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Wileyfox Swift 2 series review: Affordability upgraded
British smartphone brand Wileyfox came onto the scene in 2015, kicking things off with two distinct devices. Of these, the Swift turned out to be one of the best affordable handsets you could buy -- quite the achievement for a new, unknown company. Since then, though, Wileyfox hasn't done anything particularly exciting, but now it's back with a follow-up, or three. The recently launched Swift 2, Swift 2 Plus and Swift 2 X are all slight variations of the same core device, offering a few different options while sticking to the affordable end of the smartphone spectrum, where the original Swift excelled.
The first builds of CyanogenMod successor LineageOS are out
The open-source CyanogenMod project has been formally reborn as LineageOS, with the first experimental and nightly ROMs of the custom Android build now available to download. Only a handful of smartphones are officially supported at the moment, including the Nexus 5X and 6P, OnePlus One, Nextbit Robin and a few Samsung, Motorola and Xiaomi devices. Anyone up to speed with the latest CyanogenMod releases won't find anything surprising here -- LineageOS grabs the baton at version 14.1 (based on Android 7.1 Nougat), with the only real changes being the new name, logo and some behind the scenes stuff to support the transition.
Wileyfox's Swift 2 X is its priciest smartphone yet at £219
After launching a trio of forgettable devices over the summer, Wileyfox rebounded late last year with a follow-up to the great value Swift. A couple of follow-ups, in fact: the Swift 2 and Swift 2 Plus. But both of these are 5-inch handsets, and were always destined to be joined by a sibling made for bigger paws. That's where the Swift 2 X comes in with its slightly larger 5.2-inch display at a higher, 1080p resolution. Wileyfox's latest handset is also its most expensive, as the Swift 2 X is available from today for £219.
Cyanogen pulls the plug on its services and OS next week (updated)
As most of us are paying attention to our long holiday weekend, Cyanogen Inc. has announced that "all services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds" will be discontinued by December 31st. While its statement says that the open source CyanogenMod OS and source code will remain available, owners of Cyanogen-powered devices like the OnePlus One will need to make a switch for future updates.
Ex-Apple CEO's quirky Android phone comes to the UK for £99
Obi Worldphone garnered a fair amount of attention when it announced its first smartphones around this time last year. Understandably so with a former Apple CEO among its founders, but John Sculley's new venture is in the business of making more affordable devices -- the opposite end of the spectrum to iPhones, in other words. Now, having made headway in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and more recently, Latin America, Obi Worldphone has expanded its reach to the UK with the £99 MV1 in tow.
Cyanogen reportedly cuts jobs as it changes course
The Cyanogen team formed a company with hopes of becoming the third major mobile platform, but it looks like the custom Android developer is scaling back its ambitions. Sources speaking to both Android Police and Recode claim that Cyanogen is making "significant" job cuts, laying off about 20 percent (around 30 people) of its staff. Reportedly, this is part of a "pivot" that will focus on apps, rather than an entire operating system like Cyanogen OS. Whether or not that involves the firm's MOD platform, its Apps Package or something else isn't apparent.
Wileyfox returns with three more affordable smartphones
Fledgling British smartphone brand Wileyfox debuted its first devices last autumn, and one of them ended up being seriously good value for money. Not to lose momentum following these initial launches, the company is back today with no less than three new handsets. At the most affordable end of the scale is the £90/€120 Spark, with the £115/€150 Spark + and £130/€170 Spark X making up the rest of this new family of devices.
Cyanogen 13.1 adds Microsoft features to OnePlus One phones
You'll find an important update waiting on your OnePlus One, if you haven't installed it yet: Cyanogen OS 13.1. The OS' latest version is "MOD ready," which means the manufacturer can tweak parts of the Android-based platform it couldn't before. In fact, version 13.1 already comes with the "mods" Cyanogen introduced in February, which mostly insert Microsoft features into various parts of the software. For instance, you can now make Skype calls straight from the device's Phone app and use OneNote to take notes within the Email and Phone applications.
AT&T said to be building a Cyanogen-powered phone with ZTE
AT&T is reportedly working with Cyanogen and ZTE on a new phone for the US market. It would run Cyanogen's forked version of Android, allowing the carrier to push services like DirectTV in a more aggressive manner. That's according to The Information anyway, which cites two sources -- one with direct knowledge and one that's been briefed on the talks between the three companies. There's no guarantee that such a handset will ever materialise, but the talks do emphasize the growing interest from networks to increase their revenue through services.
