

A New Chapter - bwooceli
http://www.cyanogenmod.org/blog/a_new_chapter

======
aylons
They could take the path of being a mobile Red Hat (or free software
Blackberry, depending on how you see it) and offer a nice corporate system and
services.

Managing mobile in the corporate environment is not a very well-solved
problem, and free software works well for this - Google and Apple seems to be
more interested in the great consumer market, and Cyanogen could leverage
this, basing their software on Android and focusing in the corporate details.

This way, they could even let Google Services pass, and keep software free, in
a manner similar to Red Hat's.

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jackgavigan
This is quite exciting news.

I've been running Cyanogenmod (CM) on my NinjaTel phone (a HTC One V) for a
year now and it's been an interesting experience that has led me to think a
lot more about the nature of a smartphone operating system and how the current
offerings are positioned - e.g. the completely closed, manufacturer-controlled
iOS versus the open (in theory but, in reality, controlled by the mobile
network operators) Android.

The path by which a new version of Android currently makes its way onto the
average user's phone is tortuous. First, Google release the new version of
Android, then the chipmakers have to support it, then the phone manufacturers
have to create a new release which must be tested by the mobile network
operators (MNOs) before they will release it to their users.

The fact that Apple owns makes both the hardware and software (and refused to
let the MNOs customise iOS[1]) has allowed them to streamline the process so
that, when they release a new version of iOS, it has already been tested with
their partner MNOs networks and can be delivered direct to their customers'
devices (and note that Apple regards iPhone owners as /Apple's/ customers, not
the MNOs').

I guess that, without first mover advantage and with multiple, competing
hardware manufacturers, Google was unable to strike the same sort of deal that
Apple did. Fortunately, Google have finally recognised that this puts Android
at a disadvantage and have started shifting functionality into apps that can
be upgraded via the Play store[2].)

In any case, the general public have slowly come to realise that (a) the phone
and the network are not inextricably tied, and (b) the functionality of a
phone (i.e. the apps it can run) is not dictated by the phone's OS.

Logically, the next step is to recognise that phone device and operating
system are not inextricably linked - i.e. when you buy an Android device, you
can replace the pre-installed OS with something else. However, that's quite a
big step for the general public to take. The average consumer still regards
consumer electronics products as a single package. It would need to become
exceedingly easy and very clearly advantageous for them to consider replacing
their stock OS. Just think about how many average consumers who buy laptops
replace the default install of Windows with Linux.

That's not to say that it will never happen, just that it's not going to
happen overnight and CM have a lot of work to do to build a viable and
sustainable business around supplying their version of Android direct to
retail consumers.

In the meantime, one customer segment that Cyanogenmod should definitely be
looking at are large corporates, who want to be able to customise the phones
they give their employees (e.g. to tie into internal mail systems, employee
directories, route calls via the company's internal network, etc.). BlackBerry
has been a leader in this space but uncertainty over the company's future
means that some clients are potentially open to approached from an alternative
supplier [3], particularly one that is not inextricably linked to a particular
manufacturer or network.

They could also attract the interest of mobile virtual network operators.
Personally, I think it's just a matter of time before we see an MVNO that
abstracts voice calls towards a least cost routing model that takes advantage
of data connectivity to make VoIP calls (instead of traditional phone calls)
when it's cheaper to do so. CM would be well-positioned to provide the OS for
this type of service (although, if Microsoft had any common sense, they'd
already be doing this now with Skype).

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how Google (and, indeed, the
manufacturers) react to Cyanogenmod's incorporation. Specifically, I'll be
interested to see whether Google strike the same sort of deal with Cyanogenmod
that they have with Mozilla (i.e. search royalties)

Footnotes:

[1: Apple (specifically Jobs himself) were only able to refuse to allow the
MNOs (and specifically AT&T) to customise iOS because the iPhone was such a
ground-breaking product. RIM, for example, also made both the hardware and
software for the Blackberry but were forced to allow the MNOs to customise the
OS.]

