Maybe this is cynical, but this feels more like Microsoft trying to further disrupt Google's control over Android. MS knows that Cyanogen is ultimately bad for Google's Android progress. Cyanogen is an attempt to regain complete control over the devices we own, away from Google.
Google wants standardization and consistency, Cyanogen wants an "anything goes" environment. I'm not saying Cyanogen's goals are not admirable, but Google wants control over the Android ecosystem and they definitely don't want someone else with that control.
This would be like Microsoft funding companies that make it easier to jailbreak iOS.
As a user, Cyanogen is a great improvement over stock Android, no question. But there is zero hope of "regain[ing] complete control over the devices we own" without open-source radios and firmware. Just sayin'.
I agree about the lack of complete control. I am not sure putting your device under the control of another company (Cyanogen) instead of Google is a way of getting complete control either!
Google wants standardization and consistency, Cyanogen wants an "anything goes" environment. I'm not saying Cyanogen's goals are not admirable, but Google wants control over the Android ecosystem and they definitely don't want someone else with that control.
This would be like Microsoft funding companies that make it easier to jailbreak iOS.