Cyanogen had signed a deal with Micromax.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: In an effort to wrest control of Android further from Google’s grasp, the Wall Street Journal reports Microsoft will be investing about $70 million in Cyanogen, which is building their own version of the Android mobile operating system that exists outside of Google’s umbrella.
While the notion of one competitor throwing money at another may seem counterintuitive, there is indeed a method to Microsoft’s madness. The company is proprietor of the Windows Phone mobile architecture, but it only controls 3 percent of the global smartphone market share. The relative lack of success of the Windows Phone may have led to the formulation of some less than conventional tactics at the highest echelons of Microsoft’s Redmond campus.
Android was initially intended as an open source platform that hardware makers could implement on their devices for free. However, Google has drawn the ire of manufacturers in recent years by obligating them to feature Google apps and Google search by default in exchange for access to the search engine, YouTube, and the vast plethora apps in the Play Store.
Cyanogen offers a version of the Android OS that breaks free from the limitations masterminded by Google.
“We’re going to take Android away from Google,” Kirt McMaster, Cyanogen’s chief executive, told the Journal last week. McMaster also stated over 50 million people currently utilize a version of the Cyanogen Android operating system, most of whom installed it as a replacement for their phones original OS.
Cyanogen has been diligently working on deals with hardware manufactures in order to hasten the proliferation of its Android build. After being featured prominently on the universally lauded OnePlus One smartphone, Cyanogen signed a deal with Indian smartphone maker Micromax and is allegedly close to announcing other such deals in the near future.