To clarify a lot of the misinformation in the comments:<p>* To my knowledge, Microsoft doesn't own Cyanogen.<p>* The genesis of this is old (public) news: <a href="https://cyngn.com/press/cyanogen-announces-strategic-partnership-with-microsoft" rel="nofollow">https://cyngn.com/press/cyanogen-announces-strategic-partner...</a><p>* Cyanogen OS != Cyanogenmod. Cyanogen OS is a commercial OS. Cyanogenmod is an open source, community-driven OS.
Hang on, wasn't the whole point of Cyanogen about removing bloatware in standard Android distributions and adding more privacy measures?<p>How can adding a large app that sends data to Microsoft help with bloatware or security..? I've used Cyanogen a little before on certain Android devices that had tons of built in bloat and themes to slim it down a bit. I definitely wouldn't want to swap one type of bloat for another.<p>Time to use a different slim rom from XDA I guess?
This is for Cyanogen OS, not CyanogenMod.<p>CyanogenMod is the "canonical" generic Android distribution, while Cyanogen OS is a derivative created for monetization purposes and installed by default on some devices.
Uhm, why does techcrunch not mention that Cortana's deep integration in Android sounds a lot like Google Now's deep integration into Android? And I agree with others, how can adding a large app that sends data to MS help with bloat or security?
I've used Cortana and apart from a little minor anthromorphic work to give her a 'personality' (like Siri), I wouldn't say that it's too far ahead of Google Now in terms of features and functionality. Baking Cortana into Cyanogen OS seems a little like overkill in terms of deviating from Google's version of Android
It's cool to see that Cortana (feels weird to say that because avid Halo player) would have the capability to access and work with 3rd party applications. It's something that I really wish iOS had, Oh well they need something as part of their n-Amount of "new" features for iOS X.
I think this kind of intelligent personal assistant is quite useless. Especially for people who are non-native English speaker. The voice recognition is bad and always requires internet connection. This kind of software consumes computing & storing resources.<p>I don't think it is a good idea for any company to integrate it in the OS.
It's hilarious how many people are confused about the proprietary Cyanogen OS vs. the open source Cyanogenmod. Really makes you wonder what they were thinking when they named it the same thing.
What is happening on your smartphone screen is the next battleground for even more data points. Those who will be able to get access to, are only a few (Apple, Google, MS) and mostly only one of them at once.<p>- Google Now can screen scrap your current screen and use it how they wish as processing is done on the server side.<p>- Siri is well embedded within the iOS ecosystem since a couple of years<p>- Since MS' investment in Cyanogen, the try to push Cortana into more devices. Same as with Windows 10.<p>I really don't like it. As long as we can still turn such features off, I'm fine.
Cyanogen user on n4 for a long time because I don't want g' bits and bytes on my cellphone I find this unsettling.
I see the following points on it (I would refrain from calling them plus or cons).<p>-The reason I did the change is avoid G using MY device as their personal Wifi scanning station, the switch meant battery 2-3x more, I hope Microsoft doesn't mess with Android that way.<p>-If they roll it for all devices I hope they keep a version without it, or an extra package to install like g apps.<p>-Nice to see Microsoft being so flexible and going on so many fronts, the more they diversify the better, if this makes Android better; Android users win.<p>-Could this be the start of Microsoft Android?.<p>-Does "deep integration" offer any kind of advantage?.