Technology
Microsoft to participate in a $70 million investment round into Cyanogen, a company that creates a custom, feature- and performance-rich version of Android.
Updated : Mar 12, 2018, 02:05 AM IST
Microsoft--a company we all know well for their multi-platform Windows operating system--is investing in Cyanogen, a company that builds a specialized, high-performance version of the popular Android OS. The very same Android that is Google’s. Think about that for a second--it is perplexing on many levels: Microsoft, while pushing their own Windows-based smartphones is likely to be investing in a company that uses their biggest competitor’s operating system.
Cyanogen is a company that uses the official Android source code as a starting point to create a feature- and performance-enhanced version of the operating system called Cyanogenmod, which can be manually installed on several popular Android phones to deliver added functionality. In recent months they have even tied up directly with phone manufacturers to have their version of Android factory installed on specific models phones: most famously, the OnePlus One and Micromax’s Yu Yureka phone.
Here's How Google Could Jumpstart Microsoft Corporation... http://t.co/mfnURWm1MW
— Kirt McMaster (@cyanogenone) September 14, 2014
Google’s stock Android comes with restrictions in the form of mandating the use of Google’s own Play Store along with its core apps, and using Google as the default search engine. Such restrictions do not exist in Cyanogenmod.
Microsoft has always had a fractious, while ironic, relationship with Google in which they allegedly earn more from Android patent licensing fees than they do from their own Windows Phone. Also, after their purchase of Nokia they even sold Android-based handsets for a short while.