Recently, students of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur started an online campaign demanding that the next Android operating system be named after the Indian delicacy, Lassi.
However, youth in the city do not seem to quite agree with the name selected by the IIT-K graduates.
Continuing their trend of naming the android versions after sweets, Google named its last version Android Kitkat. The students from IIT, Kharagpur in an open letter to Sundar Pichai, head of Google Inc’s Android business, said, “As you might be aware, India holds a very important position in your market. In reference to a survey by International Data Corporation on the number of Indian mobile users, it was found that the Indian population solely makes up an important fraction of Android users around the world.”
The students have also been calling for support for their campaign through the Facebook page and website of Kshitij 2014, the institute’s annual festival. Their biggest hope is Pichai, who is an alumnus of the institute.
But why Lassi? “Seeing the patterns, the next version is likely to begin with the letter L and Lassi is a drink that is well-known across the Indian subcontinent. So, we decided on the drink,” said Pradyumna Kumar Mishra, member of the organising team at Kshitij 2014.
Team IIT Kharagpur isn’t the only group trying to pull crowds. A group of techies has launched a campaign to get the version named after Ladoo. The same group had campaigned for the previous version to be named Android KajuKatli.
However, the idea does not seem to click among the city youth. “India has much better sweets than the Lassi. Between the two, I think Android Ladoo would be a better pick,” said 25-year-old Thane resident Shradesh Mohite.
“There aren’t many Indian sweets starting with the letter L, but Lassi or Ladoo is a definite no-no,” said market research professional Aniruddh Subramanium.
Previous Android versions
Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, Kit-Kat.
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