Does the name CyanogenMod sound familiar to you? Well if it’s doesn’t then it’s about to, at least that’s the goal with this week’s announcement. What was once a one man hacking project has survived, even thrived, since Android’s conception and will now be known as Cyanogen Inc. That means they’re an official company and they’re not messing around. Their most lofty, and perhaps attention grabbing, goal is to be number three in the mobile market as far as operating systems are concerned, citing Apple and Android as their primary competitors.
While this Android off-shoot has had success among modders and hackers alike, the new Cyanogen Inc. may have bitten off more than it can chew. Being number three in the mobile industry means taking on and surpassing two major tech giants: Microsoft and Mozilla. While these two companies may not currently be close to Google or Apple in their mobile offerings, they do have a little bit more experience and one of them can throw money at its product for years on end.
For Cyanogen to be successful in this mobile industry, it’s not going to be enough to hope users will risk their phones by rooting and installing CyanogenMod, thus capturing a small amount of Android’s marketshare. They fully recognize this and are doing a couple things to combat that.
First, the newborn company is working frantically to simplify the installation process. Currently a user must root their phone, go through a series of tutorials and instructions in order to flash their phone and take certain steps to make sure it is done right. If it’s not done right...goodbye phone. The folks at Cyanogen fully understand this and are aiming to make this a simpler process. This would allow the adventurous to hack their phones in safety and perhaps appeal to a more casual bunch of smartphone operators (i.e. a majority of them).
For those who aren’t into modifying their phone’s software at all (again, most smartphone users) Cyanogen has a hardware company yet to be announced that is working on a deal with them. This partnership is expected to be announced “soon” but they would not name the company just yet.
Finally, another new offering from Cyanogen is their accounts feature. This allows users to setup an account and store their information in the cloud, thus being able to backup and restore things anytime they would like to.
When all is said and done, this news is nothing but good. Cyanogen Inc. coming into the scene as a seemingly real competitor to mobile OS’s means a more heated race for having the perfect smartphone OS. This company started as a mere mod and now wants to give everyone a run for their money. That’s good for not only consumers right now but also for future aspirers hoping to do that same thing. Cyanogen Inc’s success could pave for way for hacker-entrepreneurs in the future. So whether you buy into these up and coming OS’s or not, your phone will be better because your company of choice has one more guy trying to steal his customers.
For Cyanogen to be successful in this mobile industry, it’s not going to be enough to hope users will risk their phones by rooting and installing CyanogenMod, thus capturing a small amount of Android’s marketshare. They fully recognize this and are doing a couple things to combat that.
First, the newborn company is working frantically to simplify the installation process. Currently a user must root their phone, go through a series of tutorials and instructions in order to flash their phone and take certain steps to make sure it is done right. If it’s not done right...goodbye phone. The folks at Cyanogen fully understand this and are aiming to make this a simpler process. This would allow the adventurous to hack their phones in safety and perhaps appeal to a more casual bunch of smartphone operators (i.e. a majority of them).
For those who aren’t into modifying their phone’s software at all (again, most smartphone users) Cyanogen has a hardware company yet to be announced that is working on a deal with them. This partnership is expected to be announced “soon” but they would not name the company just yet.
Finally, another new offering from Cyanogen is their accounts feature. This allows users to setup an account and store their information in the cloud, thus being able to backup and restore things anytime they would like to.
When all is said and done, this news is nothing but good. Cyanogen Inc. coming into the scene as a seemingly real competitor to mobile OS’s means a more heated race for having the perfect smartphone OS. This company started as a mere mod and now wants to give everyone a run for their money. That’s good for not only consumers right now but also for future aspirers hoping to do that same thing. Cyanogen Inc’s success could pave for way for hacker-entrepreneurs in the future. So whether you buy into these up and coming OS’s or not, your phone will be better because your company of choice has one more guy trying to steal his customers.
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