Cyanogen Inc. Turns Down Google, Seeing $1 Billion Valuation

An anonymous reader writes: According to a report at The Information (paywalled), Cyanogen Inc., the company trying to commercializa the popular CyanogenMod mobile OS based on Android, recently met with Google's Android chief to talk about an acquisition. The report says Cyanogen turned down Google's offer and instead seeks funding from investors and major tech companies at a valuation around $1 billion. "Cyanogen has told potential investors that it has a deal in place to bring its custom version of the Android OS to India through a manufacturer called Micromax. Alongside Samsung, Micromax currently holds almost as much share of the smartphone market in India, making this deal a very large step to get Cyanogen into the hands of millions of more people. Lastly, the report claims that Cyanogen should be wary of modifying Android too much. During the process, the company must continue to follow Google's compatibility requirements which ensure third-party applications will work on their devices. If those requirements are not met, devices will not be licensed to run Google's services, such as Google Play and other Google applications."

Comments

Google just pissy

[wierd_w]

Google is just in a snit that CyanogenMod is fantastically better than stock android, BECAUSE it gives power back to users.

For instance, the power to rescind permissions on installed apps, the ability to have finer control over CPU throttles, and of course, the removal of bunches of total horse-shit that gets bundled.

Google is more worried that CyanogenMod being a mainstream thing will affect their ability to have baked in adware out of the box, generating money for them. Not that CyanogenMod devices will fail to run 3rd party apps.

"Oh noes! Dont allow users to use fake geolocation! That will ruin our datamining operations! Oh no! Not our playstore advert shit too!? Did you REALLY just give users the ability to say "NO" to that app maker's blanket permissions requirement AFTER they said yes initially to let it install!? How will Facebook get its hentai tentacles into users' contact lists!? That removes the "Our way or the highway" tactic from the table!! AHHH!"

Seriously-- this is SOP for big companies that have "disruptive" competition-- Attempt to buy them out.

Google is probably pretty steamed at getting hand slapped right about now, which is why they are brandishing their oh-so-special google services apps like a cudgel now.

Re:Google just pissy

[greenfruitsalad]

unfortunately, no matter what your principles are, a pile of cash is a pile of cash. it has the magic power of a pile of cash. once cyanogenmod gets its pile of cash, we'll once again be looking for alternative roms.

Re:Google just pissy

[CaptnZilog]

unfortunately, no matter what your principles are, a pile of cash is a pile of cash. it has the magic power of a pile of cash. once cyanogenmod gets its pile of cash, we'll once again be looking for alternative roms.

Sad but true. It's a shame, becuase cyanogenmod has support for a lot of older phones that the phone manufacturers don't really support anymore.

Re:Google just pissy

[dreamchaser]

That was my first thought. Google either wants to kill it or neuter it.

Re:Google just pissy

[Anonymous Coward]

> That was my first thought. Google either wants to kill it or neuter it.

Even if they didn't, the internal pressure to do that once acquired would have been enormous.

Re:Google just pissy

[WaffleMonster]

You're kidding right? At this point, CM is the Digg equivalent of mods. The users have been steadily moving on to third party to CM mods

Like what? Having looked most of them are not updated and none of them bother to support my device.

Re:Google just pissy

[LordLimecat]

Google is just in a snit that CyanogenMod is fantastically better than stock android,

This is a little absurd. I use and love Cyanogenmod, but calling it "better than stock" is a gross oversimplification. Upon upgrading to the recent M11 release of CM, I just got back the ability to watch netflix on my Nexus which was broken due to a driver bug. This isnt a new thing either; CM tends to have one or two new fairly irritating bugs per release, and generally lacks the polish of google's stock android.

Not to mention that CM doesnt really add that much back into android; at the moment the biggest features are
  * root (not really that important for 90% of people, and generally a nuisance as actual workplaces require you to unroot to use email). Biggest reasons I can think of for root are advanced tasker profiles (though CM Profiles generally replace tasker), TitaniumBackup, and some really really niche stuff (like CatLog, wifi tinkering stuff, etc)
  * Multi-user (which is busted right now on phones)
  * Profiles (which can mostly be replicated using tasker or similar programs on stock)
  * a lot of display customization (a lot of which you can get using alternate launchers like Nova)

As has been pointed out root does utterly break the security model of Android by allowing for actual rootkits and persistent threats.

