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The folks at CyanogenMod have just made a very major announcement. No longer is the biggest open-source community project for Android just a hobby — it’s gone big time, and it’s gotten there fast. Introducing CyanogenMod Incorporated, a new full-fledged company that has managed to raise $7 million in funding to start. Wait… what?! This is definitely the ultimate feel-good story, with a project that started out as a hobby for a group of talented developers exploding into what has now become full-fledged careers for many.
So what does this mean? It means CyanogenMod is more than just a ROM. It’s a business. The company is 100% focused on the development of the ROM (which they’re actually calling an Operating System now). While we’re not sure what this will mean internally, it does help secure the future of a project that already had a pretty strong backbone.
In the heartwarming letter to fans, it is revealed that a man by the name of Kirt McMaster helped open the eyes of Steve Kondik to even greater possibilities. The question: what could they do with enough funding? And with a team that consists of as many original CyanogenMod developers as they could corral?
That answer will be given to us in due time, with the team promising some very exciting news for the future. It sounds like they are working on something big — something far beyond the scope of a traditional ROM that simply adds a few cool features. We’re potentially talking Xiaomi-type expansion here, folks, though we won’t get too far ahead of ourselves just yet. Here are the goals, though:
* Organize, lead, and support our community
* Create amazing user experience centered around how YOU work
* Security solutions that really work
* Stay committed to building the features our users need
* No junk
* Constant updates
* Available on everything, to everyone
That last one is really interesting. We’re not sure if they’ll be able to reach that goal, but knowing they’re working toward it is enough to get us excited.
With that, they’re also announcing the Cyanogen Installer, a project which will look to make the installation of CyanogenMod much, much easier for users. We’re sure there will still be some technical know-how required, but they’ll make it prettier and more easy to get up on the single biggest entity in third-party Android development.
This is pretty big news, and although the entire picture has yet to be painted we will be keeping a close eye on this proverbial easel. Be sure to read the full memoir by Steve Kondik over at the CyanogenMod website.
This is NUTS! I can’t believe how far we’ve come. From flashing ROMs on the G1, to $7 million in funding? I’m…. just…….. so happy for them :*)
Where is Kmobs?
Busy being a medical doctor
Custom ROMs or Health? …hmm.. tough one. I guess we need doctors too. :)
I remember flashing that very first cyanogenmod on my G1… he took over when Jesusfreake took a break. Good lord time flies… Big ups Steve and congrats!
I never found out who JF was but I’ve always assumed it was Steve (or someone else in the group now).
No, he lives in Texas (I forget his real name). I also find it amusing that Steve mentioned JF’s work but not Haykuro’s since, if I remember correctly, CM was based off of both of their work fairly equally around the Android 1.5 days.
+1 To Phase, that is correct as Haykuro was one of the few that started porting customs around that time as well. In either case, I think JF was the main influence for many Dev’s at that time.
This is the first rom I loaded when I got into hacking android. feel good story for sure! :)
Same, still pretty much the only ROMs I use other than the odd messing around.
Cyanogenmod just went corporate. I loved the open source “small” unrefined feel to it. Might just be me though…
Yeah, it might just be you… if… say… you also stop listening to a band once they “sell out”. *coughhipstercough*
Yeah this didn’t change my opinion of Cyanogenmod at all. Until they start making decisions based on “investor concerns”, its normal S.O.P to me.
yeah.. i dont see them doing that.. HOWEVER, thats a pretty sizable investment and i would be willing to bet that wherever they get it from, they will make sure things happen the way they need it to ultimately for their investment.
I’ve heard they got it from a hardware manufacture. It’s about time honestly. Android was stagnating, it’s time for some competition.
This may also put pressure on cell phone manufacturers to keep them unlocked. If it’s an Operating System, how is it different than Windows? Just different hardware different and a different experience.
“Dude I was totally into Cyanogenmod before anyone else.” haha.
I think this will only be for the best in the long run for Cyanogenmod.
Love the Cyan hair.
How long until Google buys them now? A year?
They should use them to implement the following program – provide Android updates for any manufacturer, for up to 2 smartphones and 1 tablet per year, for 2 years. Goodbye fragmentation.
No please. They will mess CyanogenMod up…..
True but it would also make Android better as a whole. I’d prefer that over having just another ROM. Remember, until otherwise is announced, you still need to Root to use CM and without ROOT it’s not much more than another launcher or app. By being absorbed into Google and the Android team as a whole, they could more likely achieve their goal, which is probably more so at its heart, to make Android better and more accessible to the masses.
They need to be independent from Google. In an android dominated world, we need internal competition to keep Google from stagnating.
Can’t tell if Steve Kondik is wearing Google glass or he has really thick eyebrows.
Glass
Dang, apparently even the dog can write code.
yup, he’s teaching me Java
for that last one if they could get it to a state where it can be installed like an os on a pc, then the softwarehardware bits needed for the phone to work properly added afterwords, that would be amazing
That is simply impossible. ARM lacks anything like PCI so you have to know about the hardware before you boot. This means you can’t simply bring along all the drivers and load the ones you need when you boot like a PC does. Instead you need a build for each set of hardware.
aww, well it was a nice thought atleast…could using something like aroma installer during the rom install, work? as to have everything need figured out, based on the device selection, then have everything needed installed as a whole when the rom is
What you would need to do is have an installed app determine the device then based on that flash a bootloader or use the one in place and retrieve the correct ROM for that device.
I would’ve been happier if JBQ announced he was joining this team instead of Yahoo
omg that would have been epic!
Believe it when I see it. Just promises for now.
I like the guy with the cyan hair
Yea, he’s an awesome guy, and a great person…
The dog. =.D
I just want to know how they are going to stay afloat. I don’t see donations keeping them going for forever.
Considering they’re calling it an “Operating System” now (and are pretty much a “Startup” at this point) I’d wager that they intend to build CM into a full fledged fork of Android (similar to Amazon and their Kindle’d version) and licence it (somehow) or simply receive financial backing for by an MFG for exclusivity or quicker support; or otherwise hope that they will eventually be swallowed up by Google, Samsung, HTC, or one of many other bigger companies and work on specific versions of Android for them (a la Sense or TouchWiz).
most of what you suggest (particularly “MFG exclusivity”) would be a total sellout of the community that made CM what it is today … .
thats kinda what i was thinking. I can however TOTALLY see a phone coming SOON. and maybe a tablet with Cyanogen branding maybe?? BRING ON THE cyPhone <— need to copyright that!! lol
They just got $7 million. Not bad for a bunch of hobbyists
Can you imagine a flagship smartphone launching with CM? It’s amazing how many people will root their phones to get the horrible vendor bloatware off, and then install this, and yet no company (AFAIK) offers CM as a default ‘skin’.
FYI they were doing an AMA over on Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1mnnc6/we_are_steve_cyanogen_kondik_and_koushik_koush/) and said they will check back. Lots of good info there.
Custom ROMs FTW!
Only 2 girls in that pic :(
Sausage Fest -_-
Congrats… Been flashing the early g1 days. :)
Cyano…what? *yawn*
GTFO!
no seriously… GET OUT!
did a bunch of hackers just get their pictures taken for the world to see?…jokes :)