What you need to know
- Like the previous OS iterations, Android 13 also gets a new statute.
- The new sculpture resembles a swing in the shape of the number 13.
- The statue is on display at Google’s Mountain View campus.
Early this March, we saw Google’s Android statues that went missing from the company’s Mountain View campus. The reports later suggested that they were removed were on purpose as they were undergoing repairs and kept in storage to find a new home. Five months later, Android 13 officially arrived on Pixel devices, and so is its statue on the Mountain View campus, which is notably not in the form of a dessert.
Twitter user Rahul Ravikumar has posted the image of the Android 13 statue that takes a Swing form factor installed at the campus. Former Verge reporter Dieter Bohn has also posed with the new Android 13 swing statue.
Android 13, now publicly available. pic.twitter.com/Llted8NZlJAugust 15, 2022
The Android 13 wing sculpture on the Mountain View campus is modeled by the number 13 — the blue pole represents the “1,” and the seats are obviously a “3.” A standard Android bot logo is also placed on top, identifying the entire thing as Android 13 to the audience. In addition, it looks like the blue rod has the word “thirteen” inscribed in 13 different languages, including English. Furthermore, there is also a 4-bit binary language also engraved on it.
Google also provides the AR version of the same statue on its Android website, where users can hit the ”View in 3D” button. When viewing it on an Android phone, you can place the statue anywhere as your own virtual desk ornament.
The statues and AR models of the native Android versions are not new. Google has made the Android sculptures available since its inception, although these were primarily desserts, given Android’s history of using dessert names for each new version. Some of these, particularly the last two, were available in AR. However, now that Google has largely done away with publicly naming new versions after delectable snacks, it’s somewhat fitting that the company would change things up.
Android 13 has started rolling out to Pixel devices (Pixel 4 and higher) beginning this week, so this is clearly a celebration of that fact. Later this year, the rollout is expected to other Android devices from Samsung, Asus, iQOO, Xiaomi, and others. The noticeable enhancements on the Android 13 include extending Material You’s app color theming to third-party applications, setting language options to individual apps, improvements to multitasking, and enhanced privacy controls.
If you want to try Android 13 before most others, the Pixel 6a is a good phone to go with. It’s among the first to get most of Google’s best software, and it has spectacular value thanks to its low price and flagship performance.
