Philips started rolling out the Android 7.0 Nougat update to its smart TV series, starting with 2016 models. The consumer electronics manufacturer began pushing out the new software package earlier this week and will take at least several months to distribute it to all eligible models, with the company revealing it’s planning to launch the update for its 2017 devices at a later date. All smart TVs from Philips that are now set to receive Android 7.0 Nougat are presently running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and this may be their final major operating system update.
The Nougat build coming to Philips’s televisions is largely identical to the stock variant of the OS for Android TV and ships with a range of features and functionalities that already made their way to many devices in this product category. One of the most notable addition comes in the form of a full-fledged picture-in-picture (PiP) mode that smartphones and tablets are only now receiving with Android 8.0 Oreo, with app recording being another highly anticipated functionality that will soon be part of Philips-made smart TVs. Following the upgrade, users will be able to easily switch between multiple Google Accounts, in addition to being able to benefit from Dolby Digital Plus and HDR support in the Amazon Video app. Another major feature bundled with Android 7.0 Nougat for Philips TVs is added compatibility for the Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) standard of HDR streaming which app developers are now able to utilize. Chromecast users should also be on the lookout for the new software package seeing how the thereof ships with Chromecast 4K capabilities which are automatically enabled and will increase the resolution of the content you’re casting, provided that you’re relying on a platform that supports 4K video like Google’s YouTube does.
The exact rollout roadmap hasn’t been released by Philips as of this writing, though it’s likely that some compatible TVs won’t receive Android 7.0 Nougat before early 2018. The Amsterdam-based original equipment manufacturer isn’t the only one that’s relatively slow to push out new OS versions to its Android TVs and it remains to be seen whether some of its older models will eventually be updated to Nougat as well. Most of the devices that are currently set to receive the new firmware aren’t officially sold in the United States and products eligible for the upgrade bear model numbers ending in “01” and “02.”