LG has announced that in the US it will be upgrading its Android-powered Optimus One smartphone, currently running Android 2.2 (aka Froyo), to the latest iteration of the mobile operating system (OS), Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). 

 

“LG will upgrade all Optimus One smartphones currently using the Froyo OS to the next version of the Android OS, Gingerbread. Details of the upgrade schedule will be announced locally in due course. We sincerely apologize for the confusion and misunderstanding that was caused regarding this issue.”

 

The confusion referred to in this statement, refers to the fact that the company first stated that the Optimus line of smartphones will not be upgraded to Gingerbread, since these utilise a 600 MHz CPU and Android 2.3 requires a minimum 1 GHz processor (which it doesn’t). 

 

In South Africa users of the Optimus One, however, won’t be upgraded to Gingerbread (at least not in the immediate future). Here is what LG Electronics SA had to say on the matter: “Currently all Optimus One Smartphones run on Android 2.2, nicknamed Froyo- the latest edition of Google's mobile platform. Locally in South Africa [there] is no immediate plan to upgrade the current Optimus One to the next version of the Android OS, Gingerbread. The upgrade to this version would be network dependent and LGeSA would investigate and determine the feasibility of the upgrade.”

 

We recently reviewed the Optimus One, stating that: “LG’s Optimus One brings all the advantages and power of Android to the novice smartphone user, but without the potent price tag. For under R2 500 you get all the Android 2.2 goodness plus Wi-Fi and HSDPA – everything you can expect from more expensive handsets.”  

 

LG also revealed last month that global sales of its Optimus One smartphone have surpassed the one million mark in just 40 days after the phone’s initial launch, making it the fastest selling mobile handset in the Korean company’s history.