Microsoft
would partner with the truly open-
source, Android-based Cyanogen OS to
provide a bundled suite of apps, both
companies made one thing very clear:
Android’s not just for Google anymore.
The partnership, as detailed by Cyanogen
yesterday, will allow the budding mobile
OS to integrate Microsoft apps like
Outlook, Office, Skype, Bing, OneDrive,
and OneNote. The subtext here is that
these apps can act as a replacement for
the ones that Google appends to its
Android releases, such as Gmail, Maps,
Hangouts, and more.
Google’s obviously not the only company
to preload phones on its platform with
home-grown software; every iPhone
comes with dozens of apps installed long
before you ever power it on, and
Windows Phone devices ship with plenty
of Microsoft-made live tiles in place. But
the increasing creep of apps you can’t
uninstall, regardless of whether you
want or need them—or if there are
better alternatives out there—is one of
the motivating forces behind the all-
open-everything Cyanogen business
model.
Opening Up
Dissociating Android from Google sounds
great in theory but leaves several gaping
holes in the user experience—holes that
Cyanogen will now attempt to fill with
bizarro-world Microsoft counterparts.
Importantly, though, Cyanogen OS won’t
shove Microsoft-owned Skype down your
throat; according to spokesperson Vivian
Lee, the apps will be “surfaced
contextually,” meaning they’ll be
presented as an option when it seems
like they might be helpful, but you’ll also
be welcome to use whatever else instead.
You can also uninstall them at will,
unlike the unkillable apps tethered to
Apple and Google devices.
Lee also confirmed to WIRED that the
partnership won’t affect existing devices,
meaning a future update won’t mess up
your OnePlus One workflow by swapping
your Google apps for a Redmond
imposter.
For Cyanogen, the benefit is clear:
Choice is its best point of differentiation.
But it also doesn’t mean much without a
wide variety of options from which to
choose. The Microsoft deal is just one
(albeit large) step towards having as
many partners on board as there are
mobile developers. “Cyanogen is
committed to opening up Android.” said
Lee, “[It’s] predicated on user choice as
an operating system.” The defining ethos
here isn’t that Microsoft alone will act as
an anti-Google; it’s that Microsoft will
help populate the broadest mobile
ecosystem available, an expansive nature
reserve next to everyone else’s walled
gardens.
What’s In It for Microsoft
The more interesting question might be
what Microsoft gets out of the
arrangement. After all, it has its own
mobile platform to worry about in
Windows Phone, which nearly five years
after first launching still hasn’t made an
appreciable dent; according to the most
recent Comscore numbers, it ended
January with a US market share of just
3.6 percent.
That failure to gain traction may be why
Microsoft has recently embraced a push
to put its software on its more popular
rivals. Outlook launched earlier this year
on both iPhone and Android, while its
Office suite went free on iOS and
Android last November.
What’s even better than trying to
establish an app beachhead in highly
contested territory, though, is becoming
the default app on a relatively new
platform with lots of potential for
growth. By working closely with
Cyanogen, Microsoft now essentially has
its own Android OS, which gives it a
potential reach far greater than its own
homegrown platform has found so far.
No Hardware, No Cry
The best part is that Microsoft won’t
have to rely on its own devices to
succeed. Lee says there are “no plans”
for Microsoft Cyanogen hardware at
present. Even so, any OEM that wants to
hedge against Google’s increasing
dominance without sacrificing the
Android experience will have to at least
consider Cyanogen OS, especially after
the breakout success of the OnePlus One.
Even if that only means a handful of
low-cost devices for the time being, those
are potential Bing and Skype and
Outlook users that Microsoft would have
otherwise been unlikely to reach.
One last wrinkle worth mentioning?
Thanks to a trove of patents, Microsoft
has Android licensing agreements that
amount to billions of dollars of revenue
every year, including a billion from
Samsung in 2013 alone. Presumably as
Android proliferates in whatever form,
so too will Microsoft’s potential patent
profits.
That’s a lot of upside with not much to
lose, especially given the recent cross-
platform push. And an arrangement like
this makes more sense than the $70
million investment Microsoft was
rumored to make back in January.
Cyanogen doesn’t have to feel beholden
to one software suite, and Microsoft
limits its financial exposure and
Windows Phone conflicts.
It’s going to be a while before we see
products that realize the vision Cyanogen
and Microsoft have laid out, and even
longer before Cyanogen OS becomes
more than a product that floats on the
margins. But the news gives legitimacy
to the idea that iOS might not be
Google’s only serious competition for
long. A more open Android is on the
rise, and Microsoft just provided a
powerful updraft.

Good development,it's just a business strategy to keep Gate at the top of his game till infinity

We shall see

In my opinion, this move is not smart on the part of Microsoft. They're just giving us less and less reason to use their Windows phone if all their apps becomes available on Android. In my case, I'm considering buying windows phone because of Cortana. If Cortana becomes available on Android, I'll definitely change my mind.

Windows useless app will come with an android phone??



I will just port to Apple!!

Big rumour, the company that released cynogen debunked the rumour, so dont belive this chk gsmarena's post of cm12 that is just released

huummm. observing things