Microsoft partners with Google's Android rival Cyanogen

Cyanogen, the startup that wants to take Android from Google, has a powerful new partner: Microsoft. The two companies formally announced a long-rumored "strategic partnership" Thursday, which will put Microsoft's apps and services on Cyanogen devices this year.

Cyanogen is a modified version of Android that doesn't rely on the Google Play Store and other Google services. This model is particularly appealing in markets like China — where Google Play is nonexistent — and other countries where third-party app stores are already popular.Teaming up with the software giant will allow Cyanogen to bundle Microsoft's productivity apps like Skype, Office, Bing, Outlook and others onto its devices.

Teaming up with the software giant will allow Cyanogen to bundle Microsoft's productivity apps like Skype, Office, Bing, Outlook and others onto its devices. Microsoft will create custom versions of these apps for Cyanogen OS, similar to the way it created specialized apps for Amazon's Fire OS.Microsoft's app's won't necessarily come pre-installed on the phones and users will always be able to delete the apps they don't want, a Cyanogen spokesperson told Mashable.

"Given the complexity of handset manufacturers, distribution methods, and carriers, there is more than one way MSFT apps can show up," a representative for the company wrote in an email. "Cyanogen is predicated on user choice with an open operating system that is bringing best in class products and services to consumers. MSFT apps will be surfaced contextually and will always be downloadable."

A partnership between the two companies had been rumored since the beginning of the year when the The Wall Street Journal reported Microsoft was eyeing a $70 million investment in the company. It's not clear what the financial relationship between the two companies is — Microsoft was not named when Cyanogen announced an $80 million round of funding last month, though at the time, the company acknowledged "several yet to be announced partners."

The move comes at a significant time for Google, as it faces regulatory pressure from the European Union over Android. Though Android and Google have been virtually synonymous, a partner like Microsoft stands to lend a lot of credibility to the Android startup that has been quickly gaining momentum.