Google has just announced the new Android Go Edition of Oreo and to accompany it is the stable version of Android 8.1 Oreo, which is being outed as an OTA.
Releasing the OTA update of Android 8.1 Oreo today, December 5 means that Google has kept its promise of rolling out the OS to the rest of the public before the end of this year. For those who have been following, you should already know that the first developer preview of Android 8.1 was released on October 25. Like any other similar upgrade, this version doesn’t bring massive changes to what you already know about the original v8.0.
Actually, the updated Android 8.1 Oreo only brings improvements to performance and a few under-the-hood features. Also, you can expect lots of stability changes, with fixes to bugs that have been plaguing the Oreo fraternity since its launch. One of the biggest additions that came with Android 8.1 Oreo DP2 is the Visual Core image processing chip that is found on the Google Pixel 2 phones. With this chipset, developers are able to fully maximize the hardware to offer the best camera apps.
It’s nothing strange that the stable Android 8.1 Oreo OTA is only available for those using the Google Pixels and Nexuses. You don’t need to sideload or sign up for the beta program to get this version, but of course, the OTA should be targeting those who were in the beta program first ahead of the rest.
As noted at the beginning, Google has also unveiled a new Android Oreo Go edition that is aimed for developing markets. According to Google, the Go edition OS should offer “performance and storage improvements” even for devices that have less than 1GB RAM. Having been made official at the Google for India event, it’s possible that the first Android Oreo Go edition phones will be unveiled in this market, probably in the coming weeks or months.