Faced with the threat of losing access to Google’s Android OS and popular apps, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies has unveiled its own operating system on Friday. The first product using the new operating system 'Harmony' will be lauched tomorrow.
The new Linus-based operating system Harmony OS (called 'Hongmeng' in Chinese), which has open source code, is based on microkernel that it contains only the near-minimum amount of functions. Therefore it provides most basic functions of a system, in order to maximize the implementation flexibility. All the files and systems have been locked and there is no "master key" for the system.
Harmony OS comes with a 'compiler' that boosts performance and supports all program languages. It has artificial intelligence compatibility and can be used on PCs and many other devices. HTML, Linux and Android applications will all function smoothly on Harmony OS.
Unveiling the new OS, Richard Yu, head of Huawei's consumer business group, said that the new system would “bring more harmony to the world.” New versions Harmony OS will be available in 2020 and 2021.
Huawei, the largest smartphone vendor in China, said migration between Android and Harmony OS can be done in a couple of days.
Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, in an interview with French magazine Le Point, had claimed that the new operating system is faster than Google’s mobile OS. He said that Huawei’s OS has a processing delay of just five milliseconds, which makes it faster than both Android and macOS.
Huawei Technologies said it would be difficult for the firm to meet its previous exporting target of 300 million smartphones this year due to restrictions imposed by the US.
The Trump administration banned Huawei over concerns of security and has been putting pressure on other countries to restrict the operations of the world leader in 5G technologies. The US has been asking its allies and friends, including India, to block the entry of Huawei from using their 5G infrastructure.