Cyanogen wants to take the “Google” out of Android

At a symposium this past week in San Francisco, Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster outlined a combative take about Google and its control over the Android operating system, and a defiant vision for Cyanogen to build an Android operating system without Google being in the picture.

McMaster started his talk with, “I’m the CEO of Cyanogen. We’re attempting to take Android away from Google.”

He further explained that Cyanogen is developing a version of Android which would be open at every level. Something that other developers and partners could utilize to create their own tightly integrated services. Think of stuff that would be able to compete with Google Now, and that paints a broad picture.

“We’re making a version of Android that is more open so we can integrate with more partners so their servicers can be tier one services, so startups working on [artificial intelligence] or other problems don’t get stuck having you have to launch a stupid little application that inevitably gets acquired by Google or Apple. These companies can thrive on non-Google Android,” explained McMaster.

Is Cyanogen concerned that Google might not think too highly of this strategy? No because it sees its future as being Google-free. McMaster says Cyanogen will have its own app store in 18 months.  Of course, there is nothing to stop Google from impeding Cyanogen's plans either.

We are not sure how Cyanogen intends to achieve this vision, given how dependent it currently is on Google and its services (including the control the company has over the platform). Even open source projects need some center mass for an ecosystem to interconnect with and seek guidance from, the Android Open Source Project and Ubuntu are good examples of that.

There will certainly be an issue of how patented technologies or techniques are leveraged in whatever Cyanogen makes. Android may be “free,” but it is not without cost. Even companies that are not directly tied into the AOSP, like Microsoft, receive license fees for patents that are utilized in Android.

source: Android Authority