In the midst of the ballyhooed "summer of smartphones," LG today announced plans to use an Nvidia Tegra dual-core processor for their upcoming line of Optimus smatphones.  The Tegra architecture was recently used in Microsoft's ill-conceived KIN series.

Since the launch of the Android-powered Ally in May, the world's third largest mobile phone manufacturer has remained out of the smartphone spotlight.  In a separate interview with the Wall Street Journal, LG's Chang Ma admitted the company's late entry into the smartphone game, and announced plans to release 10 additional smartphones by the end of 2010.  Tablet computers are of interest as well, as they plan to launch a device under the Optimus name in the same timeframe.

To date, the talk of the town has centered around Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor, which is featured in high-selling devices like the HTC DROID Incredible and EVO 4G; Samsung's Hummingbird processor, which is found in the company's Galaxy S line; and Texas Instruments' OMAP processor, found in the Motorola DROID X.  Nvidia has remained mum on the topic, but has expressed interest in expanding into the burgeoning smartphone and tablet computer markets.  While I hate to see LG entering the field this late in the summer, I imagine the holiday shopping season will assist sales.  The Android craziness continues!

Update: According to new intel, we've discovered that most of the announcements above apply to markets outside of the United States.  We'll keep you updated as we hear more!