Micromax Canvas 5 Tipped to Run Cyanogen OS, Sport Octa-Core CPU

Following reports from earlier this month that Micromax will be launching a Cyanogen OS-based smartphone this year, a new report claims the unannounced smartphone will be called the Micromax Canvas 5 and also details some of its specifications, while corroborating the release timeline.

Tipped to launch with a price tag below the Rs. 22,000 mark, the rumoured Micromax Canvas 5 is said to include a 5-inch full-HD display. The smartphone is also tipped to be powered by a new MediaTek MT67xx octa-core chipset paired with 2GB of RAM.

The yet-to-be-announced Canvas 5 might is said to come with 16GB of inbuilt storage that is expandable via microSD card (unspecified maximum capacity). An 18-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera are also expected on the handset, according to the DroidGoblin website.

The rumoured Cyanogen OS-based Micromax Canvas 5 smartphone goes in line with a report that surfaced earlier this month indicating Cyanogen had entered a deal with Indian mobile manufacturer Micromax to release a Cyanogen OS-powered handset as early as the end of the year. The report notably also claimed that Cyanogen had recently turned down a Google buyout offer made by SVP of Android, Sundar Pichai.

The report claimed the release date of the Cyanogen OS-based Micromax handset is still uncertain. However, if the reported deal is real, it may see Cyanogen taking a bite out of Google's Android One ambitions with a low-cost offering that remains up-to-date through Cyanogen's frequent iterations.

Also, Cyanogen is reportedly being eyed by several major companies for a partnership or acquisition, according to a report from August. Companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Samsung, and Yahoo are among the big names that are considering the mobile software startup Cyanogen as a 'potential partner or acquisition target.'