Huawei has followed the unveiling of its new Mate 40 flagship smartphone with the announcement of a number of software developments under the Petal ecosystem it launched as an alternative to Google’s mobile suite following the US government ban. The company said its official search engine app, Petal Search, is now is available in over 170 countries and regions and supports over 50 languages, offering search capabilities across more than 20 categories, including apps, news, videos, images, shopping, flights and local business.
Petal Search now has a visual search option in response to Google Lens, allowing users to point their camera at objects such as people, animals, landmarks and even plants in the future to receive suggestions as to what they’re seeing. In addition, search results are now presented as visual information cards, as opposed to simple web links, to help users receive “a wealth of useful information instantly with just a few clicks”.
Petal Maps, meanwhile, will shortly be available on Huawei’s App Gallery in over 140 countries with support and voice notifications in multiple languages including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Chinese. It uses pioneering technologies such as Super GNSS and image recognition algorithms to further improve accuracy and give users the most efficient and least congested routes. Huawei said the Mate 40 series' new Gesture Control system will enable drivers to switch between the navigation view and map overview with their palms by simply using the “air press” feature.
Finally, Huawei Docs is the company’s first office suite app, available in more than 100 countries and regions. It supports document viewing and editing across over 50 formats including PDF, PPT, and DOC, and also features real-time syncing and multi-user support.
