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NEW DELHI: Cyanogen, the US-based software maker that wants to "steal Android away from Google," has taken its boldest step yet in order to achieve this goal.

The company will now bundle Microsoft apps in its Cyanogen OS across various categories to replace Google's apps. This means that smartphones like OnePlus Two and Micromax's Yu products may soon come with Bing instead of Google Search and OneDrive in place of Google Drive.

This is not the first time Microsoft has tried to replace Google products on Android phones. Last year's Android-based Nokia X series of smartphones also had Microsoft products instead of Google services, but the series failed to take off and was discontinued shortly thereafter.

In an email to The Verge, Cyanogen said that Microsoft has committed to creating "native integrations" on Cyanogen OS.

Cyanogen offers a more customizable version of Android for free to users, and has an 80-member in-house team, along with 9,000 software developers who tinker with the code to create new, stable versions of the custom OS. Among the company's backers are Azim Premji's PremjiInvest, Qualcomm, Twitter, Telefonica, Andreessen Horowitz and Tencent.

While Micromax's brand Yu and OnePlus are already on-board, the company is also convincing other brands to pre-install Cyanogen OS on their smartphones. According to Cyanogen, already 50 million smartphones run its OS. The company earns $10 for each CMOS-powered smartphone sold.

CEO Kirt McMaster in an earlier interview with Forbes said, "We're putting a bullet through Google's head."
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