Cortana was exclusive to Windows Phones in the past, but Microsoft has launched the digital assistant for Android users recently. Now, Cyanogen is planning to install Cortana as the voice recognition app for their Android alternative, CyanogenMod.
CyanogenMod gained popularity within the recent years as an alternative ROM for Android users who are bored with the stock vanilla system that comes with their phones. Then custom Android ROM is preferred by many as it looks better and has more options to fiddle with, according to Gizmodo.
The modified Android ROM was made by a community of modders. Cyanogen has grown into a company a while back. Their CyanogenMod ROM even became the default OS for the OnePlus One phones in 2014.
Android devices are already full of customizable options and apps such as launchers, font changers and kernel-level modifications. The CyanogenMod community further improved the features. However, not all phones are supported by the customizable ROMs. Local phones in several countries don't have CyanogenMod ROMs, but the community is still quite large.
Cyanogen is already backed with many tech giants such as Qualcomm, Telefonica, Foxconn, Microsoft and even Tencent from China. International Business Times reported that the company has already raised $80 million in funding. Coupled with the company's success in making ROMs, it's no wonder that they have many backers in the industry.
Kirt McMaster, Cyanogen's co-founder and CEO, told IBTimes that Cortana has a lot of potential. He said: "Natural language coupled with intelligence is very important but as an application it doesn't rally work because you need to be embedded into the framework of the OS because that is where you get all the signal from the services that makes that intelligence smarter."
McMaster also said that Cortana can be better than Apple's Siri and Google now in some aspects. However, he still believes that Google is good at what they do.
How will Cortana and CyanogenMod work? The plan is still unclear yet, according to PC World. However, McMaster said that their modified Android OS can be an asset for Microsoft, considering that their Windows Phones are not really that popular with mobile users across the globe.
Cyanogen's involvement with the ailing Windows Phone business may do nothing but good, considering that an Android-based phone would only bring more apps and attention. However, Microsoft's new Windows 10 operating system is still fresh and CyanogenMod might not make it to Windows Phones for an indefinite time.
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