Stefan Mileschin

CyanogenMod CEO McMaster said some interesting things recently. To remove all doubts right from the get go, here's how McMaster introduced himself: "I'm the CEO of Cyanogen. We're attempting to take Android away from Google." Asked to detail his vision, McMaster explained that Cyanogen wants to provide a version of Android that is open down to its core, that partners can use to build highly integrated services, in a way that is not possible right now with Google’s Android. Well, either McMaster has no idea what he's talking about, or he's purposefully being disingenuous. It's most likely the latter, since he's got something to sell. Of course, all the things McMaster claims his company will make possible with Android are already possible today, have been possible for years, and are actually actively being done all over the world. There are dozens of millions - possibly hundreds of millions - of users using Google-less Android all over the world; in China, Russia, the US, and beyond. Android's openness makes it possible to replace all of Google's applications and services with those from another company, vendor, or provider. Even you can do it! Just download Yandex.Kit, for instance. The confusion seems to stem from people conflating Google Apps/Play Services with Android.

http://osnews.com/story/28248/Cyanog...m_Google_quot_