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When we talk about waiting for updates, it sometimes sounds like going without Jelly Bean for a few months is the end of the world. Well, put yourself in the shoes of Optimus G2X owners – they’re only just getting Ice Cream Sandwich. That’s right, LG’s one-time flagship and the world’s first dual-core smartphone has only just gotten the update to Android 4.0 – 14 months after it was released to source. So, erm, nice one LG.
In all seriousness, this does raise some questions about LG and their willingness to support existing devices – the main reason why a lot of people have been reluctant to use them in the past. How long does too long become waiting for an update? I think 14 months would probably qualify, and in a climate that has grown accustomed to waiting for updates and grown to realize the ptifalls of updates LG just look a little ridiculous after creating a wait of this long.
The update is firmware version 30a and is based on Android 4.0.4, reports from XDA are showing that it is now available as a widespread international release through LG’s PC software. Which is, once again, pretty ridiculous. We know that Samsung are keen on their KIES software but, if you’re going to even bother to release such an update this late into a product’s life span – you could at least make a little noise about it, you know?
This isn’t the first time that LG had updated the phone to ICS though, as they updated it in Korea some time ago but left the rest of the world in the dark, now it’s finally going worldwide. Which is great and all but, now I think the question is – what about Jelly Bean? To not release an update to 4.1 is pretty strange, especially considering that the two are pretty similar and it would improve performance on the aging device by quite a bit. This also raises questions about their Optimus G – how long before it becomes the forgotten son and is left to rot with outdated software indefinitely?
Perhaps I’m being a little over the top but, it’s 2012 and Android is far from the niche operating system that it was when it first launched on the G1 all those years ago, it’s one of the biggest platforms in mobile and you’d think that LG would treat it as such.
[Source: XDA]