Android News: CyanogenMod Rebranding, Source Code Releases, Games, Devices, and Tablets
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-04-07 09:11:14 UTC
- Modified: 2014-04-07 09:11:14 UTC
CyanogenMod
Well, folks, it looks like CyanogenMod, Inc. is starting to shape up to look like a real legit company. The company has already made big deals with phone manufacturers and successfully raised a good deal of money to help in their endeavors, and now they are making some changes to the way they present themselves.
Source Code
Sprint LG G2 owners may not have too much longer to wait for Android 4.4.2 to arrive. Sprint has posted details on an upcoming OTA update, which should roll out in stages starting today. The version is ZVB, and it contains little aside from all the delicious goodies that come with KitKat. To clarify, the developers have also packed in a fix for an audio issue with the pre-installed NextRadio app. Yeah, all eyes are on Android 4.4.2 here.
Sony may not have the best track record when it comes to making its phones available across a wide number of carriers in the US, but it has no problem sharing its open source kernel files on a timely basis. The company officially announced the Xperia Z2 a month ago at Mobile World Congress, and now much of the handset's internal code is available for download on the web.
Ballnux/Samsung
Google
Google could have big plans in store for the way that it and other smartphone makers sell and advertise their best Android phones. According to a series of slides allegedly shown inside of Google and leaked to Android Police, Google is developing a program called Android Silver, which would find carriers dedicating a section of their store to some of the top Android phones, each of which would come with some significant advantages over phones that weren't offered as part of the Silver program.
Citing "sources aware of Google's plans," Engadget said Google is currently testing the new app, which will be pushed to Android users as a separate update, and won't be part of the forthcoming Android 4.4.3 update.
Project Ara (Phonebloks) and modular pieces of tech in general are gaining steam. So far, we’ve known that we will be able to swap specified parts of our smartphones, which will result in longer lives for our phones and less waste as a result of our tech lusts. Today, Google revealed some of the work that was going on behind the scenes with their ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) group. The Ara team members (read ‘nerds’) took the time out to demonstrate the sliding ‘blocks’ of their prototype or very early build of the devices, and they have not deviated a whole lot from the initial drafts, but there were significant bits of information included.
KitKat
The latest flavor of Android is slowly eating up more Android devices, according to the latest stats from Google.
The Intrinsyc Mobile Development Platform Tablet (“MDP/T”) uses an updated Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 SoC running Android 4.4 (KitKat). According to a TrustedReviews overview of the Snapdragon 800 family, the 805 is set to ship this summer, but Intrinsyc says it’s shipping the MDP/T now for $799. So consider this a sneak preview, or as Intrinsyc calls it “early access” to the Snapdragon 805.
Humble Indie Bundle/Equiso/Games
There are already quite a couple of Android gaming consoles out in the market today such as the OUYA and the Mad Catz M.O.J.O. to name a few. These devices offer an alternative gaming platform that is considered cheaper than the Xbox or PlayStation consoles. Equiso Play is another upcoming Android gaming console that aims to make it into the market this year.
There are plenty of Android-powered game consoles already out for consumers to get their hands on and another one up on Kickstarter called Equiso Play. This new one definitely has the potential to be a great product from what we've seen of it already.
Embedded/Devices
The software stack for the Glass builds upon the Android platform, and hence, on top of the Linux Kernel. It was indeed customized for Glass and is available as google-glass-kernel-source.
Insyde Software and Timesys have each released enhanced Android BSPs supporting Intel’s “Bayley Bay” evaluation board for the Intel Atom E3800 SoC.
Tablets
Under the ministry of human resource development, government of India's one laptop per child (OLPC) project 'Akash tablet' will be available in market in 3-4 months at a cost of around Rs 2,500. The tablet which will be the first of its kind to have a dual book and dual board as it will use both Android as well as Linux operating systems will perform the job of both, a tablet and a computer. It will be the cheapest tablet in the world.
