Earlier this year, Google officially launched Android 7.0, and as always, this version of Google’s mobile operating system had a tasty treat for a name. Last year was Marshmallow, and following on from that alphabetically, Google gave us Android Nougat. Many thought that this version of Android was going to be Android Nutella, and some employees working on Android 7.0 even alluded to as much, but ultimately it was Nougat that stuck from the many proposals sent Google’s way. Considering that different sweets and confectionery are known more or less in different parts of the world, it should come as no surprise that there is in fact a City known for Nougat.
Located in France, the Southeastern City of Montélimar has been known for producing some of the World’s best Nougat since the 1700’s, despite it’s small population of less than 50,000. Known for a particular variety of Nougat, simply dubbed “Nougat de Montélimar” the City’s Almond and Honey flavored Nougat has become known the world over, and the City apparently produces close to 5 tons of the stuff each and every year, sourced from 300 different makers in the region. Google has recently donated an Android statue, similar to the ones seen at Google’s California, Mountain View campus to the city of Montélimar. The below video shows off the unveiling of the new statue as well as a little background on the naming scheme that many of us have become accustomed to since the days of Android 1.6 Donut and Android 2.2 FroYo, to name but a couple of well-known releases.
Franck Raynier, the Mayor of Montélimar said that this collaboration and donation from Google represented a “great opportunity” for the City to better connect to a younger, more modern audience and hoped that this would help put Montélimar back on the map in a more modern manner. It appeared as though the whole City came out for the unveiling of the statue as the below video shows a very busy event, and Google themselves sent over a representative to connect with the City. Elisabeth Barges, Director of Institutional Relations for Google France gave some background on the naming for this year’s version of Android. Given the recent frosty relations between Google and the European Union, it could be easy to see this as Google using their latest release of Android to “butter up” one of Europe’s leading nations. Even if it were, it’s unlikely that Margrethe Vestager’s commission would care too much about the donation of a green Android to a small City in the South of France.