It was heavily rumored back in February that Microsoft was going to be playing a significant part in the latest round of funding for Cyanogen – a Google-free version of Android that would have given Microsoft a strong say in forming a rival Android mobile ecosystem that’s not controlled by Google. However, it appears that those reports were not correct, as Bloomberg has reported that Microsoft has decided not to invest despite negotiations.
The news service says Microsoft may still be interested in a commercial deal to get its software onto Cyanogen, pushing Microsoft apps as defaults or bundled services to give it an additional presence in the Android market – a much needed foothold given Windows Phone’s poor market penetration.
Microsoft has been seen taking direct steps to address this issue, by porting its Office suite to iOS and Android, and snapping up mobile apps to turn them into polished versions of its own apps (like Accompli becoming Outlook, and Sunrise to become a new calendar). The latest rumors suggest that the Cortana Intelligent Personal Assistant (IPA) will be making her way onto the iOS and Android platforms too.
Cyanogen began as a popular alternative OS for phone owners looking to gain root access to their handsets – usually to use hardware features that had been disabled by the carrier. After the US Library of Congress ruled that rooting or jail-breaking a phone was not in breach of the DMCA, projects like Cyanogen began looking much more like viable businesses.
Consequently, the OS has become popular among users (and a few small businesses) that are looking to get a little further outside Google’s control. Based on the Android source code (which is open source), the Cyanogen development team has worked on removing the closed-source and proprietary device drivers that are currently found in Android – and also enjoys a weird copyright ruling that allows it to use Google’s apps (not open source) on Android devices that are converted to Cyanogen.
The end-goal is to create a Google-free version of Android that can be used by people who are uneasy with the control that Google wields over what it ostensibly an open platform – where businesses must use the default Google apps on their handsets, with the use of one app requiring all Google apps to be installed.
Cyanogen currently claims to have 50m users, and has a deal with Indian smartphone maker Micromax to install the OS on factory devices – the first of which is the $140 5.5-inch Yureka. It is also the stock OS for OnePlus’ range of premium handsets, but the exclusivity arrangement in the Micromax deal has angered OnePlus – which says it is abandoning Cyanogen after finding out that it can’t sell its handsets in India.
Chinese deals have been struck, in the hopes of securing a large slice of the market that uses forked versions of Android. According to Strategy Analytics, 37% of global Android shipments are using non-stock or forked versions of the OS, which allows projects like Cyanogen a lot of room to fight for.
The current round of funding will include PremjiInvest, the investment form of Wipro chairman Azim Premji, and counts venture capitalists Benchmark, Andreessen Horowitz and Redpoint Ventures among its previous investors.