Cyanogen has some big plans for 2016, including its own flagship

Cyanogen has been working hard to deliver on its promise to take control of Android away from Google, and the results of those efforts will be seen in full next year. During the Big Android BBQ in Amsterdam this morning, Cyanogen revealed that it has numerous partners in the smartphone market at the moment, and is working with the them to release a ton of powerful, yet affordable handsets next year, with some costing as little as $75. The most interesting announcement, however, was that Cyanogen might actually be working on its own flagship. 

At the Big Android BBQ in Amsterdam this morning, Cyanogen revealed its plans for next year. It’s pretty ambitious for 2016, and aims to have a much bigger global presence than it has currently. Like Android One, Cyanogen’s aim is to release multiple phones with multiple manufacturer partners in a number of countries across the world. The idea is to bring high performance and software with little compromise to handsets that don’t cost the earth. With smartphones due to cost around $75, Cyanogen aims to set the bar for what you can get for less than $100. In doing so, it’s competing directly with Android One, even promising to continue support for these devices, even after multiple OS revisions. During the company’s presentation, CTO and co-founder Steve Kondik described this area of the market as being like the ‘Wild West’. In Cyanogen’s view, too many $75 handsets come loaded with far too much bloatware, and then aren’t supported by future software updates. Cyanogen’s sub-$100 will go against this trend with a clear focus on delivering a bloatware-free experience on an always up-to-date OS.