The developers behind the popular CyanogenMod custom operating system for Android devices have released CyanogenMod 7.0. Public beta and release candidate builds have been floating around for a few months, but now the tired have been kicked, the hood has been polished, and Cyanogen has given his stamp of approval.
CM7 is based on the open source Google Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread operating system. The software is designed to work on tablets as well as smartphones and currently supports more than 30 devices including the Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor and ViewSonic gTablet.
If you’re wondering why you might want to use CyanogenMod instead of the software that came with your phone or tablet, here are a few of the features you get with CM7:
- Root access
- Support for installing more apps to your SD card
- CPU frequency and scaling controls
- Lockscreen gestures
- Incognito mode for the Android web browser
- Theme switcher
- Restyled music app and new music widgets
- Now playing and album art on the lock screen
- Battery percentage icon in the status bar
- Calendar enhancements
There are also a number of device specific features and improvements in CM7, adding support for gesture-based controls on supported tablets, support for WiMAX on 4G phones, and more.
