Cyanogen, BLU to Launch Android Phone Without Google Services This Year

Cyanogen has confirmed that it will launch a BLU-made smartphone later this year. The highlight of the smartphone will be that it won't include any Google services or apps.

Adding more about the partnership, BLU CEO, Samuel Ohev-Zion, noted that the phone will probably preload Amazon's Appstore for Android for downloading apps instead of Google Play, and Opera as the mobile browser instead of Chrome. Other apps expected to be preloaded on the BLU-made Cyanogen phone are Nokia's Here maps, Spotify as the music app, as well as Dropbox and OneDrive for cloud storage. He even added that Microsoft's Cortana can be used on the phone, replacing the likes of Google's voice search while Bing can replace normal Google search. "When these other apps are deeply integrated into the phone, most of the time they perform better than the Google apps," said Ohev-Zion, adding that plans have not yet been finalised. For the uninitiated, BLU is an American company that has launched few mid-range Android smartphones, which are available via Best Buy and other big retailers in the country.

A recent report in-line with the current report suggested that Microsoft was in talks with Cyanogen to preload its suite of apps on the company's OS.

Kirt McMaster in an interview with Miguel Helft of Forbes said, "We're putting a bullet through Google's head." McMaster's stance clearly pointed to Cyanogen's new partnership with BLU and the release of an Android phone without Google's suite of mobile apps. McMaster stressed on the fact that Google's Android has room for more customisations.

Cyanogen, the company behind CyanogenMod custom ROM, recently announced it raised $110 million (approximately Rs. 684 crores) in overall funding that involved industry heavyweights such as Twitter, Qualcomm, Telefonica, Rupert Murdoch as well as India-based Premji Invest.