Cyanogen grabs $23m, will ship mod-installed N1 smartmobe on Xmas Eve Champagne corks will be popping in a Seattle startup this evening. Cyanogen, the company behind alternative Android distribution CyanogenMod, has banked $23m in series-B funding – and Google has given its blessing to allow a smartphone to ship with the team's operating system installed. The double whammy of funding and a …
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>When will someone innovate a < 4" smart phone with decent specs?
The Sony Xperia Z1 f is a 4.3" variant of the Z1, and has the same innards as its bigger flagship brother. This is in contrast to 'mini' variants of the Galaxy S4 and HTC One, which have poorer specs than their larger-screened stable mates.
Released is Japan now, international availability to follow:
http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2013/12/19/sony-xperia-z1-f-released-global-availability-next/
It's much easier to get decent specs in a larger body. You don't need the lowest power parts out of the high clock bin to work with the small battery. A 6 inch phone may be considerably cheaper than a 4 inch one of equivalent performance, because it can use much more conservative technology.
I have a theory, phones are getting bigger and bigger which is a fact, just compare them to the Nokia 8210 and Motorola StarTac of yesteryear when the trend was for miniaturisation and incidentally two phones I owned.
However, since 1999 waistlines have been getting bigger and bigger, In fact the UK has an epidemic of obesity. While we are told that calling someone fat may cause them to suffer from body image anxiety the fact remains, fat is fat. People dying from starvation never look fat, it is all down to what you shovel in your mouth and the ratio of input and output.
So I reckon there must be a correlation between the FAT epidemic (bigger clothes, bigger pockets) and the increase in mobile phone size. In fact I even think that if a manufacturer came up with a phone that incorporated a snack compartment for sugary and high fat treats, they would have a winner. They might even consider extending the screen or keyboard for those with particularly fat digits.
A Fat Fone would be an instant hit.
Interesting theory but I fear the real reason is much more mundane: fashion. With little to distinguish between phones in the show-off department, manufacturers will tap in to a "mine's bigger than yours" mentality. And once the market's saturated with unfeasibly large phones, they'll start getting smaller again, tapping into a "mine's smaller than yours" mentality.
Google isn't Microsoft, but don't believe they're not evil. Cyanogenmod is a threat to their Android business model, because makes it easier for OEMs/carriers/users to rid themselves of the Google layered software that helps Google make money off Android. You didn't think they gave Android away for free out of the goodness of their heart, did you?
Cyanogenmod is a threat to their Android business model, because makes it easier for OEMs/carriers/users to rid themselves of the Google layered software that helps Google make money off Android.
Don't ship it with GAPPs, and problem solved! To which Cyanogen to my knowledge has never shipped officially with any GAPPs ever...
"Cyanogenmod is a threat to their Android business model, because makes it easier for OEMs/carriers/users to rid themselves of the Google layered software that helps Google make money off Android."
It's no more a threat than Samsung with Touchwiz or HTC with Sense. Both still offer Android and access to all of Google's services which bring in revenue for Google. To get certified I'm pretty sure that CyanogenMod had to remove root as a standard option so in effect they're just another Android version with a few customisations. Frankly I don't see Google caring at all unless / until they partner with someone like Samsung or a major carrier *and* start developing their own major apps like Maps etc to compete.
"Don't ship it with GAPPs, and problem solved! To which Cyanogen to my knowledge has never shipped officially with any GAPPs ever..."
Your knowledge doesn't stretch very far in this instance. It used to always ship with GApps bundled and that's why they got the cease and desist letter in 2009.
The root removal also has a cascade affect on some of the other features, some of which are included in this article , such as CPU overclocking. Hardware manufacturers won' want users to have access to a feature that could cost them more in repairs over time.
Tried Cyanogenmod on an S3 and it was ok except for problems with wifi, which was enough for me to dump it. Went back to stock 4.3, rooted, installed Xposed framework and then Wanam Xposed ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ma.wanam.xposed&hl=en_GB ) and have a lot of the customisable features and look that Cyanogenmod gave.
Buying a phone with the choice of not having all the bloatware, memory hogging and battery draining crap is always a bonus.
Google isn't Microsoft, but don't believe they're not evil. Cyanogenmod is a threat to their Android business model, because makes it easier for OEMs/carriers/users to rid themselves of the Google layered software that helps Google make money off Android. You didn't think they gave Android away for free out of the goodness of their heart, did you?
Quite right, Cyanogenmod is a threat to Evil G because it doesn't come with all the privacy-raping code present in Android out of the box.
Now, I wonder, what privacy-invasive code has CM been forced to include in order to get Evil G's blessings?
CM is not a threat, why, because it relies on Google's code. CM does not write everything from scratch, they "extend" existing code.
If anything CM actually helps Google by showing what can be improved, modded to a better level or optimised.
CM is not perfect but it is good.
They only downside that I now see though is that they will no longer have to fight like hungry men in order to survive, I am worried that they will start behaving like round bellied managers. Only the future can tell.
The forums were always full of congratulations and compliments when any new ROM is released.
You then have to delve through hundreds of those 'great, super' comments to realise that GPS and Bluetooth do not work, etc etc etc
Once bitten, twice shy.
I don't care that the phone now runs at 300'C and that the HD camera no longer works, or the radio come to that, it's just a blinding fast ROM, blinding...., OK, there is some stutter on screen transitions but the lock-screen, waaaaay faster than stock Touchwiz, like, no lag whatsoever.
Another nice job*
*make sure you have installed kernel hjgUYRybhghf and not hjgUYRybhght, otherwise you will brick your phone, but otherwise another nice job.
About the only way you can Brick your Device is if you go mucking 'round with the Bootloaders. Not something even the most idiotic Person would do. Even if they can't read a Howto... Then again.... I'm miscounting some of the higher versions of Odin that have the Bootloader Sections in them.
But, again this is like the first major WARNING you hit when you start looking into this kind of sh--. I think only some People have to mess with it, to actually unlock their Devices.
Thankfully I never had to do more then flash a CF-Root Kernel though the aforementioned Program to root my Devices.
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Sadly true, but since this is "Their Device" One would guess that they took the trouble to finally make it work.
We got all kinda of Devs working on the Galaxy Tab (GT-P1000), but the same bugs that have plagued Android 4.2.1, Camera, Bluetooth (in some cases), Wired Headset Button are still unchanged even though all of these "Devs" have since moved on to Kitkat now.
All the people who say they have radio problems or gps or bluetooth...what phones are you doing this on? I install the nightly builds pretty much every day on my S3 and I have never lost any of these features, and installing nightlies all the time is about as bleeding edge as you'd get without compiling yourself so id have accepted issues...but ive never had any!
have to love fanboys of any colour. Problem with android? No, definitely it must be you, how very dare you question the unquestionable android. Don't we slate a certain fruity company for loss of functionality on OS upgrades?
I have android and apple devices both have advantages and disadvantages but blaming users for problems is very Steve Jobs.
When did i blame anyone for the problems? I asked what devices they were using and showing my experience? Or are you so anti anything positive you don't even want a successfully side of the story...you know, it adds balance to hear both success and failure.
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As soon as Google launches a new application/service, the equivalent system app in AOSP becomes orphaned, falling behind in features and bug fixes.
Cyanogenmod will have to invest a large portion of that vc money into real development not just tweaks... I hope they will do and contribute back into AOSP.
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/
I'm a bit confused. Neither the article, nor the comments seem to be mentioning anything about profits. If Cyanogen has turned into a full bona fide business - what is the business model? Whom exactly are they going to charge (and what for) to make up those 23+7 million greenbacks? Anybody?
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