14 DAY TRIAL // South Korean mobile phone maker LG Electronics won't come up with an update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread for its LG Optimus devices, currently powered by the Android 2.2 Froyo operating system.
In a post on its Facebook account, the mobile phone maker said that it won't offer the new operating system to its users due to a processor speed requirement that Google has put in place with the platform version.
When asked when would Gingerbread arrive on its LG Optimus devices, the company said that the Optimus line will be left out when it comes to the Android 2.3 update, due to the fact that the handsets pack a 600MHz application processor inside.
According to the company, the minimum requirement for Gingerbread would be a 1GHz application process, and the Optimus line does not meet the necessary conditions.
Since the processor inside these handsets cannot be upgraded, the phones themselves are not eligible for an upgrade, the company states.
“So, the Optimus line won't be getting the Gingerbread update because they have a 600MHz processor,and the minimum requirements for Gingerbread require 1 GHz processor. In other words: it's not possible to update the processor, unfortunately,” are LG's exact words.
For what it's worth, there might have been a misunderstanding, since Google says that no such requirement was put in place.
However, LG did not update the statement, which can only suggest that the company does not have plans to update the said devices to the latest version of Google's Android operating system.
On the other hand, Dan Morrill, Android Open Source and Compatibility Tech Lead, stated on Twitter (via Phandroid) that, although the limit is not there, it would be hard to deliver the software update to older devices.
The requirements for Gingerbread are in line with those for Froyo, but this does not mean that all mobile phones that run under Android 2.2 would be eligible for an upgrade to Android 2.3.
Update: LG posted an official statement on the matter, saying that they are evaluating the possibility that the update would be released.