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Cyanogenmod head joins Samsung to work on Android
SOFTWARE DEVELOPER Steve Kondik has joined Samsung to work on the firm's Android mobile operating system efforts.
Kondik's name might not ring many bells but he is the founder of the extremely popular Cyanogenmod Android distribution. Cyanogenmod is a heavily modified version of Google's Android operating system that can be loaded onto many Android devices and is one of the most popular custom Android ROMs out there.
Cyanogenmod is built from the Android source code that Google makes available, however since Google sent out cease and desist letters to Cyanogenmod, it no longer bundles Google Apps, a package that includes Google Mail, Google Maps and the Android Market. However all of those applications are available to download separately, which means that Cyanogenmod users are usually the first to gain access to the latest version of Android, including Google Apps.
What sets Cyanogenmod apart are the deep-rooted changes that its developers make. There are relatively few changes to the user interface and instead it gives users extensive control over just about every aspect of the operating system. Now it seems Kondik has been hired to deliver a similarly customised user experience to Samsung's Android devices.
Kondik sent a message to Android and Me saying that he would be "working on making Android more awesome", and if his work on Cyanogenmod is anything to go by, then Samsung has made a smart decision in hiring Kondik.
Samsung already ships a heavily modified user interface on its Android smartphones that it calls Touchwiz. It's unlikely that Kondik has been brought in to mess around with that, so it's more likely that his considerable skills will be used to tweak things under the hood.
Samsung's customers will also hope that Kondik's influence will mean they won't have to wait too long to receive the latest version of Android on their handsets. µ
Tags: Software
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Cyanogenmod and other third-party efforts show how little control Google has over Android—indeed, how little control the handset makers have either.
If you remember, Samsung GAVE 4 of its latest Galaxy S II handsets to the top members of the Cyanogenmod team, the only request being to get their software working on it. Which they did.
So instead of fighting the modders, vendors like Samsung and HTC are embracing them. Which is something unheard of from corporates before. And certainly not even possible on closed platforms like Microsoft and Apple.
I think this is a brilliant move, just another part of a very refreshing attitude of openness from Samsung.
oH PLease.
Like one person can change the culture of a money starved corporation.
While it might seem like a good gesture, thats all it is.
To begin with, samsung doest even ship their devices with ext4, they use rfs. A suspected mix and match of fat and journaling? WHile they might have journaling support, their gpl interface driver or roms dont fare that well. YOu have to remove the battery, or you will get crashes. Then what the hell is up with microsoft, apple, and google? why not put a damn reset button? When you lock up you have to take the battery out or do some voodoo with a home button while you hold your leg up in the air.
Their galaxy range of phones all suffer from the same chrome bug, making the browser unsuable. The bug happens when you zoom in and then move the page around.
Even modder developers cant get a perfect clockwork mod to work on the epic 4g. Their touchwiz is such an epic apple rip off it should have gotten a cease and decist a long time ago.
While cyanogen is nice and does offer a nice boost from the stupid decisions that samsung makes, it still doest fully support samsung products across the line.
Dont read to much into into it, samsung can make nice products when they cant change to much in the OS.
ROFL... All Apple haters will work for Samsungs in 25 years from now. Cleaning windows of their American shops and offices. The rest including former hi-techs will be under the bridges.
2015 China-US PPP GDP parity
2025 China is twice GDP of USA or Europe
2035 China is quadruple GDP of USA or Europe
This should be a welcomed addition to Samsung users. Samsung's android implementation has been traditionally poor. this will:
1. improve the user experience on Samsung products
2. Get Cyanogenmod's performance and reliability exposed to a wider audience, above and beyond the modding communities.
I think most would agree that cyan is a better experience than most vendor rollouts, and really android users everywhere should be exposed to it.
this is a win win.
He's stated that his work with Samsung will in no way, conflict with his Cyanogenmod projects.
Sure this sounds all good an well on paper, but let's put this in perspective. Samsung's goals are in conflict with Cyanogen mod's original purpose, which is "get rid of the bloat". Samsung's purpose is "make more money from proprietary BS piled on top of Android". Hmm... unless they specifically hired him to reduce the footprint of all that bloat while still including it, what we have here is a failure to pursue the same goals. I can only hope he still contributes to Cyanogen on the side...