Cyanogen, Microsoft Partnership Brings More Bing To Android

Cyanogen and Microsoft have an interesting relationship. After passing on a funding round to help Cyanogen 'take Android away from Google', Microsoft is now partnering with the upstart Android development house to bring their services to Cyanogen OS. With future iterations of Cyanogen OS, users will find Microsoft services bundled natively. In addition to Skype, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook, and Microsoft Office, users will also be subject to Bing search results on Cyanogen. The collaboration will also see Microsoft build "native integrations" for Cyanogen OS.

Kirt McMaster, CEO of Cyanogen Inc., had the following to say about the collaborative effort between Cyanogen and Microsoft:

People around the world use Cyanogen's operating system and popular Microsoft services to engage with what matters most to them on their mobile devices. his exciting partnership with Microsoft will enable us to bring new kinds of integrated services to mobile users in markets around the world.

Executive Vice President of Microsoft Corp., Peggy Johnson, said "We aspire to have our tools within arm's reach of everyone, to empower them in all aspects of their lives. This partnership represents another important step towards that ambition."

There's no given timeline for Microsoft to land on Cyanogen, and we don't expect it soon. Cyanogen just let loose OS 12, and deep integration of services calls for a bit more than downloading some apps.

It's another step toward Cyanogen's aim of becoming a standalone Android provider, and a big one. Other recent steps include working Boxer into the mix for email handling, but this is obviously much more profound a step for Cyanogen. It might also attract more hardware partners; something Cyanogen could use now that their OnePlus deal has fizzled.

Source: Digital Journal