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AT&T Looks To Sell Cyanogen-Powered ZTE Phone To Snub Google (droid-life.com)
An anonymous reader writes: According to a report out of The Information, the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier, ATT, is looking into partnering with Cyanogen because it thinks it could make a compelling Android-alternative smartphone for its customers. In other words, ATT wants to use Cyanogen to help it load more bloatware on phones to help sell their other services, like DirecTV. The Information's report suggests that ATT is "snubbing" Google by partnering with Cyanogen, because if the phone were to sell, it could put a damper on Google's continued attempts at making an Apple-like "consistent experience across all Android." Apparently, ATT is looking to partner with ZTE to manufacture the phone, though the U.S. government issued trade sanctions on them just this month, with allegations that they had tried to "illicitly re-export controlled items to Iran in violation of US export control laws."
...because that's how you give your customers to Verizon.
I've always marveled at the ability of marketing people to complete shove their heads completely up their asses like that.
Seriously - who came up with the thought "OMG the world needs more of our custom and half-baked bloatware!" I ask because I want to burn that individual's house down, then force him to eat the ashes.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
How are we to conclude that an AT&T phone of this sort will be anything but horrible?
If you want a straight up Android, buy a Nexus. If you want a straight up IOS, buy an iPhone.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
We all saw how well this alternative to Google Android experience worked the last time.
Fuck Verizon! That overpriced trash will rape you with a quickness.
T-mobile for the win!!!
Just remember that Cyanogen and CyanogenMod are not the same people. CyanogenMod creates the base OS, what Cyanogen and ATT do with it beyond that is out of CyanogenMod's hands.
Doesn't "Snubbing" Google mean that people will actually have to buy that trash?
Is this how we will receive system updates to patch say... Stagefright? Cyanogen has their own updating system.
Apple and WP seems to be able to handle updates without having to buy a new device.
There's nothing to prevent AT&T from partnering with ZTE to make a true stock Android phone and load it up with all the bloatware they want. Sure, if they want Google Play, they may need to include some other Google stuff, but presumably they're gonna put Google Play on this Cyanogen phone too. I don't think there's a viable rival app store they can use at this point. So what good does using Cyanogen do them - except maybe to get Cyanogen to handle the updates for them. Those updates will probably come much slower than stock Android updates on a Nexus device, but at least they might come...
I wonder whether Cyanogen is still dreaming of building (or helping Microsoft build) a true alternative Android ecosystem. That's not such a great idea either. But maybe they've hit on a viable business model in providing timely updates to phones that the manufacturers can't be bothered to support for any reasonable length of time. That could be a good thing. Timely bugfixes and eventual long-term OS upgrades on any phone would be a good competitive feature these days. And if ATT wants to become a known hardware brand, this could be a reasonable way to outsource the OS. Hope it's just that...
Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
To be honest, the Bloatware supposedly lowers the cost to the end user, because they help subsidize the phone hardware.
My problem with bloatware is that it can take up over half of what would be free space, leaving no room for updates for those same apps, and you cannot uninstall them because they are hard baked into the ROM. This makes the phone worthless in the long run because even if there are updates, you can't apply them!
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
I thought "Cyanogen" was a new chemical for the battery supply....
With their utter failure to have any meaningful presence in the mobile phone world, Microsoft is using Cyanogen to infiltrate:
http://www.businessinsider.com...
http://www.techtimes.com/artic...
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/20...
http://www.engadget.com/2015/0...
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
If AT&T doesn't bother with, or screws up, whatever firmware and bootloader lockdown is intended to keep the bloatware in place, they might accidentally end up with an attractive product.
If they don't, though, I don't even want to imagine how awful the result of this plan will be.
As an AT&T customer let me say this, I totally and completely hate the utter garbage that is AT&T bloatware and that they shove down their customers' throats. And to make the offense even more egregious, they make it very difficult to remove the said junk. I buy Nexus devices now so that I do have to deal with this shit. What a clueless company. Please don't tell me to go to Verizon, they do the same thing. And so does Sprint. T-mobile might not, but they don't have the coverage I need.
while true
do
echo "Cyanogen != Cyanogenmod"
done
As an AC said earlier, up above: "CyanogenMod creates the base OS, what Cyanogen and ATT do with it beyond that is out of CyanogenMod's hands."
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
AFAIK, the ONLY real way to remove Bloatware is to install a new ROM. Which should be fairly trivial for CyanogenMod to replace. The real issue is the Locked Bootloader. That is a whole different world (and restricts replacing the ROM).
And with the recent San Bernadino case with iPhones Locked bootloaders are going to become standard for security reasons.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
T-Mobile's coverage has changed dramatically in the past year. Hit their website for a current map of your area. Check out the hexagons - that is where a handset of theirs has recently confirmed the mathematical theoretical coverage map. Adjust for your indoor status (are your walls straw, wood, or brick?) Note that non-T-Mobile branded handsets likely don't have support for 700Mhz/Band 12/Extended LTE using VOLTE turned on - and that can make a big difference.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
On one hand, CyanogenMod is definitely a useful ROM. Next to having a Nexus phone, having a ROM that has a consistent UI (especially if used with Nova Launcher), well maintained, and constantly updated far beyond the 1-2 year life of most Android devices, is quite useful.
CyanogenOS... different story. Not familiar with it, but if it can't use Android/GApps, I wouldn't bother. I remember the application stores (not apps) on another telco's devices with regards to Windows Mobile, and the limited, costly, locked down selection they had. If it can't support Gapps, other stores (F-Droid), and sideloading, I'll not even bother.
Documents Pertaining to the Addition of ZTE Corporation and Related Entities to the Entity List
BIS has added ZTE Corporation and three affiliated entities to the Entity List. The Entity List (Supplement No. 4 to Part 744) includes foreign entities that are subject to specific license requirements for the export, reexport, or transfer of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
Click here to view the rule.
The principal bases for the addition of these entities were two ZTE corporate documents entitled “Report Regarding Comprehensive Reorganization and the Standardization of the Company Export Control Related Matters” and “Proposal for Import and Export Control Risk Avoidance.” These documents outline a ZTE-developed scheme to violate U.S. export control laws by establishing, controlling, and using a series of “detached” (e.g., shell or front) companies to illicitly reexport controlled items to sanctioned countries without authorization.
These documents, in original language and English translation, are:
1. “Report Regarding Comprehensive Reorganization and the Standardization of the Company Export Control Related Matters”
Mandarin
English
2. “Proposal for Import and Export Control Risk Avoidance”
Mandarin
English
"It's one thing to talk about the poetry of machines. Quite another to listen to it for yourself."
All the companies we really hate, bundled up into one convenient easy-to-loathe marketing partnership. Truly we live in the future.
you can just root and disble or remove the packages nowadays.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.