There's been plenty of buzz around Oppo's upcoming flagship N1 smartphone for more than a couple of reasons. There's good reason for that.
Alongside the innovative 13-megapixel camera featuring a swiveling mechanism for use as a front or rear camera, it'll also run CyanogenMod out of the box when released in December.
Because the phone ships with the customized Android system, Android updates will come at a faster rate and will support the device's "O-Touch" back panel allowing users to control scrolling, tapping and taking photos from the phone's back.
When it comes to phone specs, the N1 is quite capable. The smartphone features a 1.6GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 chipset and 2GB of RAM, serviceable enough processing power for its 6-inch 1080p display. Other specs include the choice of 16 or 32GB of internal storage, 3610 mAh battery, Bluetooth 4.0, and Oppo O click remote among others.
According to Oppo, the Cyanogen-laden N1 is only being released in limited quantities along with stickers and a specially designed case coming in a unique packaging. Partnership between the hardware maker and software developer broke in September following rumors of a smartphone utilizing the alternative firmware would launch soon.
Non-limited international N1 devices will ship with OPPO's ColorOS system and support instillation of CyanogenMod directly from the OPPO N1 stock recovery without the user needing to root and install a custom recovery.
When CyanogenMod founder Steve Kondik announced the launch of the N1, many were surprised as the developer had not been known to team up with smartphone manufacturers and make software customizations. One of the first ideas is to make installation of the software easier as Kondik describes the current method as "hideous," according to a blog post.
News comes as CyanogenMod announced last Wednesday that it has become a company, Cyanogen Inc., after raising $7 million in funding from Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures. The ultimate goal for the developer is to make the firmware the third most popular mobile operating system available as Android and iOS fight for the top spot.
