What you need to know
- Google has posted its Lunar New Year Doodle, which celebrates the Year of the Snake.
- The company provided a brief story about the Year of the Snake, saying this is the time for people to venture into “growth, creativity, and transformation.”
- South Korea is also celebrating its Lunar New Year, which is known as Seollal.
Happy Lunar New Year; Google is highlighting its latest Doodle as we ring in another year.
The company has published a Year of the Snake Doodle page to celebrate the Lunar New Year and festivities in Asia (via Android Authority). Google runs users through a brief history about the Lunar New Year and why it’s been so heavily celebrated for “over 3,000 years.” As always, users may be familiar with the bright, passionate red that the Lunar New Year brings.
The company states that residents often clean their homes before adding touches of red. This color typically symbolizes good fortune and prosperity.
Moreover, the Lunar New Year is a time for friends and family to gather over a wonderful feast. Google says the celebrations often feature “traditional favorites” like fish, chicken, dumplings, mandarin oranges, and other mouth-watering goodness. Also, stepping into Chinese mythology, the New Year is often rife with fireworks and firecrackers, but it’s more than just a loud hoorah into 2025.
The brief story glances over the mythology of Nian, a fierce beast from ancient China. It’s said that the beast hated loud noises, thus the reason the Lunar New Year is packed with firey explosions in the sky of multiple colors.
We’ve stepped into 2025, the Year of the Snake. Those born in 1989, 2001, 2013, and 2025 all belong to the snake. If any of these years are yours, then Google says this is your time for “growth, creativity, and transformation.”
Users can go to google.com and search for Year of the Snake to enjoy a cute retro game.
Also, those in South Korea are also celebrating a Lunar New Year. So, Happy Seollal to everyone in South Korea or who celebrate this time of year, as well.
Google is pretty quiet right now in terms of reveals, but it is busy developing the next major OS: Android 16. The company recently dropped its first beta for interested testers with Pixel phones. Users can enroll to begin sifting through what’s new and what’s still planned for release.
The first beta introduced “Live Updates” to Pixels alongside some interesting video recording updates for Android.
Elsewhere, it seems that we could expect some form of Qi2 to arrive on Google’s future Pixel devices in 2025. The WPC (World Power Consortium) posted the details of its simpler “Qi2 Ready” method for Android devices this year. Phones that are Qi2 Ready will support the necessary tech inside for wireless charging with support for external accessories outside the phone. Google stated that it would join Samsung is delivering Qi2 Ready devices, but it might look a little different.
The company didn’t commit to Qi2. What it said was that it would further the standard and help progress the next version, known as Qi v2.2.