Small cheap computers naturally fit with GNU/Linux because they are easier to sell without M$’s “tax”.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Links 31/01/2026: "Introducing Encrypt It Already" and "Huge Cache of Epstein"
- Links for the day
- A Can of WORMS - Part I - Trying to Throw RMS Under the Bus at MIT and Everywhere Else
- This series won't give air to online 'trolls'
- Mobbing at the European Patent Office (EPO) - Part I - An Introduction
- When the series ends, some time around the second or third EPO strike of this year, we'll contact the relevant authorities and plead for intervention
- The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Delusion - Part I - Who Regulates This Regulator? (Only Itself!)
- We won't self-censor or prematurely terminate this series
- Norway Almost Trusts Russia More Than the Bill Gates (Sleeping With Young Russian Girls) Company, Microsoft
- Microsoft represents crime
- Riddle Us This... (Jim Zemlin and Bill Gates)
- Do these people even understand the literal meaning of "safe space"?
- Is "Nobel Prize for Peace" a Sick Person's 'Code Word' for Gangbanging Now? Ask Bill Gates.
- Watch all the Gates apologists getting all silenced/silent
- BBC Gaslights Women Sexually Exploited (Many Under Legal Age) for Its Rich Sponsor, Bill Epsteingate (Gates)
- Is this a national broadcaster or a propaganda tool "For Rent"?
- Microsoft 'Open' 'AI' Reportedly About to Become Bankrupt, Seeking Emergency Cash Infusion (Loans)
- the money promised to Microsoft 'Open' 'AI' failed to arrive
- Gemini Links 31/01/2026: Deep Ice and Slide Rules
- Links for the day
- Writing About Abuse
- Never ever allow misogynists to get their way if you strive to live in a decent society
- MIT DEDP MicroMasters online learner's blog post about cover-up linked to resignation of Swiss financial regulator
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Salary Erosion Procedure (SAP) as the Primary Reason for EPO Strikes
- They focus on financials, as the corruption aspects are un-sayable or unspeakable, except in private
- IBM Bluewashing: Feels Like IBM is Scuttling Neudesic (and Some of Red Hat)
- We recently saw some Red Hat staff joining a Microsoft proxy
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 30, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, January 30, 2026
- Microsoft Stock Collapsing Due to the Slop Bubble and Microsoft is Hiding Budget 'Black Holes'
- Microsoft does not perform like it tells "the media" and "the market"
- Gemini Links 30/01/2026: Love and Cultivation, Gemtext Anchors
- Links for the day
- Will Jim Zemlin Also Sell His Daughter or Only the "Linux" Brand (and Linux Foundation) to Bill Epsteingate?
- Torvalds "ate a bug"
- The Epstein Files Don't Say the Ages of Those "Russian Girls" Bill Epsteingate Exploited
- This E-mail was sent around the time an arrest was made for pedophilia
- Only One in 33 EPO Staff Voting on the Strike Opposed It
- Kudos to all those who participated in the strike
- Still Hoping for "Slop Zero" in 2026
- We've also noticed that linuxiac.com shows a glimmer of hope this week
- Links 30/01/2026: Waymo Crashing Into 'Small People' (Children), Microsoft at Risk Due to Slop Debt
- Links for the day
- Amutable’s Management and Founders Are 100% Microsoft!
- It'll be focused on promoting Microsoft's agenda in everything it does
- IBM Tries to Get Rid of Workers Without Paying Them (and It Appears to be Working)
- be sure to speak to people who actually work there
- He Has No Money, But He Has Power, He Has a Voice
- That's why they envy and attack him
- Free Software in Swiss Media This Week
- RMS is still going places with his Migros bag (Swiss retail giant)
- TV Programs Disseminate False Numbers of Microsoft Layoffs (About 31,000 Laid Off Last Year, Not Including PIPs, Contractors and so on)
- large-scale layoffs are inevitable, no matter how long Microsoft delays or procrastinates
- Links 30/01/2026: Microsoft's "OpenAI Is Headed For Bankruptcy" and Bitcoin Crashes
- Links for the day
- Why Would Anybody be Afraid of Talking to Richard Stallman?
