BENGALURU: Neyyappam is a traditional sweet from Kerala. What does it have to do with Google? A campaign is on to name the next version of Android — after KitKat, Lollipop and Marshmallow — after this sweet.
Android versions have been named after confectioneries in the alphabetical order, starting from Cupcake. The sixth version will be given a name starting with the letter N.
On his visit to India last year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had invited suggestions for giving the next Android version an Indian name.
When Google started an online poll for suggestions, Neyyappam received many votes, bringing it to the top of the list.
Three city-based techies Arun V Kumar K C, Prasobh K and Sunil Joseph started their own campaign to popularise the choice. Arun has created the website www.androidneyyappam.com, which now gets 3,000 visits a day.
“Being a Malayali, I would be proud if Google names its upcoming Android version Neyyappam,” he said.
The Neyyappam logo, created by Sunil, has been getting a lot of attention on media and social networking platforms.
The Kerala Tourism Department is also doing its part to promote the choice by tweeting in its favour. The marketing wing of the department sees it as an opportunity to promote tourism in the state.
The poll closes at 12:29 pm on June 9, after which Google will announce the final name.