After several months of rumors, Huawei officially unveiled this Friday, August 9, 2019 its home operating system for smartphones and connected objects. The Chinese telecom giant is taking a step closer to abandoning Android, Google's OS, that it may one day be forced to no longer use because of US sanctions.
Rumors have been running for months on the alternative developed in secret by Huawei in case he could no longer use the operating system of Google, Android, because of US sanctions. The telecom giant finally shot down its cards Friday, August 9, 2019, at the Huawei Developer Conference held in Dongguan (China).
"If tomorrow we are no longer allowed to use Android, we will be able to deploy HarmonyOS without delay," said Richard Yu, Huawei's CEO. HarmonyOS (HongmengOS in the Chinese market) is the name of the Chinese giant's home operating system, which it has designed to be compatible with both smartphones and connected objects.
THOUGHT TO PLEASE THE DEVELOPERS
The deployment of HarmonyOS will begin at the end of the year in China, especially on connected TVs. Then it should accelerate to involve other devices ... and other markets internationally. "Many manufacturers are already interested," said Richard Yu during the presentation of the system.
Imposing a new operating system is not easy (how can Samsung testify with Tizen), but Huawei has put all the assets on his side. Its OS is open source and can be used by other manufacturers for a license - a strategy similar to that of Google. Its compiler, called Ark, is also open source, and supports Kotlin, Java, Javascript, C and C ++ languages. Huawei also indicates that HarmonyOS will eventually be compatible with HTML5, Linux and Android applications. What attract a maximum of developers of third-party applications, at least on paper.
ONE OPERATING SYSTEM FOR ALL APPLIANCES
The other point put forward by Huawei is the possibility of equipping devices as diverse as possible with one and the same system. "The problem of some manufacturers today is that they have a different OS for each of their products," Huawei spokespersons said, supporting illustrations comparing HarmonyOS to the company's products. A "and" the company G ". Barely veiled references to Apple and Google, the first having recently unveiled yet another operating system - specific to the iPad, this time.
Smartphone, tablet, TV, smartwatch, bluetooth headphones, connected speakers ... HarmonyOS can do everything, according to Huawei, even equip a computer or a car. The Shenzhen firm is banking on this new advantage to differentiate its products from those of the competition. A strategy that has made the days of the American technology giants since the launch of their own systems. The next smartphone of the low-cost brand Honor - owned by Huawei - which will be unveiled this Saturday, August 10, will be the first equipped with HarmonyOS, said Richard Yu.
