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A Rift In OnePlus, Cyanogen Relationship

Posted by timothy on from the when-companies-fight dept.

As reported at SlashGear and Engadget, One Plus (which has been selling phones running Android-derived Cyanogen Mod rather than Android proper) won't be selling its phones with Cyanogen Mod to Indian consumers. Instead, according to Slashgear, "When OnePlus launches their device for the Indian market, Cyanogen won't be on it. Cyanogen has instead chosen to go with Micromax, an OEM more familiar to the Indian market. Cyanogen and Micromax also have an exclusive deal." ZDNet reports that One Plus's One, loaded with Android 5.0 after this kerfuffle, will be available to Indian buyers for a 72-hour period (already in progress), rather than by invitation only, which had previously been the only option.

41 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by colin_faber · · Score: 3, Insightful

    With all the constant trouble I, and many others had with the pre order system, I decided to ditch these guys. Their customer service was not great, and to screw up the most basic part of any business (taking peoples money), I decided my best bet was to just get raped by one of the big 4, and buy a contract phone. Sadly, I was looking forward to this phone for quite a while, but I'm tired of the mistakes and gimmicks for what amounts to last years phone.

    1. Re:I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by badzilla · · Score: 2

      I don't live in the USA but I understand it is a very closed market and the big 4 was about the only option. Surely though you can order unlocked phones direct from China same as the rest of the world?

      --
      "Don't belong. Never join. Think for yourself. Peace." V.Stone, Microsoft Corporation
    2. Re:I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      With all the constant trouble I, and many others had with the pre order system, I decided to ditch these guys. Their customer service was not great, and to screw up the most basic part of any business (taking peoples money), I decided my best bet was to just get raped by one of the big 4, and buy a contract phone.

      Sadly, I was looking forward to this phone for quite a while, but I'm tired of the mistakes and gimmicks for what amounts to last years phone.

      Yes it was unfortunate that they had some issues on the payment processing, and it did result in some people getting their phones out of sequence (later purchasers got it shipped before earlier purchasers), and they handled the PR of it pretty badly (posting nothing on facebook/g+/forums etc, and the only info coming out was from an employee posting on reddit).

      But even so, the vast majority of people got their phones shipped by the date they were promised. For the most part everyone ended up alright. And I must say, the phone is incredible. Especially the battery life. I've actually made it through 2 whole days without charging, and that even included a bit of actual use. Other phones I've had, even if I never turned the screen on, I'd be lucky to make it 36 hours.

      The only thing that has really disappointed me about the phone is the slow-mo video capture (60fps or 120fps). When you turn those on, the video quality becomes terrible. 720p 120fps looks like a really bad 480p video, and 1080p 60fps isn't much better. Some people think there may be a software fix, and I hope I'm wrong, but my guess is that even with the reduced resolution, it's just too many frames to push through the video processor and it has to choose a really low bitrate to keep up. The 4k video at 30fps, however, is great. Super high bitrate too (I think my tests came out at something like 60-70 Mpbs).

      Even if you didn't get raped elsewhere, I think it was a bad move to bail out on your preorder, but since you also got raped in the process....doubly bad move on your part. You let emotions overrule logic.

    3. Re:I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by SirSlud · · Score: 1

      Isn't it the big two? Android or iPhone? So why not just get a Nexus 4 or 5, unlocked, nice and cheap? Root it, and you're done.

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    4. Re:I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      I haven't bought a phone from the big four since...umm...I think three years now? I subscribe to t-mobile, but two of my last phones were bought from Google directly and didn't have *any* t-mobile branding (or any indication that they were intended for t-mobile for that matter.) My most recent phone (ordered it two days ago, the Galaxy Note 4 unlocked, awaiting its arrival) I bought from Best Buy.

      Best Buy's labeling says it's for T-Mobile, but because they ship the SIM separately (and optionally,) I doubt it's the same variant found in t-mobile stores (it's also about $100 cheaper.) I'm guessing that's only because if they were marketing it for AT&T they'd probably push you towards a contract subsidized one. I'll see if it has any tmo branding on it after I get it, but I'm doubting it since, again, the SIM card was shipped separately (and is already in my possession.)

    5. Re:I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by DrXym · · Score: 1
      I preordered a OnePlus during the 1-hour, no 2-hour, no 8-hour sale where their systems collapsed under the load. I wasn't even sure if my preorder had been successful or not because I didn't get an acknowledgement until the day after. The whole thing was a clusterfuck of epic proportions. I was also told ETA 6 weeks but this dropped to 2 and suddenly the package was with me with no dispatch notification. So their IT and general customer interaction are seriously bad.

      But the phone itself is excellent. It's easily comparable to a Galaxy Note and I have to remind myself it only cost half the price. I got a 64GB phone for £279. Build quality is excellent, the screen is bright and high DPI, the battery life is very good and it has a very good software experience thanks to Cyanogenmod. My biggest gripe is the charging cable (which looks very spiffy) is too short and the connector is upside down compared to other phones. Firefox also doesn't appear to be able to play hardware accelerated h264 properly for some reason which I assume is a fault in the software since no other app has the problem. Otherwise it's a great device.

