Google yesterday announced the availability of Developer Preview of Android 7.1 Nougat for the Nexus lineup. The Nexus devices that are eligible for the OTA update are Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X and Pixel C from the Android Beta Program. Alternatively, users can get the factory images as a TGZ file and use the flast.bat method to test them. Then again users may also download the OTA zip file. Users starting today can get the OTA update package right on their devices.
Only Owning the eligible devices is not enough to get the latest 7.1 Nougat update. Users need to enroll their eligible devices on Android Beta Program to be able to receive the update. If your device is already enrolled, you’ll receive the update automatically. Pixel phones were launched with Nougat 7.1 out of the box. So, on the initial stage, they are rolling out this update on Developer preview at the Beta quality for Nexus devices to figure out any device-specific issues present inside the ROM. They have finalized the new APIs as API level 25 and they have opened up publishing on Google Play for apps targeting the new API level, so you can update your apps soon as you are ready.
After completing the initial phase of preview release, Google has planned to deliver an update in November followed by the final public release to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) in December.