Microsoft has agreed to invest an unknown dollar figure in Cyanogen, which offers a version of Android devoid of Google’s strictures.
Cyanogen recently raised $70 million in funding, of which Microsoft is playing a minority role say sources cited by the Wall Street Journal. Neither Microsoft nor Cyanogen commented on Microsoft’s involvement with the Android software maker, but Cyanogen has big goals. Last week, Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster said, “We’re going to take Android away from Google.” Cyanogen is working with handset makers to have its version of Android preinstalled on devices rather than Google’s.
It has succeeded with Micromax in India and is working to win over others. Google may offer Android to OEMs for free, but the search giant places strict requirements for handset makers to access the Play Store and other Google services.
Cyanogen claims 50 million people have installed its variant of Android on devices, most of whom are enthusiast users who root their device and sideload the operating system.