Cyanogen's 'MOD' platform is a whole new level of Android tweaking
Android has always been the mobile platform of choice for tinkerers, a trend that also directly led to Cyanogen's success as a custom version of the OS. Now Cyanogen is launching a platform called "MOD" that'll give developers access to portions of Android they could never reach before. For example, Microsoft has developed a mod that puts Skype right into the Cyanogen Android dialer. Another one lets Cortana take voice-activated selfies. It's an entirely new frontier for Cyanogen -- which has often been described as an Android mod -- but also a necessary one.
The world's 'most powerful' smartphone isn't, but it's still good
One smartphone maker is learning the hard way why you shouldn't promise more than you can deliver. Yu (partly owned by India's Micromax) has unveiled the Yutopia, which it bills as the "most powerful phone on the planet." There's only one problem: it isn't. You'll find plenty to like in the Cyanogen OS handset between its 5.2-inch quad HD display, Snapdragon 810 chip, 4GB of RAM, 21-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front shooter, fingerprint reader and 3,000mAh battery. However, you've seen all of this or better in phones released months ago -- odds are that you bought a Galaxy Note 5 or Nexus 6P if you were determined to get the best specs.
Cyanogen Apps lets modders in on the Cyanogen OS experience
While Cyanogen has whipped up a suite of exclusive apps for the commercial version of its mobile operating system, those using the open source CyanogenMod were unfortunately left out. Now it's changing that, by offering a "Cyanogen Apps Package" as an optional download that adds its Boxer email app, redesigned AudioFX and more -- it doesn't have every custom tweak but the company says more parts will come along in future updates. That's good news for modders loading the custom OS on random devices, and also users who want to switch to CyanogenMod on phones like the OnePlus One or Yureka without losing these Google-alternative apps. You'll need to be running version 12.1 of the OS to make it work -- check out the wiki for installation instructions.
Wileyfox's Storm is as chic as £199 smartphones come
New smartphone brand Wileyfox arrived on the scene brandishing the Swift, a midish-range device with an agreeable £129 price tag. Last week, it followed up with the Storm, its second contract-free handset you could call Wileyfox's flagship. A flagship of sorts, anyhow, since at £199 it's only a fraction of the price of true top-tier handsets. Now, the Swift is a perfectly charming device, but it doesn't feel like it's punching above its weight to any extent. The orange accents and quirky circular earpiece give it some character, but the physical buttons are plastic, the back panel removable. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but its compact size and general build quality are more or less what you'd expect from an affordable device. The newer Storm, on the other hand, is only £70 more expensive, and yet it feels like it's batting in a completely different league.
Wileyfox's Storm smartphone goes on sale for £199
Fresh-faced British upstart Wileyfox is hoping to make a name for itself in contract-free smartphones, joining plenty of other manufacturers searching for the perfect balance between performance and price. Its first handset, the £129 Swift, launched just last month, and today Wileyfox has announced its higher-end Storm smartphone is now up for grabs for £199. That much buys you a dual-SIM, 4G device with a 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 CPU, 3GB of RAM, 32 gigs of expandable storage, a 2,500mAh battery, 20-megapixel rear camera with Sony sensor and an 8MP selfie snapper.
CyanogenMod now supports more mid-range Huawei, Motorola phones
Cyanogen's partnership with OnePlus may be over, but the company is still hard at work to make sure its namesake Android ROM will run on just about everything else. According to a new post on the company blog, its been working with device manufactures like Xiaomi, Motorola, Oppo and others to extend official support to a wider array of mid-range Android handsets -- and it has a list of devices to prove it.
CyanogenMod gets Android 5.1 and Stagefright security fixes
If you've been sitting on pins and needles waiting for the community-focused CyanogenMod firmware to both make the leap to Android 5.1 and fix that nasty Stagefright MMS exploit, you can relax. Hot on the heels of Cyanogen OS 12.1 (for devices like the OnePlus One), CyanogenMod 12.1 is arriving with both the perks from Android 5.1.1 as well as a Stagefright patch that theoretically keeps you safe. There are also Stagefright fixes for CyanogenMod 11 and 12.0, in case you can't run the new operating system right away. There are a lot of devices to cover with this rollout, so don't be alarmed if you don't see a download right away -- if your phone or tablet is already running CyanogenMod's decidedly non-standard code, there's probably an update waiting in the wings.
