This archive report was first published on 9 August 2019.
Huawei Unveils HarmonyOS: A New Operating System for Smart Devices ¶
On August 9, 2019, Huawei announced HarmonyOS, a new operating system for smart devices, at its ongoing developer conference. The company has been working on this project for the past decade, and the announcement comes at a time when the US government's aggression towards Huawei has led to a temporary ban on the company's access to Android.
According to Huawei, HarmonyOS will be available on smart devices such as smartwatches, smart screens, in-vehicle systems, and smart speakers, all of which remain unreleased. The company has also announced EMUI 10, the latest iteration of its Android overlay, which suggests that HarmonyOS is not yet ready to replace Android on Huawei's smartphones.
HarmonyOS is an open-source platform, similar to Android, which means that it will be open to developers around the world to contribute to and grow. Huawei has also established an open-source foundation and an open-source community to support more in-depth collaboration with developers.
One of the key advantages of HarmonyOS is its ability to run on a wide range of devices, including wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and even virtual reality (VR) glasses. Huawei has also highlighted the platform's security features, including its microkernel architecture and other safeguards.
While Huawei remains tight-lipped about the availability of HarmonyOS on its smartphones, the company's roadmap suggests that the platform will be mature enough to run on VR glasses by 2022. This raises questions about whether Huawei will be the first to mount an aggressive go-to-market strategy with its own platform to take on Android and iOS in the smartphone market.