    6. Re:I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I have up on the retarded pre-order system after they sent me non-working invites too, and bought the phone from Amazon. Cost a little more but I get a 2 year warranty and easy return process if there is a problem. The phone itself is excellent, very fast and smooth, fantastic camera, good size, good screen, good sound, good signal... The only thing lacking is a lanyard connection, which unfortunately many modern phones lack. Oh, and wireless charging, but I'm installing that myself.

      For the money it's pretty hard to beat. Updates come regularly, and being Cyanogen to start with it's sure to be supported for a long long time. Plus, I have full control over the device.

      I was considering a Nexus 6, but can't justify spending that much money when the OnePlus One is available.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by lexman098 · · Score: 1

      Limited storage.

    8. Re:I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by wiredlogic · · Score: 1

      It's not the only option. There are plenty of decent non-contract phones available in the US. They can be easily activated for use with the big 2 GSM providers and many others. The CDMA providers still have a walled garden, though. The GP is just unwilling to pay full price for a new phone up front.

      --
      I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    9. Re:I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by stephenmac7 · · Score: 1

      He's talking about carriers.

      --
      "No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session." -- Judge Gideon J. Tucker
    10. Re:I decided against this phone AFTER pre-ordering by Shirley+Marquez · · Score: 1

      There are some problems with ordering an unlocked phone from China if you live in the US.

      First, the frequencies used for cellular service in North America are different from most of the rest of the world, so phones intended for other places won't fully work here. The Chinese phones often are not available in versions intended for North American use, though the situation is improving over time as manufacturers include radios with wider coverage.

      Second, two of the major networks (Sprint and Verizon) use a phone standard, CDMA, that is not widely used in the rest of the world. Many of those Chinese unlocked phones are not available in CDMA versions. Sprint is also unlikely to allow you to put a CDMA phone that it doesn't sell on its network. Verizon currently has to allow other phones because of a condition they accepted when they bought the C block of 700 MHz spectrum in a 2008 auction.

      Buying an unlocked phone from China is an option if you are an AT&T or T-Mobile customer, or a customer of an MVNO that uses those networks. But you still have to buy carefully to get a phone that will fully operate on your network, especially if you are buying an LTE-capable phone. Another option is to buy an unlocked phone that is actually marketed to the US; those include phones from Motorola, Sony, any phone available from the Google Play store, and the iPhone directly from the Apple Store.

  2. Please don't misuse the word "rape". by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Colin, please don't use the word "rape" unless you're talking about actual rape.

    It's very offensive to the victims of actual rape when you misuse the term like you did. People have suffered greatly, and misusing the word rape like you just did denigrates the seriousness of the pain they endured during the attack, and forever after.

    Let me give you an example of what I mean when I say it can be offensive. A dear friend of mine got home late one evening after attending some college classes. She sat down at her computer, and decided to update her Debian installation since she hadn't done so in a few months. Without her knowledge and without her consent, systemd was installed. Later that night she rebooted her computer so she could start using an updated kernel. Little did she know that she was going to soon become a victim. Moments later, her computer failed to boot fully, all thanks to bugs with systemd. She had been raped.

    As you can see, your experience is nothing compared to what she went through. So please think twice before using the word "rape".

    Thanks for your understanding, Colin.

    1. Re:Please don't misuse the word "rape". by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Good job. Judging by the mods and some of the replies, I'm guessing most people got the same first impression as me (your typical "don't trivialize actual rape" post) but then never followed through to get to the actual humor of the post. You had me there for a minute. Well played.

    2. Re:Please don't misuse the word "rape". by clonehappy · · Score: 3, Funny

      I don't always browse at -1, but when I do, I love being rewarded with a post like the GP.

    3. Re:Please don't misuse the word "rape". by thedarb · · Score: 2

      “It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what."

        Stephen Fry

      --
      This sig intentionally left blank.
  3. Re:"has won't"? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1

    has won't be = periphrastic perfect future passive contrafactual modal participular infinitival indicative of "is"

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  4. Re:Has or won't. by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1

    Grammar is hard!

    It has won't be being so hard after you has will have been being studying it more.

    Or as Yoda would say it, it so hard after you studying it more has will have been being has won't be being.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  5. "Rather than Android proper?" by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Then what the hell are all the other phones running? Every Android phone comes with a customized version of Android on it, NOTHING comes with stock Android -- not even Google-branded phones. Cyanogenmod is in many was less customized and more like stock Android than almost any version you might find on any Android phone.

    1. Re:"Rather than Android proper?" by SirSlud · · Score: 1

      "Cyanogenmod is in many was less customized and more like stock Android"

      So not stock Android, eh? What was your point again? I'm consistently impressed by the amount of whining that happens here these days. Years ago, we used to whine about things that were actually significant to professional developers, not whiny users whining about their phones.

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    2. Re:"Rather than Android proper?" by l0n3s0m3phr34k · · Score: 1

      HP Palm OS that has spent several years in orbit mutating from cosmic rays?

