Huawei Unveils Harmony OS As Possible Alternative To Google's Android - CEO

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has revealed a mobile operating system developed in-house as a possible replacement of Google's popular Android system, a top company executive said during the Huawei Developer Conference in Dongguan, China on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2019) Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has revealed a mobile operating system developed in-house as a possible replacement of Google's popular Android system, a top company executive said during the Huawei Developer Conference in Dongguan, China on Friday.

"Today, we have brought Huawei's Harmony OS," Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said during a keynote speech at the event.

Yu touted the Harmony OS as the world's first immersive mobile operating system that could rival offerings from Google and Apple.

Huawei has been facing enormous pressure after US President Donald Trump decided to add the Chinese smartphone vendor to the Entity List of the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security. US companies are prohibited from doing business with firms included in the Entity List.

The US sanctions could force Huawei to give up Google's Android system in its future smartphones.

Thanks to the open-source nature of Android, it is still possible for Huawei to utilize the Android Open Source Project (AOSP)-based mobile operating system. But Google's popular services such as Gmail, Google Play Store and YouTube would not be available on future Huawei devices.

The possibility of losing access to Android and other Google services has forced Huawei to speed up the development and launch of its in-house Harmony OS.

The US Department of Commerce issued a 90-day temporary general license to Huawei, which allowed US companies to continue doing business with the Chinese firm until the end of August.

Amid escalating trade frictions between United States and China, the White House planned to postpone a decision on granting licenses that would allow US companies to continue doing business with Huawei, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.