All that said, 3rd party roms are great, but they really arent suitable for a lot of people unless those people have a specific thing theyre looking to fix. The real value of CM is in providing access to newer ROMs than may be officially supported on their phone.

Google is more worried that CyanogenMod being a mainstream thing will affect their ability to have baked in adware out of the box

Android doesnt have baked in adware, and CM doesnt remove whatever you think constitutes said adware. If you're referring to GApps, its pretty normal to add the latest GApps to CM when you flash it. If you're referring to the Apps, what do you suppose would happen to free apps in a world where everyone was running a hosts-based adblocker?

Re: Google just pissy

[LordLimecat]

CM doesnt come with google play by default, and Google has been working to modularize (and therefore make available to CM) a huge number of its stock "pieces" (like the camera, play services, etc).

I feel like everyone in this thread has no idea what theyre talking about. What threat do you suppose CM represents to Google? You're still using Play, and if you arent, why should google care whether you use a de-Play'd AOSP or a Winphone? Mindshare is mindshare.

Re:Google just pissy

[BasilBrush]

Out of interest, how would you stop a man who invests his time in making and using tools from being more productive than one who sits on his ass all day drinking beer/vodka?

That's not a capitalist. A capitalist is he who takes the surplus profit from ownership of the means of production as unearned income.

Self-employed people are not automatically practicing capitalism. They may or may not be working within a capitalist system, but their own business is not a capitalistic one, unless and until they employ workers and pay them less than their fair share of the profit.

Re:Google just pissy

[swillden]

That was my first thought. Google either wants to kill it or neuter it.

Actually, from what I see Google takes care to ensure the CM and similar efforts can continue to grow and thrive. This is why all Nexus devices are unlocked or unlockable, and why Google encourages OEMs to keep their devices open, too (with limited success).

I'm skeptical of the article's claim that Google was interested in acquiring CM. I just don't see the point... CM's whole value to Google is because it's independent, both of Google and of other parties in the ecosystem (OEMs, carriers, etc.).

(Disclaimer: I'm an Android engineer at Google, but I'm speaking only for myself.)

Re:Google just pissy

[Rich0]

"Oh noes! Dont allow users to use fake geolocation! That will ruin our datamining operations! Oh no! Not our playstore advert shit too!? Did you REALLY just give users the ability to say "NO" to that app maker's blanket permissions requirement AFTER they said yes initially to let it install!? How will Facebook get its hentai tentacles into users' contact lists!? That removes the "Our way or the highway" tactic from the table!! AHHH!"

Cyanogenmod is clearly better than stock, but it doesn't go nearly far enough. You can't prevent an application from getting your device ID, or from accessing the Internet in stock Cyanogenmod. For that you need something like XPrivacy.

Re: Google just pissy

[grcumb]

Capitalism developed as a response to whydontijusttakeitandrapeyourdaughterwhileimatitalism. The seductive power of a pile of cash is not changed when you change the system. The only thing that changes is the standard means of obtaining that pile of cash.

Re: Google just pissy

[swillden]

Their whole business model depends on you running their spyware apps.

Actually, most of their Android business model depends on you buying stuff on Play. I won't quote any numbers because I'm not sure if Google releases them, but Google's cut of app, movies, music and book sales is getting to be pretty significant. Google also makes plenty from mobile advertising, of course, but that doesn't really depend on you using Google's apps, since, as I understand it, most of the advertising revenue comes from (a) mobile search and (b) advertising embedded in third-party apps (AdMob).

Oh, and do you have any evidence that Google's apps spy on you? I know that they don't. Google search history is tracked, same as on desktop, but you can opt out of that either through Google's opt-out tools, or by switching to a different search engine. Location tracking is entirely under your control. Gmail is used for targeted advertising, if you use gmail. And... that's it. Oh, maybe Google+ is mined for keywords, but I don't think so, and in any case you can just not use Google+.