- We need to get rid of the baseless stigma
- Amutable is a Microsoft Proxy Like Xamarin, With Some IBM/Red Hat Staff Added for Good Measure
- Amutable chasing money and trying to impose TPM etc. on everybody
- The Letter Sent to the Ringleader of the Alicante Mafia This Week
- Call for industrial actions to stop the salary erosion of EPO staff
- EPO on Strike
- organisation operating outside the Rule of Law
- Oracle's Debt Exploded by 22 Billion Dollars in 6 Months, the Ponzi Scheme With Scam Altman Was Classic 'Pump and Dump'
- The founder of Oracle now uses his wealth for right-wing ideological reasons, nothing else
- Facebook ('Meta') is Dead Meat, This GAFAM Company's Debt Exploded by Almost 33 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months (11 Billion Per Month)
- we can expect many sales/contracts to get canceled
- Australia's top nurse takes on Musk, Zuckerberg & rogue health influencers, birthkeepers
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Affirming What We Already Know: Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is Profoundly Incompetent
- "SRA ordered to pay solicitor £50k in costs after failed prosecution"
- The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XVI - The Associates of Mr. Cocainegate Don't Want to Talk About Cocainegate (Right of Reply)
- Nobody wanted to talk about cocaine at the EPO
- The "Open Source" (Corporate Openwashing) Fake Community Rejects Democracy, Open Source Initiative is in Effect Dead
- This is basically the end of the OSI
- Cracks and Holes in Microsoft's Slop Bubble (Also, Windows is Declining)
- "More Bad News For Xbox As Microsoft Blames Gaming For An Annual Decline In Its PC Business"
- Microsoft's Debt Exploded by More Than 20 Billion Dollars This Past Year, Says Microsoft
- Expect more mass layoffs
- Strike at the EPO Today
- Next month we'll start a new EPO series
- State of the Slop and The Register MS Runs Ads as 'Articles'
- Yesterday we could not find much slop about "Linux"
- Gemini Links 30/01/2026: Announcing Crossyword and SYN Attack
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, January 29, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, January 29, 2026
- Gemini Links 29/01/2026: Naps, Letting Go, and Terribly Cold Weather
- Links for the day
- Links 29/01/2026: Kennedy Center Officials Resigning and Amazon to Cut 16,000 Jobs
- Links for the day
- Goodbyes to Red Hat and IBM
- PIPs let them do the same with less "wasted" on severance or with obscene narrative-shaping
- RMS Was Right 35 Years Ago
- Stallman’s viewpoints have remained the same
- The Need to Understand the Projection Tactics Against RMS
- There's an old and common saying (or "wisdom") about who's guilty when there's a fart in elevators (lifts)
- Links 29/01/2026: Neocities Is Blocked by Microsoft, “Intellectual Freedom Centers” as the New "Intelligent Design"
- Links for the day
- Microsoft XBox Dying Not Only as a Console, Reveals Microsoft
- Microsoft is trying to rebrand or repurpose the brand
- Don't be Mistaken, Microsoft Boasts About Money That Does Not Exist and Revenue (Buying From Oneself!) Is Not Income
- the company's debt grew
- Fedora is IBM and There's Hardly Any Community Left
- It's more like an onboarding mechanism for unpaid labour at (and for) IBM
- IBM's Financial Performance in IBM's Own Words: Money Down, Debt Up Sharply
- IBM isn't a healthy company
- In Dominica, GNU/Linux Has Risen to All-Time High in 2026
- a lot of America is moving to Free software this year
- The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XV - EPO is on Strike Tomorrow, Lots to be Angry About (Except Money)
- We'll soon finish the series
- Gemini Links 29/01/2026: "Lady Audley's Secret" and "The Value Of Our Fear" (Carney's Speech)
- Links for the day
- Emmanuel Macron on Europe's GAFAM Addiction/Dependence: "There is No Such Thing as Happy Vassalage"
- Microsoft has long worked to prevent commodification
- It's Official, Mass Layoffs at IBM Again (2026)
- In a matter of days we'll just see how much IBM's debt has grown
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 28, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, January 28, 2026