Google's new design guidelines," the site said. "And a lot of inconsistencies could be seen throughout the user interface."

But the "new internal Android Lollipop firmware for the Galaxy S5 ... is leaps and bounds better than the (earlier) build," according to the website.

"If we compare the latest Lollipop build with the one we previewed earlier, it's a night and day difference," SamMobile reported.

Google unveiled "Lollipop" in late June. It features a redesigned user interface with a responsive design language called "Material Design." The language ups the prominence of grid-based layouts, responsive animations and transitions, padding, and depth effects such as lighting and shadows.

"SamMobile's video shows off apps such as the Calculator, Dialer, Gallery, Messages, and more - all of which have received some Material Design love," TechnoBuffalo noted. "Of course, the software is still easily identifiable as TouchWiz."

That could be "good or bad," depending on users' individual preferences. TechnoBuffalo judged that Samsung's take on "Lollipop" is "still not quite as beautiful as vanilla Android, but it's slowly improving."

SamMobile, meanwhile, takes issue with "slowly" part of the argument.

"We are really amazed by the amount of progress Samsung's software engineers have made in such a short time," the site said. "Now, we know that all the Samsung fans out there want this build badly."

Rumors about an imminent release are hot, but "Samsung has had a poor track record with delivering timely updates in the past," CNET reported. The technology site also wondered to what devices beyond the Galaxy S5 the release might extend.

"Samsung has yet to announce plans on which devices will see the update, but we fully expect most (if not all) of its 2014 portfolio to be updated," CNET said.

That may include the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3, as well. The million-dollar question, according to CNET, though, remains: "When will these devices get updated?"

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