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Android's 'N-Word' Poll Sparks Online Jeers The new 'Android N operating platform was unveiled at its Google I/O developers conference on Wednesday.

By Reuters

This story originally appeared on Reuters

Michael Short | Bloomberg via Getty Images
The sculpture of a Google Inc.'s Android mobile operating system mascot sits inside the Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. Google, part of Alphabet Inc., plans on tapping into existing fiber networks in

Google's Android ran afoul of social media users on Wednesday after encouraging people to nominate a word starting with the letter "N" for the latest version of its mobile operating platform.

An Android website asked for submissions for "any tasty ideas that start with the letter N" for its new "Android N" operating platform, which was unveiled at its Google I/O developers conference on Wednesday.

The backlash ranged from gentle ribbing to invocations of the term "the n-word," which is frequently used as a stand-in for an offensive racial slur.

A representative for Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, declined to comment.

Gizmodo reported on Wednesday that the online anonymous message board 4chan was flooding the Android's name submission site with suggestions akin to an offensive epithet for black people.

Some social media users suggested "nachos," "Nutella" and "nectarine."

(Reporting By Amy Tennery; Editing by Toni Reinhold)

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