Samsung's popular Galaxy S5 smartphone has just started receiving Android 5.0 Lollipop here in the United States, but what about its larger, older cousin, the Galaxy Note 3? A tidbit from Sprint might hold the clue.

Although there haven't been any announcements, it looks like a Sprint user agent profile reveals that the carrier is hard at work on Android 5.0 Lollipop for the Galaxy Note 3. There are no details, no release dates, nothing -- just a hint that Sprint is in the process of developing Lollipop. It doesn't mean much, but when put into context, it does give an idea of what to expect over the coming months.

For starters, this most likely means Sprint Galaxy Note 3 owners won't be receiving Android 5.0.1 or Android 5.0.2. The two updates, although miniscule, were rolled out to patch up some bugs that were running rampant through Nexus devices after Android 5.0 hit. The Sprint user agent profile reveals the upcoming upgrade as Android 5.0, and given the fact that Google is set to release Android 5.1 soon, there's little hope that Sprint will also roll out Android 5.0.1 and Android 5.0.2. Most likely the carrier will focus on Android 5.0 and then jump to boosting the Galaxy Note 3 to Android 5.1.

Android 5.0 Lollipop has already started landing on some Galaxy Note 3s worldwide, however. Reports from Russia indicate that a slow, batched rollout of Android 5.0 is underway. It's unclear when the new firmware will make its way around to other international regions, but it shouldn't be long before many more see it.

So why do international/unlocked variants get their taste of Lollipop before U.S. carrier-tied models? It all has to do with the development process that accompanies Android firmwares. The source code for Android 5.0 has been available for some time now, but smartphone/tablet manufacturers are still playing catch up because they take the code and tailor it to fit their devices individually. This requires more time due to the fact that they often layer their in-house interfaces (TouchWiz in Samsung's case) on top of stock Android. Carrier-tied models take even longer because wireless service providers usually add in some bloatware and optimize it for their networks before releasing it for download.

Android Lollipop is the latest in Google's desert-themed Android operating system series. It brings a new aesthetic thanks to Material Design as well as more notification options than ever before and improved system performance thanks to a new runtime module.

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