CyanogenMod founder leaves Samsung

Steve Kondik, founder of the CyanogenMod project and creator of its popular alternative ROM for Android devices, has left Samsung. Kondik revealed that he is no longer employed by the company as an aside in a Google+ post concerning the Galaxy S4 hardware. The well-known Android hacker, who also goes by the online name Cyanogen, started at Samsung's mobile division in August 2011 to work on "making Android more awesome". It is not currently known what Kondik's future plans are; when queried he replied "ask me in a couple of months".

In a follow up to his aside, Kondik declined to comment on his time at Samsung and what projects he had worked on while being with the company. Being asked why he had left the job, he replied: "Not because of anything in particular. Samsung was great. Just decided to do something new." He also expressed his approval for the Galaxy S4 hardware saying that he expects CyanogenMod to work well on it. Kondik is still listed as a contributor on CyanogenMod and has given no indication that he will be leaving that project.

CyanogenMod is an open source ROM based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) that supports a large number of devices. It is the most popular community developed alternative to stock Android firmware.

(fab)