Google rolling out Android 6.0 Marshmallow to Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7 (2013), Nexus 9, and Nexus Player
if you have a Nexus device Jaikumar Vijayan / eWeek : Google Releases Android Marshmallow to Nexus Users Shaun Nichols / The Register : Chocolate Factory plops Marshmallow on Android slabs Stephen Hall / 9to5Google : Android 6.0 Marshmallow OTA downloads start showing up for Nexus devices, here's how to install them [Roundup] Manish Singh / NDTV Gadgets360.com : Google Releases Android 6.0 Marshmallow Factory Images for Nexus Devices Quentyn Kennemer / Phandroid : Android 6.0 Marshmallow OTAs for Nexus devices are starting today Napier Lopez / The Next Web : Apple Watch Hermès is now available starting at $1,100 Scott Webster / AndroidGuys : Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates begin for select Nexus models Ben Woods / The Next Web : Google Android Marshmallow is now rolling out to Nexus devices Chris Welch / The Verge : Android 6.0 Marshmallow is now available for Google's Nexus devices Official Google for Work Blog : Put Android to work: Attend the first ever Android for Work Live online conference on November 4th Alex Wagner / PhoneDog.com : Google pushing Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates, factory images also available Ben Funk / The Tech Report : Android 6.0 Marshmallow rolls out to Nexus devices starting today Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan / Gizmodo : Android Marshmallow Has Arrived-Here's Why You'll Want It Inside Search : Got a Nexus phone? Look out for Now on Tap Kevin Tofel / ZDNet : Google releases Android 6.0 Marshmallow for Nexus devices Stephen Hall / 9to5Google : Google releases Android 6.0 Marshmallow factory images for Nexus 5, 6, 7, 9, and Player
Context & Ripple Effects
Two months after Google settled on the Marshmallow name and shipped the final preview SDK, version 6.0 is leaving the developer track: over-the-air updates are landing today on the five current Nexus devices, with factory images published for manual flashing.
The rollout is also forcing ecosystem cleanup ahead of it — Motorola is retiring Moto Assist, Migrate, and Connect rather than porting them to the new OS, a sign that even close partners treat each Android release as a breaking transition.
First-order effects
- Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7 (2013), Nexus 9, and Nexus Player owners get day-one access to Android 6.0 via OTA, with factory images as the fallback for impatient or rooted users.
- Motorola users face app removal as those devices move toward Marshmallow without Assist, Migrate, or Connect replacements.
Second-order effects
- Samsung's competing flagships stay a full update cycle behind: its Marshmallow push for the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge only began in February 2016 (months after the Nexus launch), quantifying the Nexus-versus-OEM update gap for buyers.
- Other OEMs inherit the same pruning pressure Motorola faced — legacy vendor apps either get ported per release or quietly dropped.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Google's own hardware line functions as the reference implementation for each Android version while carrier-and-OEM pipelines stretch adoption out over quarters — the fragmentation problem persisting even as Google controls the head start.
- The cadence visible here — Marshmallow in late 2015, Nougat reaching the same Nexus devices less than a year later (with Pixel C added) — points toward shorter support windows where two-year-old flagship hardware ages quickly.
The trend: Android is splitting into a fast lane, where Google updates Nexus hardware on day one, and a slow lane, where OEM rollouts like Samsung's trail by months — keeping update fragmentation a structural feature of the platform.