LG to flavor Optimus phones with Ice Cream Sandwich
The mobile handset maker confirms that it will be deploying Ice Cream Sandwich to its Optimum smartphones and is evaluating which other phones can handle the latest flavor of Android.
Owners of certain LG Optimus smartphones can look forward to a bite of Ice Cream Sandwich in the near future.
The mobile phone maker confirmed via its Facebook page today that it will be deploying the latest version of Android to select Optimus phones. Included in the upgrade will be the Optimus 2X, the Optimus Black, the Optimus 3D, and the Optimus LTE, all of which hit the market this past year.
LG is also examining Ice Cream Sandwich to see which of its other smartphones can run the new OS in an effort to upgrade as many users as possible.
The company didn't provide a date as to when Optimus owners would see ICS on their phones. But it promised to post an update on its Facebook page and local Web sites next month with the upgrade schedule and the names of other model smartphones that will be able to handle Android 4.0.
Earlier this month, rival handset maker HTC used its own U.K. Facebook page to announce ICS upgrades for a variety of its phones in early 2012. Due to receive the new version of Android are the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL, HTC Sensation XE, HTC Rezound, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G, and HTC Amaze 4G.
Unveiling news on a site like Facebook is always a dicey maneuver as it opens the door for negative comments from followers.
LG's announcement triggered complaints from some claiming they still haven't received their update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The company promised to update Optimus One users to Gingerbread almost a year ago but just started rolling it out this past August, according to GSM Arena and other tech enthusiast sites.
HTC's Facebook post also led to some comments from people unhappy about the lack of upgrades for their respective phones.
Android has taken its fair share of lumps for the slow upgrade cycle among the various manufacturers and carriers. And much of that is the nature of the beast.
Unlike Apple, which controls the entire iPhone process and can roll out the same updates to everyone, Android has a lot of cooks in the kitchen. Each Android update has to pass from Google to the phone makers and the carriers before it can roll out to the actual users, typically a time-consuming process.
A recent study by the Understatement's Michael Degusta found that among 18 different Android phones shipped in the U.S. through the middle of 2010, most had still not received major OS upgrades or even support patches, even though all were still under contract.