Cyanogen denied Google's attempt at an acquisition, now seeks a $1 billion valuation (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Just weeks out from Google's unveiling of the 5.9-inch Nexus 6 smartphone, the NVIDIA Tegra K1-powered Nexus 9 tablet and Android L, the company has reportedly met with the executives of Cyanogen Inc. to talk about an acquisition, which Cyanogen denied.
Cyanogen is now talking of a Series C round of funding, with some large tech companies and investors in deep talks with the company, which seeks a valuation of close to $1 billion. How can a company who makes a modified version of Android be worth that much money? Simple: Cyanogen is reportedly in talks with taking its CyanogenMod OS to India through a manufacturer called Micromax. Micromax, along with Samsung, own the majority of the smartphone market in India, which could be just what Cyanogen needs to get its OS into the hands of tens of millions of consumers.
With Google being denied the chance to acquire Cyanogen, it could mean a different direction for Android, considering many experts prefer CyanogenMod even over stock Android, which is what Google places on its Nexus devices. With the Android Silver program in trouble, and a failed acquisition of a company that heavily modifies, and sometimes for the better your mobile OS, where will Google go now if it had its hopes on this acquisition going through?
Cyanogen is a replacement operating system for most Android phones. The carrier (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc) won't send updates to phones they sell and they pack a lot of crap onto the phone users don't want.
From the Cyanogen wiki:
Pros
Common reasons to modify your device's operating system include:
- Remove unwanted programs ("bloatware") installed by your carrier
- Receive more frequent security updates
- Have access to the current version of Android - most carriers take months to update devices on their network to the latest version of Android, if ever. Taking control of your OS allows you to update regularly, when you feel like it's time.
Cons
Common concerns include the following:
- Some device manufacturers or mobile providers may offer a limited or voided warranty after modifying
- It is possible that by installing a rooted operating system, you introduce new security risks. For instance, you need to be smart about the permissions you grant applications.
- Non-stock firmware could contain malicious code - which is a good argument for making sure you download custom ROMs from trusted sources, or even better, learn to build it yourself!
- Stability issues may arise when using an experimental operating system. However, for many people, CyanogenMod has proven to be more stable than many official ROMs.
