Cyanogen and Nextbit on a mysterious project

The best custom ROM provider Cyanogen is trying to create a whole new thing with Nextbit.
We’ve got all the
companies teasing their IFA announcements , and while many aren’t
outright announcing new products already ( except you , LG – you’re
a kook), they’re pretty much doing everything but . And while there’s
still a lot of uncertainty around products like the new iPhones, few
of us are doubting that the phones themselves exist. How about
some news that’s quite a bit more open-ended? We’ve got just the
thing, as there’s something going on right now between Cyanogen
and Nextbit, but no one seems to have a good idea of just what that
could be.
Cyanogen and who? We haven’t discussed Nextbit in a long while,
but the company popped up on our radar back at the start of the
year with bold talk about doing something really big for mobile
devices. It’s got a great-looking staff full of industry veterans, but
it’s not entirely clear what the group intends to make.
Then yesterday, Cyanogen posted an announcement to its Google+
page inviting users to help the company test something, which the
sign-up page describes as a “Cyanogen/Nextbit Private Alpha.” The
questions it asks of potential participants looks for users who
already own a Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 and talks about flashing their
devices, making it clear that there’s a big software component to
this project – though if Nextbit’s also working on its own hardware,
we can’t say. Right now, the best description we have of Nextbit’s
mission is that it’s creating “breakthrough technology that allows
for deeper integration between the cloud and mobile devices.”
But that’s where the trail runs cold, leaving us not much closer to
working out Nextbit’s goals. Hopefully once that alpha gets started
we’ll hear whispers of what it entails from some of the testers
involved. In the meantime, anyone got any theories?
-Cyanogen (Google+)