Google asked to name next Android version Lassi

NEW DELHI: With Google’s Android posting a growth rate of over 57 percent in India, IIT Kharagpur has mounted a nationwide campaign to garner support for its mission to make Google name the next Android version after the famous Indian drink Lassi.

Fifty students of IIT Kharagpur are going around the country to drum up support from students and technology institutions for this purpose.

On Saturday, the IIT Kharagpur team was in Punjab – the land of Lassi – to interact with students of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College (GNDEC) in Ludhiana.

Ritesh Saraogi, a member of the IIT Kharagpur team, told the Ludhiana students that since Google names its Android versions after desserts and that the next version will start with the letter L, it was appropriate that it should be named Lassi. Punjab is famous for its Lassi and Sarson Da Saag.

Hindustan Times quoted the IIT Kharagpur team as saying that they have already written a letter to Sundar Pichai, a senior vice president at Google who oversees Android, Chrome and Google Apps, to name the next Android version after Lassi. Pichai is an alumnus of Kharagpur IIT.

The names of the Android versions so far are: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean and Kit Kat.