Cyanogenmod, the world’s most popular after-market firmware solution for Android phones, has been working at a breakneck pace over the past few months. Ever since becoming incorporated the team has released the first commercially available device to ship with CyanogenMod out of the box. This sort of thing makes it much easier for end users, especially those who aren’t 100% sure of what they are doing when it comes to flashing custom versions of Android, or ROMs as they are known. After the Oppo N1 CyanogenMod Edition was announced, we found out that the CM team was working with another hardware partner; one that had not existed up until this point too. Then just yesterday we had an announcement from a new company named OnePlus in which they teased a new device that would have no compromises in terms of hardware, and would be disruptive to the mobile market in terms of pricing and features. Now we have official word from the fledgeling startup OnePlus that their first flagship phone, the OnePlus One, will be the first commercial device built for CyanogenMod from the ground up. Peter Lau, the head of OnePlus, and Steve Kondik, the head of CyanogenMod Inc. had this to say about the new partnership:
“What’s coming is one of the most popular mobile operating systems specifically developed for the best hardware, with a unique twist,” said Lau. “The smartphone industry is ripe for disruption, and 2014 should prove to be a huge year for the future of the market.”
“Upon hearing Pete’s vision for OnePlus, it was clear we had found the right partner,” said Kondik. “By combining our software expertise with Pete’s background in hardware and design, we’ll develop a phone that will exceed both of our expectations.”
If you’ve played with the Oppo N1 CyanogenMod Edition you’ll know that the phone was built from the ground up for Oppo’s skin and features, and like any other Android phone on the market is just running CyanogenMod instead of the version of Android Oppo would usually ship with it. While this is great for some people it means that there could be missed opportunities when it comes to how the software talks to the hardware, and maybe some new special things the phone could do that none other would be able to. With this new partnership OnePlus, which is actually a spin-off company from Oppo, will be CyanogenMod’s official hardware partner, and will be developing phones specifically for a new and unreleased CyanogenMod version. This could be the beginning of the “Pro” version of CyanogenMod which will also include new features specific to the OnePlus One, since it’s built specifically for that phone. The OnePlus One will debut in the first half of 2014 with an unknown price and even more unknown specs, although OnePlus is promising something really special here. The official website doesn’t offer any more info at this time, but eventually oneplus.net will be the place to go to find out more about the new phone. Of course we’ll update you when we see an actual device and get some more information on anything about it!