Cyanogen, the company behind the CyanogenMod open source operating system, is today announcing a rebranding, which will take it further away from its hacker-inspired roots and make it more mainstream than before. The new branding ditches the Android mascot logos and abundance of cyan for cleaner fonts and a simpler approach. It's a better, more mature look for a company that has shifted away from just making tools for hackers and has software found on devices anyone can buy.

In addition to the new branding effort, Cyanogen is partnering with Qualcomm to develop software for its Reference Design (QRD) products coming out later this year. QRD devices are meant to make it easier for smartphone makers to ship devices quicker, as they have a ready-made platform from which to base their own phones on. The Cyanogen partnership will provide software features and UI elements for devices running Qualcomm Snapdragon 200, 400, and 600 processors, which are used in low-end to mid-range phones.

Everyone eventually grows up

The partnership will put Cyanogen's software on more devices than ever, as well as introduce it to customers that don't have or aren't interested in high-end, expensive smartphones. Cyanogen co-founder Steve Kondik says it will be focused on getting the best performance out of these lower-specced devices and "raise the bar for the software" experience, which is often found lacking on inexpensive phones.

Overall, both announcements show a more mature, grown-up Cyanogen than we've seen before. Cyanogen quickly went from being something that only Android modding community forum dwellers were aware of to a real company that puts software on devices people can buy across the world. It's time for Cyanogen to grow up, and it's starting to do just that.