Mobile Network Comparison

We’ve been working on a recap of the biggest stories in mobile and tech from last year. With our good friend Scottie Ladeaux we’re going to bring you a new post looking back on our picks from 2013 every Thursday.

Today we have #7 in the countdown where we look at the shocking story of CyanogenMod incorporating. The Android custom ROM raised $7 million dollars last year to help take the project to the next level.

CyanogenMod has been at the forefront of open source Android development for many years now. The founder, Steve Kondik initially published his first version of the CyanogenMod ROM way back in May 2009 and since then the software has grown to an unprecedented degree. It started with just a few developers but now thousands contribute to the code.

The big story of 2013 broke on September 18th when some massive news shook up the Android community. The Steve Kondik announced in the official blog that CyanogenMod also raised over $7 million of venture capital and that the organisation had incorporated itself. The money would fund a staff of fifteen (and a dog) who would work on the ROM full-time. They’d even negotiated a deal with hardware manufacturer Oppo to feature CyanogenMod as the default operating system on its new phones.

This news was pretty unprecedented in the mobile industry it’s really exciting to anticiapte what the future might bring. CyanogenMod have declared that they intend to become the third platform in the smartphone arena behind Apple’s iOS and Google’s official Android builds.

However, this news also came with a healthy dose of controversy. Immediately after the announcement, there were some very pressing questions from the community – the $7 million isn’t a donation without any strings attached and there were concerns about how CyanogenMod intends to provide a return to investors.

Guillaume Lesniak (‘xplodwild’) used to be one of the main developers on the team but left the project following the incorporation. He also withdrew his code which made up the Focal camera app because of changes to the license that CyanogenMod Inc wanted to introduce. Others alleged that all the code they have written for free to further the CyanogenMod project may now be been included in a commercial product in which they won’t benefit at all.

There were also complaints from the community about the communication surrounding the announcement as well as the fact that hundreds of individuals have contributed to the CyanogenMod source code over the years but only a select few are going to be getting a salary out of the corporation.

Furthermore, many who have worked on the project over the years have done so in on the assumption that it was an open source and not-for-profit project. Following the incorporation and the millions of dollars worth of investments, there was substantial controversy about requests to re licence their contributions under a MySQL esque dual licence. As a result, Steve Klondik had to reassure the community that CyanogenMod wouldn’t be selling out or doing something drastic like closing its source.

Despite that, there were still many criticisms immediately after the news broke with suspicions that it’s being dumbed down after certain advanced settings and root access were removed from newer versions. Some developers left the project as they saw these changes as making the software more commercially viable rather than in the interests of users. Recently, CM insiders have admitted that Going forward, there will two separate release branches. And they even have plans to change the name to make it more marketable.

In general though, aside from the fears of commercialisation, there is huge admiration for what CyanogenMod has managed to achieve. It has now clocked well over 100 million installs and has even recently introduced a simple CyanogenMod installer for both PCs and Macs.

This level of investment and recognition for the ROM shows that big business has faith in open source projects. After all, contributors work on projects like this to make better software and help the community rather than for recognition or money.

This is a really fascinating opportunity and it will be great to see how CyanogenMod improves and evolves over the coming years. It’s clear the team have some really big ideas and they’ve already contracted Moxie Marlinspike who’s a big-name security researcher (and seriously cool dude) to build a secure messaging app. Hopefully the ROM will continue to get more stable and add some really innovative features to stock Android.

The best outcome will be if CyanogenMod reaches as many phones as possible so it can rescue millions more people from the tyranny of slow updates and bloatware from the main carrier’s and manufacturer’s official stock ROMs.

What did you make of this news? Have you used CyanogenMod before and if so would this change your opinion anyway? You think is a wonderful step forward open source software or has Steve Kondik sold-out everyone’s hard work? Will they ditch the ethos of free and open source software in pursuit of the almighty dollar will this be fantastic new way to promote its ideals?

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We’ve been working on a recap of the biggest stories in mobile and tech from last year. With our good friend Scottie Ladeaux we’re we’re going to bring you a new post looking back on our picks from 2013 every Thursday.

Today we have #8 in the countdown taking a look at wearable tech. Scottie is looking at the beginning and futures of these products taking in devices such as the Fitbit, Pebble watch and Samsung Galaxy Gear.

Of course, he also talks about Google Glass and Apple’s future input into this market.

Do you own any wearable tech or do you want to? What are you thoughts on Google Glass? – Futuristic coolness or gross invasion of privacy?And do you think wearable tech is here to stay?

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Welcome to video #9 in our countdown of the Top Ten Tech Stories from 2013.

Every Thursday we’re going to bring you a new post looking back on our picks from 2013. There were lots of great things happening last year starting at the very beginning of the year when Samsung announced they had sold over 100 million Galaxy S smartphones.

We also had a lot of stories about mobile operating systems starting with the first glimpse of Canonical’s Ubuntu Phone operating system at the Mobile World Congress. April saw the first devices running the HTML5-based Firefox OS and of course iOS 7 came out soon afterwards. Google even surprised everyone in September by not going with Key Lime Pie for its next version of Android and instead teaming up to brand version 4.4 as Android KitKat.

Other big stories from last year include the release of a BBM app in October and Giffgaff starting to sell handsets themselves in November. But what do you think were the biggest tech stories from last year?

This is the second instalment in the video series and we’re looking at the news of FAA approval to use mobile phones and other portable electronic devices on flights. This is one of the most exciting pieces of news (at least for mobile addicts). We also look at a way to use your phone to hack into aeroplanes and control them through a simple Android app.

Phones/Wi-Fi in-flight

We feel more than anything it’s a victory for common sense, as even those with the most rudimentary physics know there is minimal if any risk from electromagnetic interference caused by tablets, phones and laptops. Previously, regulations had meant that personal electronic devices could only be used once the plane is cruising above 10,000 feet but the new guidelines allow you to listen to music or reading a book including on the ground and during takeoff and landing approaches.

The year also saw many carriers introducing in-flight Wi-Fi to their planes which can really those long haul flights that much more bearable. At the end of the year, the Federal Communications Commission also finally agreed to consider lifting its ban on using mobile phones in-flight. By a narrow margin, the FCC voted 3 to 2 in favour of the proposal. The chairman, Tom Wheeler pointed out that the ban is more or less redundant by now and stated that he strongly wanted to see mobile phone use allowed some time in 2014. While his impartiality is somewhat dubious he has links to the mobile industry, everyone must be relieved that he’s finally calling out the nonsensical arguments regarding interference as scaremongering pseudoscience.

In much of the rest of the world, voice calls are already allowed only the US is yet to catch up. However, don’t get too excited too soon – individual airlines and the FAA would have the final say on allowing voice calls on aeroplanes. Delta Airlines have already announced that regardless of the FAA approval, they would not allow people to use phones on their aeroplanes.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has officially approved the use of 3G and 4G mobile Internet on flights allowing planes to carry their own mobile cell transmitters which will be linked to the ground via satellite connections. We thought this news was really worth a mention as a highlight of 2013 but it’s worth noting that British company AeroMobile have been able to use voice and text services in flights since September 2004. They even launched their roaming service for mobile phones on aeroplanes way back in April 2007, so for much of the world this is old news but it’s great to hear that the US finally realising how outdated these regulations are.

Would you like to be able to make calls when on a flight? Or can you think of nothing worse than the person next to not only hogging the armrest and the windows eat but also having a detailed, high-volume conversation with their gastroenterologist throughout your entire trip?

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