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Google error cancels Christmas (and all of December)

Posted at 10:11 AM, Nov 20, 2012
and last updated 2012-11-20 10:11:47-05

By Brandon Griggs

(CNN) — Is Google in a hurry to get 2012 over with?

Probably not. But that didn’t stop the snarky headlines after it was discovered that a buggy app in the new version of Google’s mobile operating system omits the month of December.

The People app lets users bookmark friends’ birthdays and other important dates on a calendar. But some users of Android 4.2, the system’s newest update, are complaining they can’t note December dates in the app because its calendar skips from November to January. December simply does not exist.

The Internet’s reaction was swift.

“Is Google the new Grinch who stole Christmas?” posed CNET, a tech-news site. “Sure, the month of December can be expensive and stressful, but Google apparently has an app for avoiding it.”

Added Business Insider, “The new version of Android thinks there are only 11 months in a year.”

And Engadget said the Android bug “makes end-of-year birthdays even less bearable.”

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. But a post on an Android troubleshooting board indicated that the company is looking into the problem.

The bug does not affect the Calendar app in Android 4.2 — nicknamed Jelly Bean — where December is still alive and well. So maybe Google isn’t worried about that Mayan apocalypse after all.

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