Huawei announced that it will launch its own operating system for smartphones in 2021. At its annual developers conference, the company said an initial beta of the HarmonyOS 2.0 software for mobile devices will be available for Chinese developers by the end of this year.
Huawei confirmed last year it was developing an OS, after the company saw its access to Android software and services from Google disrupted due to US sanctions. The Harmony system was first deployed on a smart TV sold in China. Huawei is now approaching the end of its stocks of products based on US components and needs to turn to its own software for a new generation of products.
Open source OS
The launch of HarmoneyOS 2.0 coincides with the company making the platform open source, in order to encourage more developers and device makers to adopts the system. Huawei also introduced an adaptive framework for the user interface to support other devices and users. Emulators, SDK packages and IDE tools will be available under the open source project at the Open Atom Foundation.
Huawei's consumer chief Richard Yu announced the roadmap for HarmonyOS in his keynote speech at the developers conference. Starting 10 September, HarmonyOS is open for use on IoT devices with 128KB to 128MB of memory. In April 2021, the company will open it to 128MB to 4GB devices and in October 2021, HarmonyOS will be available for devices above 4GB. The schedule suggests Huawei does not plan to release any high-end smartphones running the new OS for another a year.
HiLink casting
Similar to the Android system it is replacing, Harmony is designed to work across a whole ecosystem of devices. Huawei said the distributed technology in HarmonyOS and the newly released EMUI 11 enable interaction beyond smartphones, so consumers can control and access other devices. Notably the touchless connection between smartphones and HarmonyOS-based home devices should enable screen projection for video calls and content from phones to computers, TVs and other displays. This builds on the HiLink technology first introduced with Harmony for casting video, which will be expanded to support a range of interactive services, control options and authentication.
Developer centres
Along with the hardware OS, Huawei is working on building its own app store. The company said its AppGallery has reached over 96,000 apps, and there are more than 1.8 million developers registered to design apps for its platform. Since the start of the year, the AppGallery recorded 261 billion app downloads and distributions, and the number of available APIs has grown to almost 13,000.
To further support developers, the company is building three ecosystem cooperation labs - in Russia, Poland and Germany. These will serve global developers and provide enablement, testing and certification services. Five global developer service centres will also be established in Romania, Malaysia, Egypt, Mexico, and Russia, providing local services and platforms to help developers better grow and innovate.
New watches, laptops, earbuds
At the conference, Huawei also highlighted several new products. These include the MateBook X and MateBook 14 laptops, the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro and Watch Fit smartwatches, and the FreeBuds Pro and FreeLace Pro wireless earbuds.
The Watch Fit, which offers 44 standard fitness programmes and up to 10 days battery life, launches this month for a recommended price of EUR 129. It comes in a choice of four colours - Sakura Pink, Mint Green, Cantaloupe Orange and Graphite Black. The Watch GT 2 Pro comes with a titanium casing, wireless charging and heart rate monitor will be available in October for EUR 299. The new earphones or a Huawei Smart Fit Scale are offered as a gift for customers who pre-order the devices.
