Android By Russell Holly Dec. 19, 2013 10:48 am
As a successful round of Series B funding closes for Cyanogen Inc., earning the new company an additional $22 million, the team has made official their intent to create a unique new presence in the Android community.
A few weeks ago the Cyanogen team allowed me to come up and spend a few days in their office. The primary purpose of this visit was to get to know the Oppo N1*and spend some time with the development team that essentially didn’t sleep in order to get CyanogenMod ready for the phone within 30 days. Now that the N1 is moments away from being sold as the first phone released with a third party Android build and Google Apps legitimately included on the device, Cyanogen has announced new objectives. To help reach these goals in a timely manner, the company has closed a second round of funding with fantastic results.
My visit to the Cyanogen office was not exclusively for the Oppo N1. I also sat in on a presentation from a design firm that was hired to help create something new for the CyanogenMod vision of Android. Tectonic, a Seattle-based company with an list of big name clients like Microsoft, Amazon, and Beats By Dre, was tasked with helping create a new UI for CyanogenMod. At the time a lot of ideas were being thrown around, but nothing had really been agreed on yet.*Currently, the two groups are in very early discussions.
Cyanogen Inc. is entirely comprised of developers who have been using and appreciating the Android Open Source Project and all of its visual stylings for years, but the team understands the need for unique visual identity and is moving forward with this is idea. There’s no expectations for this to become a real part of CyanogenMod anytime soon, but the recently acquired funding is partially earmarked for rapid team expansion to help start the company down this path.
And it’s not all software for the Cyanogen team. While their first phone happened much faster than they had anticipated, the team has no intention of losing the momentum gained by that experience. It has been heavily hinted that ex-Oppo Vice President Pete Lau started the company OnePlus in order to focus on high-end hardware with a significant focus on design, and the expectation now exists that CyanogenMod will be running on at least one of these phones.
Coupled with that little bit of rumor is the discovery that Tencent is on the list of participants in the recent round of funding, and the announcement that the Chinese company will serve as a strategic partner for Cyanogen Inc. In a recent interview with Koushik Dutta and Steve Kondik, the team explained that a significant portion of CyanogenMod users are based in China. Since those markets have no real use for many of Google’s core apps, Tencent will be able to help them provide relevant software to Chinese markets.
While it may seem confusing or strange to see so many Chinese companies interested in CyanogenMod, it highlights an almost panic level attempt to compete with Xiaomi. The creators of MiUi have seen unprecedented success in China, leaving other companies scrambling for a means to compete on the same level. Tencent, Oppo, and OnePlus are on a short list of groups that think CyanogenMod can help compete with Xiaomi in these markets.
At the same time all of this is happening, the Cyanogen team remains dedicated to their original principles. According to Kondik, since the company has been formed they have open sourced more of their work than ever before. On top of this, the team plans to continue a dedication to the community by contributing additional resources and participating in community focused events. Without a doubt, 2014 is going to be an interesting year for CyanogenMod fans.
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A few weeks ago the Cyanogen team allowed me to come up and spend a few days in their office. The primary purpose of this visit was to get to know the Oppo N1*and spend some time with the development team that essentially didn’t sleep in order to get CyanogenMod ready for the phone within 30 days. Now that the N1 is moments away from being sold as the first phone released with a third party Android build and Google Apps legitimately included on the device, Cyanogen has announced new objectives. To help reach these goals in a timely manner, the company has closed a second round of funding with fantastic results.
My visit to the Cyanogen office was not exclusively for the Oppo N1. I also sat in on a presentation from a design firm that was hired to help create something new for the CyanogenMod vision of Android. Tectonic, a Seattle-based company with an list of big name clients like Microsoft, Amazon, and Beats By Dre, was tasked with helping create a new UI for CyanogenMod. At the time a lot of ideas were being thrown around, but nothing had really been agreed on yet.*Currently, the two groups are in very early discussions.
Cyanogen Inc. is entirely comprised of developers who have been using and appreciating the Android Open Source Project and all of its visual stylings for years, but the team understands the need for unique visual identity and is moving forward with this is idea. There’s no expectations for this to become a real part of CyanogenMod anytime soon, but the recently acquired funding is partially earmarked for rapid team expansion to help start the company down this path.
And it’s not all software for the Cyanogen team. While their first phone happened much faster than they had anticipated, the team has no intention of losing the momentum gained by that experience. It has been heavily hinted that ex-Oppo Vice President Pete Lau started the company OnePlus in order to focus on high-end hardware with a significant focus on design, and the expectation now exists that CyanogenMod will be running on at least one of these phones.
Coupled with that little bit of rumor is the discovery that Tencent is on the list of participants in the recent round of funding, and the announcement that the Chinese company will serve as a strategic partner for Cyanogen Inc. In a recent interview with Koushik Dutta and Steve Kondik, the team explained that a significant portion of CyanogenMod users are based in China. Since those markets have no real use for many of Google’s core apps, Tencent will be able to help them provide relevant software to Chinese markets.
While it may seem confusing or strange to see so many Chinese companies interested in CyanogenMod, it highlights an almost panic level attempt to compete with Xiaomi. The creators of MiUi have seen unprecedented success in China, leaving other companies scrambling for a means to compete on the same level. Tencent, Oppo, and OnePlus are on a short list of groups that think CyanogenMod can help compete with Xiaomi in these markets.
At the same time all of this is happening, the Cyanogen team remains dedicated to their original principles. According to Kondik, since the company has been formed they have open sourced more of their work than ever before. On top of this, the team plans to continue a dedication to the community by contributing additional resources and participating in community focused events. Without a doubt, 2014 is going to be an interesting year for CyanogenMod fans.
Now read: Google EnergySense leaks, points to home automation
More...
