LG confirms Jelly Bean upgrades

Users with an LG Optimus LTE II will be getting an upgrade to Android 4.1 next month.

That is just one of the devices LG has promised to upgrade to the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system, also known as Jelly Bean.

Also tapped for the upgrade is the Optimus G, which should be getting the new firmware before the end of the year.

The manufacturer also confirmed that te Optimus Vu and Optimus Vu II would be eligible for a push to Jelly Bean, but that won’t happen until early next year.

The Jelly Bean upgrade could be considered a minor update for the Android platform, which is why it only brings the version number up to 4.1 instead of 5.0.

The most functional aspect of the update is that it looks different depending on the kind of device, so 7-inch tablets have a different presentation of Jelly Bean than 10-inch tablets or smartphones.

Among the updates are increased enhancements to the speed and performance of Android, new and sleeker widgets for the home screen, expandable notifications, and a more user-friendly app for viewing and deleting photos.

It also offers a new touchscreen keyboard for even more seamless text input, as well as new features for the ever-growing list of near field communication (NFC) devices, allowing users to tap phones together to enable things like photo sharing.

As of Google’s latest numbers reported earlier this month, Jelly Bean is powering around 1.8% of all Android devices. The market is still dominated by version 2.3, Gingerbread.