Huawei launches HarmonyOS
August 13, 2019 Category IT & Telecom, Weekly
Huawei Technologies debuted its much-anticipated operating system – HarmonyOS, known as Hongmeng in Chinese – as it launched a smart display under its Honor brand. The new smart displays come with a pop-up camera for video chat and facial recognition and allow all devices equipped with the company’s self-developed HarmonyOS to interact in a seamless way, Honor President George Zhao said. Users can share information, text notes, and conduct video chats between the smart displays and smartphones seamlessly. With a starting price tag of CNY3,799, the Honor display is equipped with the HiSilicon “Honghu 818” intelligent chipset and a smart pop-up camera for large screens, allowing the users to operate the display through voice chat and enjoy personalized features driven by artificial intelligence (AI), according to Zhao.
“Many people have stopped using TVs in the family, and we are trying to subvert the idea,” Richard Yu, Huawei’s Director of Mobile Devices, said at the company’s developer conference in Dongguan, China. Huawei’s Harmony operating system supports a range of products and systems within its own ecosystem, including smartphones, computers, tablets, TVs, cars and smart wearables. The company is also expected to launch smart displays under the Huawei band in September. The official launch of Huawei’s self-developed OS marks a milestone for the Chinese company, which is currently affected by a U.S. trade ban and restricted in its ability to buy a range of American-made technology, including Google’s Android for smartphones and Microsoft’s Windows operating system for personal computers, the South China Morning Post reports.
Migrating apps from Android to the new system is relatively easy but the company would prefer to continue using Google’s Android OS on its smartphones if allowed, Yu said during the launch of the HarmonyOS. However, “Huawei’s HarmonyOS is ready for smartphones anytime,” he added. Huawei plans to invest CNY10 billion in a new R&D facility that can house 30,000 to 40,000 employees. The company has 36 joint innovation centers and 14 R&D institutes around the world. It also plans to attract 20 to 30 top talents in several fields – including mathematics, semiconductors and chemistry – and pay them five times as much as their peers working for other companies.
China’s 5G advancements by its biggest technology firms, including Huawei, ZTE, Tencent and Baidu, will be major attractions at the China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Xiamen from September 8 to 11. Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is expected to attend the fair, as well as representatives from Coca Cola, Siemens, Schneider Electric and Louis Dreyfus. Sprint Corp said it would launch a 5G smartphone made by OnePlus, becoming the second U.S. wireless carrier after T-Mobile to offer a cell phone made by the Chinese company. Sprint is already offering 5G smartphones from Taiwan’s HTC and South Korean mobile makers Samsung Electronics and LG Display.
The Trump administration announced a ban on U.S. federal agencies buying equipment and services from Chinese companies, including Huawei, rival ZTE, radio systems provider Hytera, camera maker Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and video surveillance products maker Dahua Technology, citing national security concerns. The new rule, which takes effect on August 13, is a significant step in the U.S. government’s ongoing effort to crack down on Chinese technology it regards as a potential national security threat. The announcement comes a year before Congress’ mandated deadline of August 2020 for all federal contractors to stop doing business with these companies. By August of next year, the administration will be required to comply with a broader and separate ban that prohibits the government from procuring services and products from any company that uses equipment from Huawei. The company has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government over the restrictions.
The White House is holding off on a decision to grant licenses to allow U.S. to restart sales to Huawei after Beijing said it was halting purchases of U.S. farm products. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said his department has received 50 requests and that a decision on them was pending. American businesses require a special license to supply goods to Huawei after the U.S. added the company to a trade blacklist in May over national security concerns.
Meanwhile, China has told India not to block Huawei from doing business in the country, warning there could be consequences for Indian firms operating in China. India is due to hold trials for installing a next-generation 5G network in the next few months, but has not decided yet to invite Huawei to take part, Telecoms Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said. India’s Ambassador in Beijing, Vikram Misri, was called to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on July 10 to hear China’s concerns about the U.S. campaign to keep Huawei out of 5G mobile infrastructure worldwide.
In related technology news, Chinese chip maker Loongson Technology plans to invest CNY15 billion in a smart industry park in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, aimed at attracting smart devices manufacturers and research and development enterprises. The park will cover an area of over 5.3 square kilometers. Four research institutes and 51 companies have already reached an initial agreement with the park, including Hong Kong-listed IT service provider Digital China and Beijing-based software company Tsinghua Tongfang. Loongson is one of the few companies in China that can independently design central processing units.
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