CyanogenMod creator Steve Kondik on the challenges of refining the ROM

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On the morning after the Oppo N1 launch, Steve "Cyanogen" Kondik was surrounded by several Oppo ambassadors and tech writers at a hotel lounge in Beijing. It's a far cry from where he began: toying with Android ROMs out of "boredom" about five years ago.

"When I started this thing, I had, like, no idea that people would actually care," said Kondik, the creator of CyanogenMod. "I was kind of watching out to see who was going to bring Linux to the first mobile device, in a way that it didn't absolutely suck."

In the end, it was Android that stood out with its open-source development, and Kondik saw the potential of adding his own enhancements to devices running on this OS. By day, the Seattle-based developer was a lead engineer at a bioinformatics startup in Pittsburgh; but during his free time, he worked on what later became CyanogenMod for the legendary T-Mobile G1, the world's first commercial Android device. And of course, he bought it on the day it came out.

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Oppo N1 puts a 13MP camera on a hinge, comes with CyanogenMod extras

Oppo N1 puts a 13MP camera on a hinge, comes with CyanogenMod extras

Oppo's been prepping its photography-centric N1 for quite some time, but at last, the teasing stops today as the company unveils its first N-Lens series device in Beijing. We're looking at a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 phone with a 5.9-inch 1080p display, an "O-Touch" backside touch panel (for scrolling and taking photos) and a generous 3,610mAh battery, but the focus is obviously on the camera. Not only do you get a 13-megapixel imager with an f/2.0, 6-element lens plus dual LED, but it's also rotatable over 206 degrees! While THL's W11 beat the N1 to being the first phone with both a front and back 13-megapixel cameras, it's not as versatile as the latter's implementation, and it's ultimately all about the image quality.

In case you're wondering, Oppo said the N1's swivel camera has passed a 100,000-time rotation test, which works out to be seven years of usage if you rotate it 40 times a day. This is quite reassuring, given that you can also activate the camera -- which takes just 0.6 seconds -- with a rotation of over 120 degrees. Oppo also boasted that its camera's been tested in over 100 scenarios, which is apparently the highest in the industry. Other features include long exposure of up to 8 seconds, an updated version of Oppo's beautification algorithm, and support for video beautification in China's popular IM app, QQ. %Gallery-slideshow89972%

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Source: Oppo

Cyanogen is now a company, aims to be third major mobile ecosystem

Cyanogen is now a company  and it wants to be the third major mobile ecosystem

CyanogenMod has grown unusually quickly in the past several months, polishing its custom Android firmware and introducing new services. We now know why the team has been so busy -- it's quietly been operating as a full-fledged company since April. The newly announced Cyanogen Inc., led by Boost Mobile co-founder Kirt McMaster, is devoted solely to building CyanogenMod as a platform. Some of the project's veteran developers are now full-time staff, including Steve Kondik (CTO) and Koushik Dutta (VP of Engineering). Read on to learn what the company has in store, including its hopes of eventually competing on the same level as heavy-hitters like Apple and Google.

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Source: CyanogenMod Blog

CyanogenMod 10.1 arrives for T-Mobile’s Galaxy S 4, other variants promised to follow

CyanogenMod 101 arrives for TMobile's Galaxy S 4, other variants promised to follow

Just over a month ago, CyanogenMod founder Steve Kondik left Samsung, with a parting elucidation about the Galaxy S 4. The very same phone was expected to not be supported by the CM crew, leaving prospective buyers and fans of the firmware to consider their loyalties. Hope was restored when Kondik teased an image via Google+ showing the about screen for CM10.1 on T-Mobile's version of the handset (SGH-M919). Now, he's confirmed it's here (and quickly done, too), with word that other variants (I9505 etc) will follow as and when hardware is sourced. Kondik claims that, while not quite perfect, that the port is complete enough to provide all core features, including, at some point, support for Android's hover events. The nightlies are available now, so if you've got the right mix of Magenta and Cyan, keep an eye on the usual sources for the goods.

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Source: Steve Kondik (Google+)

CyanogenMod founder leaves Samsung, praises the Galaxy S 4 on his way out

CyanogenMod founder leaves Samsung, praises the Galaxy S 4 on his way out

Less than two years after the CyanogenMod founder was scooped up by Samsung to improve Android's veneer, Steve Kondik has decided to depart for greener pastures. In a Google Plus posting, the software engineer shared his mostly positive impressions for Samsung's Galaxy S 4, casually mentioning that he'd departed the Korean behemoth's embrace. The one thing that came in for a bashing was TouchWiz's updated UI, that he says "feels like it has been sent back a few years in time to the Froyo days." Responding to a comment, Mr. Kondik said that nothing in particular had prompted his departure beyond a desire to "do something new," but given the man's pedigree, we can only assume it'll be somehow related to the little green droid that could.

[Image credit: Erica Joy]

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Via: Android Police

Source: Steve Kondik (Google Plus)

CyanogenMod plans a quick leap to Jelly Bean for version 10, existing devices likely to tag along

CyanogenMod new logo

Whenever there's a new version of Android, Steve Kondik and the CyanogenMod team tend to swing into action almost immediately with plans for a major revision of the fan-favorite platform overhaul. For Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, that swing will be faster than ever. The crew's early looks suggest that there will only be a few minor tweaks needed to merge Google's latest with the custom Android code, making CyanogenMod 10 a relative snap to produce. The update's release is still very much up in the air without the Android Open Source Project code available to modify; that said, device compatibility also isn't expected to be an obstacle. Any device that can run CyanogenMod 9 should run version 10 when it's released. As long as we're willing to wait for a stable 9.0 to emerge first, there are few barriers to making Jelly Bean that much sweeter.

CyanogenMod plans a quick leap to Jelly Bean for version 10, existing devices likely to tag along originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CyanogenMod’s Steve Kondik and crew talk Android hacking in Google I/O video

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If you've ever slapped a CyanogenMod ROM on your Android phone instead of waiting months or longer for an official update, you may have wondered who was behind it and how they did it. Well, CM founder Steve Kondik spilled the beans to developers at Google's I/O conference, and the first half of that presentation is now up on YouTube. It not only provides the modders' MO, but also reveals a few things about the green robot itself. The second half of the presentation will be coming soon as well, but this one is must-watch territory for tinkerers -- go past the break to check it out.

Continue reading CyanogenMod's Steve Kondik and crew talk Android hacking in Google I/O video

CyanogenMod's Steve Kondik and crew talk Android hacking in Google I/O video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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