The Nintendo Switch debuted earlier this month to incredible success. Looking back a year or so, there were rumors floating around that Nintendo was planning to build the device on top of Android, but obviously, those never came to fruition. Now, though, a Cyanogen chairman has revealed that Nintendo was indeed looking to build with Android, and apparently wanted Cyanogen to help out…
We’ve been hearing about the failures of Cyanogen for a few months now, but today that has all culminated with the company announcing that it will be shutting down all of its services in just a few days.
A few months ago, following layoffs at the company, we heard that Cyanogen would be pivoting to apps, but CEO Kirk McMaster quickly shot those rumors down, at least for the time being. Today the company has just made a major new announcement, replacing its CEO and moving away from “full-stack” development…
After reports came out last week suggesting major layoffs had happened at Cyanogen Inc, the company’s CEO has come out to clear up a bit of the confusion as to what the future holds for the company. In those original reports it was revealed that the company was laying off a large portions of its staff and allegedly pivoting the company’s focus towards applications. As it turns out, that’s not true…
Cyanogen Inc has been hard at work over the past couple of years working an its alternative version of Android for OEMs, but it seems that can only take the company so far. We’ve seen a few devices here and there that offer the software, most notably the OnePlus One, however even with help from Microsoft, Cyanogen has never been very successful in its endeavors and today it’s clear that the company is suffering the consequences…
According to a report this morning out of The Information, AT&T is in talks with Cyanogen to launch a phone running a version of Android made by the company, purportedly on ZTE hardware. This is notably the first time that a US carrier has considered selling a phone running the less-Google-controlled version of Android that powers phones like the Yu Yutopia and the WileyFox Swift…
Cyanogen has today announced a new platform called “MOD,” giving developers deeper access to the Android operating system and allowing them to take advantage of platform APIs that are otherwise out of reach. Microsoft, for example, has built a Skype mod that allows users to add VoIP calling functionality directly to the Android dialer, as well as a Cortana mod that replaces Google Now on an OS level…
The CyanogenMod team has announced via an official blog post that it is ending support for WhisperPush, and that its services will be officially end of life from February 1st. WhisperPush, for those unaware, is an encryption service which keeps messages secure and private.
We’ve ultimately made the decision that we will no longer be supporting WhisperPush functionality directly within CyanogenMod. Further, WhisperPush services will be end-of-lifed beginning Feb 1st 2016. As this is a server side implementation, all branches of CM from CM10.2 and forward will be affected.
There are seemingly several reasons for CyanogenMod’s decision to end integrated WhisperPush support. The team says it saw many ‘hiccups’, and had a number of longstanding registration problems as well as issues in various countries with WhisperPush. Also, with the arrival of Snowden-endorsed Signal — an app which offers practically the same services — the necessity to continue the difficult development and upkeep of WhisperPush was significantly reduced.
We transitioned the work to CM13, instead opting to implement directly within our Messaging application. However, with the rapid adoption of the official Signal application, our implementation into Messaging would have been a seemingly unnecessary fork. Analyzing the costs of SMS verification (many thanks to Twilio for their support on this), usage traffic, server costs and registration numbers, forking would serve no larger long-term user benefit.
If you have a number registered with WhisperPush you should unregister by heading to Settings>Privacy>WhisperPush on your device running any version of CyanogenMod from CM10.2 to CM12.1. Once February 1st rolls around, all numbers will be unregistered by CyanogenMod.
Those who have used, or use the service regularly are urged by the CM team to download the aforementioned Signal app. It comes from Open Whisper Systems (who helped create WhisperPush) and offers encrypted text messages and voice calls. What’s more, it’s cross platform and there’s a desktop beta version.
When tablets became the next big thing in 2010, every tech company jumped into the fray hoping to monopolize on the trend. There are definitely lessons to be learned from the dirt cheap Android tablets, Fusion Garage’s JooJoo, and the like—notably, how companies quickly stopped supporting them. However, some tablets, like the Nook Tablet, get reprieve thanks to CyanogenMod.