(Disclaimer: I'm a Google engineer, but I'm speaking for myself.)

Re:Google just pissy

[c]

Google is just in a snit that CyanogenMod is fantastically better than stock android, BECAUSE it gives power back to users.

So does Xposed, and far deeper than CM ever contemplated.

More likely Google is looking at CM because CM effectively helps to solve the Android "fragmentation" problem, namely getting the latest version onto devices where the manufacturers drop support prematurely. All they'd have to do is officially brand CM as their "Android legacy support" service and just kinda step back.

Re: Google just pissy

[LesFerg]

... Stable updates come slower, I've had bat problems with recent builds ...

Dude, go to Settings, select Attic Window and set it to Closed. Them bats will be shit out of luck then.

Re:Google just pissy

[KozmoStevnNaut]

You can also circumvent ads with AdBlock. Google doesn't try to do anything about that (and they easily could, especially on Chrome). In addition, you can make the ads much less effective even without blocking them by opting out of ad personalization and analytics tracking. Google not only doesn't try to stop you from doing that, they provide and maintain tools that specifically enable you to do it.

A good example is the lack of video download extensions with support for Youtube. None exist in the Chrome app store, you have to use external sites such as KeepVid to download Youtube videos, because it's against the app store usage policy. I guess it's probably a demand from content providers or whatever, but it shows that Google can restrict apps and extensions from doing things they don't approve. And yet there's tons of adblocking extensions in the app store, so obviously they don't really mind if people block ads.

I also think Google maybe had a hand in the "acceptable ads" option in Adblock Plus, since most of their ads are simple text and fit the ABP guidelines nicely. They want to show you ads, but to have as many people as possible accept ads, they have to be non-intrusive. And Google's ads are some of the least bad ones out there, for sure.

Re: Google just pissy

[tom229]

While the Android core operating system is free, the Android branding and "Google Apps" are not. In order to use either of these on your version of Android you need a license from an authorized testing facility that ensures the GApps suite functions properly. This is Google's one catch to providing the world with a free mobile operating system, and I think that's probably fair.

Regardless, I think many people wouldn't be happy if cm automatically included GApps, since the lack of that proprietary spyware is the main reason to use it.

Re:Google just pissy

[Solandri]

Out of curiosity, if Cyanogenmod were bought for $1 billion, who would get the money? The executives and officers who manage the open source company? Would the developers who contribute to the project for free see any of it?

1 B$ for open source software ?

[Pascal Sartoretti]

CyanogenMod being open source, what is the value of such a company ? Once bought by Google, anybody could fork CyanogenMod...

Re:1 B$ for open source software ?

[Frosty Piss]

CyanogenMod is missing the boat by being blinded by the *potential* for more cash. The ture reality is that Google's offer is the best they will get, and they fucked it up. Google will offer them much less when it becomes obvious that CyanogenMod made a mis-calculation.

Re:1 B$ for open source software ?

[thegarbz]

The value is not in the code but rather in the developers. I challenge you to take a few of your friends take the current version of cyanogen mod and get it working on the next Samsung phone when it gets released. Don't worry about upgrades or cross compatibility or the apps that the cyanogen mod team maintain, just focus on something as basic as getting it working on one new platform before you use the anyone can fork it argument.

Bad move

[fustakrakich]

You don't refuse an offer from the godfather to buy you out.

Android without Google.

[Animats]

When do they set up a "Cyanogen store"?

Even without Cyanogenmod, Android phones work just fine without Google services. At first power-up, there's a "sign up/log in" screen, with a "Later" option. Click "Later" and go on.

You can disable the "Google One-Time Startup" app to keep it from bothering you again.

Re:Android without Google.

[grumpy_old_grandpa]

F-Droid is already there, and working just fine. Been running Cyanogenmod + F-Droid only for the last three years. Wouldn't go back to Google.

(Not using the stock OS, also has the advantage of avoiding the "later", "later", "later" options you speak of).

Re:does it matter?

[citizenr]

Isn't Cyanomod open source?

CM is working hard to remedy this. They started with photo app just after incorporating - they demanded full rights to the code so they could close it to gain 'competitive advantage' or some bullshit