[2: [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/balky-carriers-and-
sl...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/balky-carriers-and-slow-oems-
step-aside-google-is-defragging-android/) ]

[3: Morgan Stanley Reportedly Holding Off on BlackBerry 10 Upgrade:
[http://n4bb.com/morgan-stanley-reportedly-holding-
blackberry...](http://n4bb.com/morgan-stanley-reportedly-holding-
blackberry-10-upgrade/) ]

~~~
commandar
> Personally, I think it's just a matter of time before we see an MVNO that
> abstracts voice calls towards a least cost routing model that takes
> advantage of data connectivity to make VoIP calls (instead of traditional
> phone calls) when it's cheaper to do so. CM would be well-positioned to
> provide the OS for this type of service (although, if Microsoft had any
> common sense, they'd already be doing this now with Skype).

Already happening, actually.

[http://www.republicwireless.com/](http://www.republicwireless.com/)

My understanding is that their phones are generally running some sort of
customized CM firmware, as well.

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anon1385
Could somebody clarify what the actual business plan is here? There is VC
investment, so I assume there is at least some idea of how they are going to
generate a return? It wasn't very clear from the post and I'm not familiar
with cyanogenmod…

~~~
waterside81
They build a bunch of cool stuff that causes Google or some Android-dependent
company (e.g. Samsung) to acquire them would be my guess.

~~~
interurban
HTC could use something that would differentiate themselves from Samsung et
al, maybe Cyanogen could do it?

~~~
XorNot
Samsung could use a better UI (posting from my CM rooted S4)

~~~
jjsz
What made you get the S4 over the HTC One. I have an S3, and will be upgrading
to combat its depreciating value...

~~~
XorNot
Removable battery and SD card slot.

After a year I won't have to put up with the question of "should I try opening
it up to change out the battery?". Plus I can drop 64gb of storage into a 16
gb model, and keep expanding that as memory densities increase.

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grannyg00se
Is there a page listing all the features that Cyanogenmod provides over
Android?

The page with the section "So what is the difference between Android and
CyanogenMod" talks about how Cyanogenmod comes to be created after each
Android release but doesn't describe the actual features.

~~~
eloisant
Compared to others, the point of CM is precisely not to add too many features
and provide a close to stock experience. It's not that useful if you have a
Nexus device, but otherwise you can get (1) an Android version without all the
clutter of HTC, Samsung or others (2) a recent Android version even if the
device is old and unsupported.

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makeramen
This could be huge. Even if they just take the route of updating the most
popular phones to the latest versions of Android, bypassing the slow
manufacturer+carrier update cycle, they could easily have a platform if they
can get the adoption.

Make an easy "switch to CyanogenMod" installer for the top handsets, and
provide your own OTA updates faster than the actual device manufacturer and
you could have quite the platform. Plus Google will love you since you're
keeping more of their devices up-to-date, essentially fighting the
fragmentation problem for them.

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AndrewDucker
Can someone tell me what CyanogenMod does that my Stock 4.2 Android doesn't
do? I had a quick look at the site, and the answer at the moment seems to be
"Sound, Themes, and Settings" \- none of which excite me enough to make it
worth flattening my phone and reinstalling everything.

~~~
pja
If you have an older phone that the vendor can't be bothered upgrading, if CM
supports it then you get to install a supported version of Android with the
latest security updates and bug fixes.

It also means you can install a close to stock version of Android without all
the vendor additions. In the early days of Android, HTC Sense & Samsung's
equivalent were probably necessary since the stock Android experience was
pretty poor. Nowadays these vendor UI layers are relatively pointless: mostly
they just make vendor updates to phones more expensive to implement and
therefore less likely to occur. Vendors still like them because they believe
they give them a way to differentiate their phones from everybody else's, but
the vast majority of users simply don't care.

If you have a recent phone, or a Google phone that gets timely updates, then
you probably don't care that much about CM. If you can afford to buy a new
phone every year then you probably don't care very much about CM. That still
leaves a big chunk of the population who can benefit from CM: an 8 million
strong installed base is pretty impressive for an Android distribution that
usually requires you to void the warranty on your phone.

~~~
AndrewDucker
Thank you, that makes sense. I have a Galaxy Nexus, so I'm fine - but if I was
running an older phone (or a non-Nexus one) then I would be interested!

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dharma1
I think they will start selling CM phones at one point, or partner with a
phone manufacturer/OEM

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randomhunt
That guy's blue hair is _awesome_

(the installer looks like an OK idea...maybe it/cyanogenmod needs some blue
hair too...purple cow...)

~~~
weavie
Yup they definitely look like a team I could enjoy working with..

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sciwiz
They are doing an AMA:
www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1mnnc6/we_are_steve_cyanogen_kondik_and_koushik_koush/