The CyanogenMod team announced in a blog post this morning that it has started pushing its Android Marshmallow-based CM13 nightlies to a handful of older Android phones. It does note, however, that if you’re currently using YOG4P orYOG7D builds of CM12.1 and are happy with its stability, you may want to give the CM13 nightly a miss. A nightly — for those who are unaware — is essentially a beta custom ROM build that CyanogenMod pushes out to its users.
At the Big Android BBQ in Amsterdam this morning, Cyanogen revealed its plans for next year. It’s pretty ambitious for 2016, and aims to have a much bigger global presence than it has currently…
CyanogenMod is arguably the most popular custom build of Android, and now Cyanogen has begun work on CyanogenMod 13. If you’ve been running any of the nightlies on your phone, you’re probably using version 12.1 (based on Lollipop). Version 13, which will probably take some time before it becomes a build you can actually run on your device, is based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and is now in the earliest stages of development…
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The smartphone market is getting crowded by low cost phones offering great performance. It’s been something of a rising trend, especially with brands like OnePlus and Alcatel OneTouch leading the way. The next devices wanting a piece of the action are the Wileyfox Swift and Wileyfox Storm. Both released in what looks like a direct response to last year’s “flagship killer”, the OnePlus One.
I unboxed the more budget-friendly model of the two, the Wileyfox Swift, to see if it could deliver as much bang for your buck as other, similar devices…
Cyanogen has announced that its most recent update, Cyanogen OS 12.1, is rolling out now to OnePlus One owners as an over-the-air update. The initial launch has been slightly delayed, but it’s finally here and you should see it available to download over the coming days. Cyanogen OS 12.1 is based on Android 5.1 Lollipop and comes with a promising list of updates. From looking at the update, it seems Cyanogen is really going for productivity and performance over anything else. Those updates include:
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Update: Check out a new video showing off Gello below.
There’s not much to know about this yet, but CyanogenMod staff member Joey Rizzoli has come out on Google+ today to announce a new browser project the team has been working on. It’s called “Gello,” and while we don’t know many real details at this point, it seems apparent that it’s built at least in some capacity on Google’s open source Chromium project (which the Mountain View company’s flagship Chrome browser is based on as well).
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CyanogenMod today announced that it is pushing the final snapshot releases of both CM11.0 and 12.0 live. In a blog post, the company notes that both the CM11.0 and CM12.0 have seen improvements in stability and security, but not much else as focus has shifted to CM12.1.
The company defended its release of another CM11.0 build, which is based on Android 4.4 KitKat, by saying that many users have been slow to update to CM12.0 for whatever reason. Nightly builds for CM11 and CM12 will be slowly phased out as development further shifts to CM12.1, which is based on Android 5.1.
Why another CM11 build? Rather surprisingly, many users have been slow to upgrade to L – whether due to the lack of a snapshot release or adverse reaction to the Material design, we don’t know. The meager stats that we have show that there is a rather large contingency of users who are sticking to CM11 as their release channel of choice, so we felt compelled to give a release showcasing all the work that went into that branch to make it ship ready.
More details can be found in the blog post on the CyanogenMod website.
The OnePlus One, despite its well-deserved praise and renown, has some shortcoming. Besides the fact that OnePlus has some of the most ridiculous — although effective — marketing of any tech company today, the flagship phone itself has been plagued with some pretty nagging problems . Most notably, OnePlus has some pretty sketchy Bluetooth connectivity with in-car systems, problems sending MMS on some carriers, and — most notoriously — problems with touch screen sensitivity. Now, though, it looks like these problems are finally fixed…
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Playphone, which develops a third-party social game store for Android, has a new partner in Cyanogen. The company’s app will soon be included on Cyanogen OS phones in developing markets where mobile games may not have as high penetration as they do in Western countries.
The details are very scarce at this point, but a fresh press release this morning reveals that Cyanogen has received a “strategic investment” from Foxconn, closing out its series C round of funding. While an exact number isn’t mentioned (in fact no details are really mentioned), the release does say that Cyanogen has raised a total of $110 million in funding to date, assumably including the amount that Foxconn has invested.
