Huawei’s operating system, known as the HarmonyOS, has finally debuted on an internet-connected TV. The Chinese tech giant unveiled the Honor Vision TV on Saturday that will be the first device powered by Huawei’s operating system, the HarmonyOS.
The new OS was launched on Friday amid uncertainties over whether Huawei, caught in the trade war between the U.S. and China, can continue utilizing American technology in its products. The OS is an entity of Huawei’s so-called “internet of things” strategy where it is trying to build a consistent experience across numerous connected devices through its software. The Chinese technology giant said HarmonyOS, also known as HongmengOS, will eventually be used across devices from smartphones to smartwatches, and even smart speakers, smartwatches and in-vehicle systems.
Releasing HarmonyOS is also part of the company’s back-up plan should it be cut off from U.S. technology. Huawei is on Washington’s blacklist, called the Entity List, which prohibits American firms from doing business with it. U.S firms must now head for a special license to sell to Huawei.
The Trump administration said recently it would start approving licenses for some products as long as they do not pose a security risk to the U.S. or its allies.
3 reasons why HarmonyOS to be tough on Google’s open-source
- HarmonyOS will be open source and with less bloat unlike Google’s Android
- Huawei Camera Drivers are comparatively much better in term of performance and chances are Huawei will allow developers to use it.
- Huawei OS has better bootup times and performance than any android OS based phone and Huawei is ready to push more.
Huawei uses Google’s Android OS for its smartphones. But analysts told CNBC that not having access to Android could hurt Huawei badly, which is now the second-largest smartphone maker in the world, behind Samsung and ahead of Apple. That is a huge reason for Huawei developing its OS.
The CEO of Huawei’s consumer division, Richard Yu, informed reporters at a press conference on Friday after the HarmonyOS launch, that the situation with Google remains “unclear.” He stressed that Huawei would opt to continue using Android on its smartphones, however, if it was unable to, then it could switch to HarmonyOS “immediately.”
Released under the Honor brand that Huawei owns, the 55-inch Honor Vision series starts at 3,799 yuan ($538).