    3. Re:"Rather than Android proper?" by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      It is stock Android. Even the Google apps are optional, by default it comes with Cyanogen's open source alternatives. The default skin and font are minutely different to stock Android, but not in any significant way like the usual manufacturer skins. All the Google apps are available from Play if you want them, including things like the camera. For almost all intents and purposes, it's stock Android.

      As a bonus you get Privacy Guard, so arguably it's actually a little better than stock.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:"Rather than Android proper?" by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      As a bonus you get Privacy Guard, so arguably it's actually a little better than stock.

      Also OTG support, and Ad-Hoc WiFi, two patches which were contributed to google years ago and summarily ignored. Believe there's some other stuff in networking too. Add on a snazzy kernel to that and you'll jump up above more expensive phones in benchmarks.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:"Rather than Android proper?" by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 1

      I'm whining about inaccurate summaries. We've always done that here.

    6. Re:"Rather than Android proper?" by rHBa · · Score: 1

      And a built in terminal (no need to install busybox), root user handling (no need to install SuperSU), a file system explorer...

  6. I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by LordKronos · · Score: 1

    To me, that doesn't seem to be so much a "rift" as it is that Cyanogen had a couple of players to pick from, and the one they liked best wanted an exclusive arrangement, so the other lost out. Not surprising they'd pick the one with more experience in that market over the one that is just getting started.

    1. Re:I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by perryizgr8 · · Score: 2

      One Plus should take lessons from Micromax on how to actually sell your stuff, instead of just creating hype and doing bullshit like invites. Micromax will sell 10 million units if you are ready to buy. Welcome to India, OnePlus, where actually having your phone available for customers to buy is more important than hot air over the internet.

      --
      Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
    2. Re:I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      When it comes to moving stock, by your logic everyone should take lessons from OPO for one simple reason: essentially all stock they produce, they sell almost mmediately.

      Very few manufacturers in the world can do the same.

    3. Re:I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I didn't think there was any "rift," I just thought, "wow, cyanogen hates choice and hates being open."

    4. Re:I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by l0n3s0m3phr34k · · Score: 1

      Like Kickstarter...just because you have a brilliant idea doesn't mean you can figure out international manufacturing.

    5. Re: I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by BringYourOwnBacon · · Score: 1

      The reason for the limited preordering days and invite system is because of the small margins on each phone sold, reportedly in the single digits. The company is so small and the margins so tight that they can't afford to be sitting on any unsold stock.

      http://www.forbes.com/sites/ew...

    6. Re: I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by lexman098 · · Score: 1

      That's understandable, but there's better ways of doing that which avoid vaporware. They could, for example, take orders from anyone at any time (like a sane merchant) and just be honest about the fact that you're ordering a phone before it's even manufactured. People would be willing to wait if the company was honest.

    7. Re:I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by perryizgr8 · · Score: 1

      By that logic I am even more efficient. I produce zero handsets still I sold my old Nokia last month. So I sold more than the stock I produced.

      --
      Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
    8. Re:I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by perryizgr8 · · Score: 1

      I am not even sure there is a brilliant idea behind OP. At least Xiaomi has a different UI. What does Xiaomi have? The same CM that I can download and run on my much superior hardware which I already have?

      --
      Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
    9. Re:I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by perryizgr8 · · Score: 1

      I am not even sure there is a brilliant idea behind OP. At least Xiaomi has a different UI. What does OP have? The same CM that I can download and run on my much superior hardware which I already have?

      fixed now

      --
      Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
    10. Re:I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      Whoosh.

    11. Re:I'm not sure that qualifies as a "rift" by q4Fry · · Score: 1

      Whoosh.

  7. Cyanogen chose? by Walter+White · · Score: 1

    Cyanogen has instead chosen to go with Micromax, ...

    Cyanogen chose? Don't you mean One Plus chose Micromax?

    Also, what tense of the verb is "has won't" as in "has won't be selling ..."

    Perhaps /. has can hire a proofreader.

    1. Re:Cyanogen chose? by Luckyo · · Score: 2

      The article is correct. Cyanogen nowadays is a company, Micromax wanted an exclusive deal in India with Cyanogen and Cyanogen took it.

      As a result One Plus are now developing their own Android ROM for India for One Plus One.

    2. Re:Cyanogen chose? by l0n3s0m3phr34k · · Score: 1

      I'm assuming Cyanogen is this kid, he's the first to show Googling Cyanogen Human. Close enough for my conspiracy theories!

  8. Re:Oppo phone is junk by moronoxyd · · Score: 1

    Well, I own a Lenovo Android tablet, a Huawei phone and now an OnePlus One.

    Both Lenovo and Huawei stopped updating their devices after a year or so. Both have issues (rare random reboots, battery drain when WiFi is turned off). And custom ROMs are basically non-existant due to the hardware used being practically unsupported (HiSense CPU on the Huawei phone, Nvidia Tegra chipset on the Lenovvo tablet).

    My OPO has none of the issues reported by some, it uses the basically the same hardware as other high-end Android phones, it comes with CM installed -- chances a way better that will be able to update it 2 years down the road.

  9. Re:"has won't"? by war4peace · · Score: 1

    It's the future past tense of the rooted version of "I can haz cheezburger".

    --
    ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)