Cyanogen received $70 million in an investment round in January, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Some amount of that was from Microsoft, another company that Cyanogen calls its partner. Kirt McMaster, Cyanogen’s CEO, was quoted as saying that the company plans to “take Android away from Google,” and apparently Foxconn—like Microsoft—will happily support this venture.
Leading Consumer Electronics Manufacturer Invests in Cyanogen’s Open OS Vision
PALO ALTO, CA–(Marketwired – May 12, 2015) – Cyanogen Inc. announced the strategic investment from Foxconn and closed out its series C round of funding. With offices in Palo Alto and Seattle, Cyanogen is leveraging the investment to accelerate talent hiring and the development of its open OS platform. The platform will create a more open, level playing field for 3rd party developers, enabling seamlessly integrated experiences within the operating system.
Foxconn is the leader of contract manufacturing and FIH Mobile is the leading end-to-end provider for world’s best known handset brands. Along with Cyanogen’s other investors, the strategic investment from Foxconn will help advance Cyanogen’s commercial adoption and growth in major markets around the world.
“We’re evolving Android and creating an open computing platform that will change the way consumers interact with their mobile devices,” said Kirt McMaster, CEO of Cyanogen Inc. “Foxconn and our diverse group of strategic investors and partners reflect the mobile value chain, from device manufacturers and mobile network operators to chipset makers and 3rd party developers. They see the great potential of what we’re doing in creating the next major paradigm shift in mobile computing.”
To date, Cyanogen has raised a total $110 million in funding. As the third leading mobile operating system, Cyanogen is known for its commercial operating system, Cyanogen OS, and open source community distribution CyanogenMod that the company backs.
About Cyanogen Inc.
Cyanogen is reimagining mobile computing, giving power to the people to customize their mobile device and content experiences. The CYANOGEN® operating system is built on Android and known for its revolutionary personalization features, intuitive interface, speed, improved battery life, and enhanced security. With a rapidly growing global user base and a vibrant community of developers, we’re intelligently connecting smartphone and tablet consumers to people, apps, and things they love. For more information, visit Cyanogen’s website, Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.
About FIH Mobile Ltd.
FIH (http://www.fihmb.com) is a vertically integrated manufacturing service provider for the mobile device industry worldwide. It provides a wide range of manufacturing services to its customers in connection with the production of mobile devices. Hon Hai Precision Industry Company Limited is the ultimate controlling shareholder of FIH (Hon Hai), and Hon Hai and its subsidiaries (as a group commonly known as the Foxconn Technology Group) is the leading global manufacturing service provider in the 3C (computer, communication and consumer electronics) industries.
Yu—a subsidiary of Micromax—announced their first device (the Yureka) late last year, but today the company has announced their second entry: the Yuphoria. At first glance you’ll probably notice that the device has a smaller overall build and a metal frame—and that’s exactly the realm of devices that Yu seems to be after with this launch (think the Galaxy A series)…
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Cyanogen wants to take Android from Google, so it would make sense that the company might want to show off the best of what it has to offer. The company has launched a new series of videos today, showcasing the best features of Cyanogen OS. And while many of these features may not be anything new for Cyanogen veterans, those who haven’t given the custom fork of Android a try might be intrigued…
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In what may be taken as some dreadful news to long-time fans of Cyanogen’s work in the custom Android-based ROM space, the group has today announced a partnership with Microsoft to pre-install many of the Redmond company’s consumer-facing apps on its mobile OS…
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After teasing the update last week, OnePlus today has announced that Lollipop-based Cyanogen OS 12 is now rolling out to the OnePlus One. The update has been a long time coming and while users have been waiting, OnePlus also released Oxygen OS, which is also based on Android 5.0 Lollipop.
Cyanogen recently gave itself a rebrand, and now the company has come out to share the new boot animation shipping with its upcoming Cyanogen OS 12. It’s definitely sporting the company’s slick new logo which, according to Cyanogen, “celebrates space, with minimal letterforms that don’t quite connect, giving the logo a sense of motion and a feeling of inherent energy.”
