Optus Samsung Galaxy S6 owners among the first to get Android Marshmallow update

Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and Note 5 owners who bought their smartphones through Optus should now be able to update their handset to Marshmallow, the latest version of the Android operating system. The update comes over seven months after Marshmallow was first released to the general public, and three months after Samsung first kicked off its own update program.

Optus is the first Australian telco to provide subscribers with the update, but S6 owners who bought their handset outright through an Australian retailer (or directly from Samsung) should now also be able to upgrade.

Users can check if the Marshmallow update is available for their phone by opening the "Settings" app, scrolling down to "About Device", and tapping on "Download Updates". The update to Marshmallow measures in at just under 1.2GB.

Telstra is scheduled to release the Marshmallow update for all four of Samsung’s 2015 flagship phones by the beginning of June, and Vodafone is testing the update but has yet to set a deployment timeframe.

The Marshmallow update to Android introduces native support for fingerprint readers, a new app permissions model, and a deep sleep power saving mode called doze.

Now on Tap is arguably Marshmallow's most impressive feature; a context-sensitive version of Google Now that can be launched from anywhere with a long press of the home button. Now on Tap is able to "read" what is happening in an app and provide relevant information. For example, if a user received an email in regards to Pitch Perfect 2, firing up Now on Tap will display a card with relevant information such as a link to the film's IMDB page.

Now on Tap isn't just limited to things it can "literally" read, such as text. Google provided the following example: if a user was listening to Skrillex, he or she could use Now on Tap to ask the device "what's his real name?". Since Marshmallow knows the user is listening to Skrillex, it will be able to comprehend the query and throw back Sonny John Moore as the answer.

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