In today’s edition of “News That You Probably Never Expected to Hear,” a report claims that Microsoft is investing in Cyanogen, Inc.
Sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal say that that Microsoft is a minority investor in a $70 million round of equity financing for Cyanogen. Neither Microsoft nor Cyanogen would comment on the rumor.
This news may sound strange because Cyanogen works with Android and Microsoft has its own mobile operating system to worry about. However, Cyanogen recently said that it wants to “take Android away from Google”, and Microsoft may be interested in lessening Google’s power in the mobile world. And since Windows Phone still hasn’t made any significant gains in market share, Microsoft may see investing in Cyanogen as another way to get a third major OS to compete with Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS