Consumer apps and enterprise apps, they mean
Perverse as it might seem for mighty Microsoft to be
courting geek-niche Android developer Cyanogen, the inclusion of
Microsoft Apps on future distributions of the Cyanogen flavour of
Android is an important win for Microsoft.
The deal has been a while coming. We reported in March that it was pending despite Microsoft having demurred from investing in Cyanogen.
It’s more than just apps. The deal is described as a
“partnership” under which “Cyanogen will integrate and distribute
Microsoft's consumer apps and services across core categories, including
productivity, messaging, utilities, and cloud-based services.”
By that they mean Bing services, Skype, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook, and Microsoft Office.
Microsoft will even code for Cyanogen, to create native integrations on Cyanogen OS.
"People around the world use Cyanogen's operating
system and popular Microsoft services to engage with what matters most
to them on their mobile devices," said Kirt McMaster, CEO of Cyanogen
Inc. "This exciting partnership with Microsoft will enable us to bring
new kinds of integrated services to mobile users in markets around the
world."
Being quite so pally with Microsoft might not be a
great strategy for Cyanogen in the long term, as the company is reliant
on support from Google. Whatever Cyanogen might claim, deep down it is Android