You might have heard of CyanogenMod and might not have heard of OnePlus. The former develops some of the most widely used custom Android ROMs on the planet, whereas the latter is a nascent startup. Last year it was rumored that Cyanogen will now start to find hardware partners in order to push its software into the mainstream smartphone market. It did launch a CyanogenMod edition device with Oppo, and now it has partnered up with OnePlus to release another CM powered device later this year.
Interestingly, OnePlus has been founded by a former Oppo VP, Peter Lau, who played a major role in orchestrating CyanogenMod’s debut on the Chinese manufacturer’s N1 smartphone. OnePlus will work in tandem with the folks at Cyanogen and will develop a smartphone which will come with a custom version of CM with special features and tweaks. They debated on what they would call this device and ultimately settled on the OnePlus One moniker. No technical specifications have been announced yet, the startup says that this smartphone will come with the “best hardware.” The OnePlus One CyanogenMod phone is expected to be launched in the first half of 2014, no pricing information has been provided as well. We’ll keep our eyes peeled.