Google has filed a trademark for the name 'Pigweed', which appears to be a new operating system.
As 9to5Google explains, the filing was spotted by Reddit user Igats, who has a history of digging out interesting trademark applications. The document was filed on January 31, and states that Google intends to use the new name for 'computer operating software'.
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Although its pink or white flowers are attractive, pigweed is indeed a weed that's traditionally fed to pigs, and larger plants turn into tumbleweeds when they die, rolling across the land and gradually falling to pieces. It's a strangely unglamorous choice for a new OS, so what's going on?
Back to the Fuchsia?
Following the botanical theme, Pigweed could simply be a less elegant name for Google Fuchsia.
Fuchsia is a forthcoming mobile operating system intended to combine features from Android and Chrome OS, but we've heard very little news about it in recent months. Its name was trademarked years ago, but that doesn't mean it's guaranteed to remain the same.
The name 'Pigweed' did appear in a proposed code change from November, before being switched back to 'Fuchsia'. A reference to a 'Pigweed project' has also been spotted in Google's Chromium code repository.
Sadly that's all we know for now, but we'll keep you updated as soon as we learn more about Pigweed, and whether it's likely to be coming to a new range of smartphones, tablets or laptops.
