back to article Popular Android modder takes job with Samsung Mobile

The creator of one of the most popular Android modification kits has taken a job as a software engineer with Samsung's mobile device unit. Steve Kondik, the hobbyist hacker behind CyanogenMod software, confirmed the appointment with Samsung Mobile on his Facebook page and to several bloggers. “I will be working on making …

COMMENTS

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  1. Pete 43
    Thumb Down

    How will he cope?

    with the red tape and empire builders

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Damn!

    I don't have a newish Samsung and the current Cyanogen isn't available for my cheap POS Android... I guess it's time for an(droid) upgrade or brew my own.

    --

    Out in the cold

    1. Jolyon

      Cheap POS

      CM7 is available for the Blade (Orange San Francisco) which is cheap although not exactly a POS.

  3. Goat Jam
    Go

    Cyanogen to make Android 'more awesome'

    I would settle for him making Samsungs software less monumentally crap.

    1. Alex C
      Thumb Up

      What he said

      Galaxy S2 - great phone, but the PC side of the software is arse.

    2. Giles Jones Gold badge

      Only for Samsung

      He'll make Samsung's version better, I doubt any of these improvements will be sent back to Google to improve the base OS.

      That's the whole problem with Android OEMs, it's all about what they can get, not what they can give back.

      1. Gordon 10
        Unhappy

        In fairness

        I dont see Google doing much on its side to make sure its a two way street.

      2. L1feless

        Nailed it

        "He'll make Samsung's version better, I doubt any of these improvements will be sent back to Google to improve the base OS.

        That's the whole problem with Android OEMs, it's all about what they can get, not what they can give back"

        You've nailed it for me with that comment. The best way to continue to make Android the most relevant OS on the Market is to have all manufacturers contribute back to the baseOS whilst being given credit for their contributions. This will not only allow for a much cleaner installation as well as faster updates but it should also allow for the OS to grow better faster.

        1. Silver
          Unhappy

          Re: Nailed it

          "The best way to continue to make Android the most relevant OS on the Market is to have all manufacturers contribute back to the baseOS whilst being given credit for their contributions."

          In an ideal world, yes. The problem is that the manufacturers see their contributions as the only real differentiation they have in the sea of identical looking (and specified) handsets.

          As such, they don't want credit, they want people to buy their phone over another manufacturer. Passing anything back to Google will be seen as giving their competition a leg up.

  4. Mr Floppy

    nothing changes

    He may have started it all but there are now lots of people that are a part of each release. Good on ya Cyanogen. Hope you get a good salary.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Good luck with that

    The food there is fantastic - the working environment is crap. Let me know if they actually understand what you're telling them 16 months after you eventually leave in disgust...

  6. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    oh nooooo!

    There was me hoping on a Cyanogen port of 3.0 to 7" Galaxy Tab.... not be happening now! :(

    1. Ru
      Boffin

      Its a big team

      He didn't write the whole of CM himself, and he didn't personally port it to each and every device supported.

      Maybe its time to brush up on your C and start reading about bootloaders.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Does this mean

    CM 7.x (Android 2.3) will have the camera working soon?

    ;-)

  8. Mike Judge
    Stop

    Ok then....

    "With Google's purchase of Motorola's mobile division for a whopping $12.5bn, competing manufacturers are scrambling to find ways to remain relevant. "

    Says who? All these competing manufacturers seem very supportive of the Google takeover, and all their shares jumped significantly off the back of it.

    This just seems to be following the Microsoft remit. Last year El-Reg were told to badmouth Sony, this year, Microsoft's new target is Google and Microsoft are instructing their media mouthpieces to badmouth anything Google related.

    1. Gordon 10
      Thumb Up

      I love the smell of paranoia in the morning

      The mere fact that fanboi's of every stripe tend to complain of El Reg's bias against their current bete noir suggests that they're actually fairly even handed.

      Rock on Reg!

    2. Disintegrationnotallowed

      Fanbois/Droidbois

      There all the same, get the item that does the job for you and stop being so closed mind (of course if you are Droidboi you will be open source minded).

      "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned"

      1. Joe Drunk

        Anythingboi

        Agreed, it's just a phone. My SGS does what I need it to now and does it very well. I know there's better phones out there, always is. I don't care and won't care until this phone breaks or my contract comes up for renewal.

        I do find it amusing that buyers of electronics expect any kind of loyalty from manufacturers. I expect it's due to their lack of understanding of how to run profitable businesses.

        "One of the chief complaints from Android users is the considerable time it takes for many carriers to offer updates for the Google operating system." "So it seems especially cruel that users with contracts from Verizon and other providers are forced to use woefully out-of-date Android versions unless they customize their devices using CyanogenMod or other kits."

        Yea you're right. They should keep investing in devices soon to be legacy just to appeal to a few nerds who are broke instead of new devices released every 6 months with improved hardware and technology that appeals to the money spending masses.

  9. cs94njw
    FAIL

    Excitement, and then... WTF

    Excitedly I looked at the feature list that's got everyone buzzing...

    Lockscreen gestures

    Incognito mode

    Themes Support

    DSP Equalizer

    OpenVPN

    PhoneGoggles

    *snore* And they didn't employ the creator of InsertCoin?!

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