Remix OS rides off into the sunset, as Jide kills consumer products

Turning Android into a desktop-like environment is not a simple task, but Jide Technology took a crack at it anyway with Remix OS, which first tasted fresh air with the Ultra Remix tablet back in 2014. Since then, the company not only announced more products with its homegrown Remix OS, but also widened hardware support and what the software can do. In other words, at least on the outside, Jide pushed Remix OS into the consumer space as hard as it could, on both the hardware and software fronts.

Alas, that push seems to have been short-lived, since Jide took to its various social media profiles to announce that it would focus solely on the enterprise. Unfortunately for Remix OS fans, a result of the pivot is that Jide is “restructuring [its] approach” to the operating system:

Over the past year, we received an increasing number of inquiries from enterprises in various industries, and began helping them build great tools for their organizations by leveraging Jide software and hardware. We see huge potential in the role that Jide can play to revolutionize how these businesses operate. And given our existing resources, we decided to focus our company efforts solely on the enterprise space moving forward.

The beginning of that last sentence is a bit interesting, since it might indicate that Jide might have been in a bit of a financial jam. This might have been a motivator for the company to focus on the enterprise space, though it could also just be because there is more money to be made in enterprise than in the consumer space.

Regardless of any hidden motivations, the decision means that development on Remix OS for PC has ceased. It also means that the Remix IO and IO+, set-top TV boxes that support 4K streaming and game-playing, will not be shipped to customers. Jide said refunds to Kickstarter backers and for general pre-orders will be issued starting August 15.

What is unknown is whether Jide will service or support existing hardware, though Android Authority has reached out to the company for comment.