Huawei on Friday unveiled its long-awaited self-developed operating system HarmonyOS on its smart television product, but it may not be an Android alternative as previously rumored.

Why it matters: HarmonyOS, also known as Hongmeng OS, was deemed to be Huawei’s alternative to Google’s Android after the Chinese firm was cut off from US technology.

The debut of the operating system was on Huawei’s TV set, but it is not yet available on smartphones.

The current version of the operating system, or the HarmonyOS 1.0, runs on the company’s TV product, which was released last month.

The future HarmonyOS will support a wide range of devices from personal computers to smartwatches, as well as virtual reality glasses, said Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business group, at the Huawei Developer Conference in Dongguan on Friday, without mentioning any plan to install it on smartphones.

It is a microkernel-based, distributed OS that delivers a smooth experience across all scenarios.”

Today, Chinese manufacturing giant, Huawei, commenced its annual developer conference.

We already knew that Huawei has its own system and we have heard names like HongMeng OS, Ark OS, Oak OS, etc.

However, the company just announced its “Harmony OS”.

It can now be seen that this open-source platform is the final name for the popular HongMeng System.

After the relaxation of the US ban, many top officials of Huawei claimed that the HongMeng system is not for smartphones.

However, at the release conference, this system is for smartphones, smart speakers, computers, smartwatches, wireless earbuds, cars, and tablets.

Since being blacklisted in May by US President Donald Trump, Huawei has been rumoured to be working on its own operating system.

We've heard that it's called Hongmeng, that it's designed to work across smart devices and power Huawei's phones as an alternative to Google's Android.

On Friday Huawei revealed most of that to be true: At its Huawei Developer Conference (HDC), it made its new operating system official: HarmonyOS.

Speaking at HDC, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group Richard Yu said HarmonyOS is ready to run on phones, but "for the consideration of partnership and ecosystem" Huawei won't be using it on phones just yet.

Yu did say, though, that if the company isn't able to use Google's Android operating system, HarmonyOS is ready to go.

He also revealed that HarmonyOS, like Android, will be open source.

The augmented reality walking directions feature in Google Maps is about to be made available on more devices.

Google has announced its Live View AR walking mode will come to Android phones that support ARCore, and iPhone models that support ARKit this week.

The feature has been available for Pixel phones for some time, after being initially announced during Google I/O in 2018.

Google is quick to point out the feature is still in beta, pre-warning those who try it that it may not operate as faultlessly as using Google Maps normally; but don’t let that put you off giving it a spin.

Live View uses the camera on your phone so you can see the world around you, then overlays arrows and directional information to make finding the way to your destination easier.

ARCore is the name for Google’s augmented reality software platform, and although not every Android phone supports it, the vast majority made over the past few years will be fine.

Whether you live in a big city or are just visiting, finding a specific location can be a little difficult.

It can be easy to get turned around right when you get off the subway or train, for example, and the compass in the maps app you’re using may not offer much help.

Google’s solution is an integrated augmented reality (AR) mode for walking navigation, to help point the way.

The company first announced the feature at Google I/O 2018, and it’s finally making its way to the Maps app.

AR Mode was initially exclusive to Google’s Pixel phones — including the Pixel 3a — but the company has now made it available for any Android phone that supports ARCore and any iPhone that supports ARKit.

The feature is still in beta.

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Google has finally rolled out its Augmented Reality (AR) navigation feature for Google Maps for Android and Apple phones.

The feature, currently launched in beta mode was showcased at the Google I/O event last year and launched for Pixel phones at the Google I/O 2019.

The new feature is expected to make walking navigation better.

Currently, GPS pins users' location on the map, but it does not accurately determine the direction which a user is facing.

The Live View feature will make better use of a phone's built-in compass.

The software platform took centerstage at Huawei’s developer conference in China, where we learned it’s designed to offer a unified and cohesive experience across a variety of devices including tablets, wearables, computers, cars, smart screens, and other smart devices; but crucially it won’t be coming to smartphones — yet.

But work on the OS stretches back even further than that, with development having started two years ago, according to the company.

“We’re entering a day and age where people expect a holistic intelligent experience across all devices and scenarios”, said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group.

“To support this, we felt it was important to have an operating system with improved cross-platform capabilities.

We needed an OS that supports all scenarios, that can be used across a broad range of devices and platforms, and that can meet consumer demand for low latency and strong security.”

For key aspects, not for phones yet

HarmonyOS, Huawei’s new cross-device operating system, has been announced by its CEO, Richard Yu at HDC 2019, the company's Developer Conference in Dongguan, China.

For the time being though, this is a smart device operating system leading the charge alongside other unified operating systems such as Google's Fuscia.

HarmonyOS is a platform designed for a variety of devices, and is currently aimed at IoT devices such as smart displays or smart home equipment.

The full story of the Huawei ban so far

Given the political situation between the US and China and the impact it’s had on Huawei’s access to Android over the last year, it’s little wonder that Richard Yu presented a defiant, confident stance.

At the same time, Yu refrained from committing to any switches from Android just yet.

Today, Huawei's saber-rattling reached a new volume with the announcement of "HarmonyOS," Huawei's home-grown operating system.

At the "Huawei Developer Conference 2019," Huawei gave a Chinese-language presentation on HarmonyOS, which included only a vague overview of the OS and no screenshots or demos.

HarmonyOS isn't quite targeting smartphones yet, and the OS will first debut on the "Honor Smart Screen" (which sounds like an Echo Show or Google Home Hub) and Huawei TVs.

Huawei said an expansion to smartphones could happen sometime over the next three years, but for now, it wants to stick with Android.

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As for what HarmonyOS actually is, the company described it as "a microkernel-based OS, distributed OS for all scenarios."

During the Huawei Developer Conference in China on Saturday, Huawei Technologies brand Honor introduced Honor Vision, a smart TV that will be the first device to run Huawei’s newly unveiled HarmonyOS.

Honor Vision is Honor’s first smart display and it’ll arrive packing Huawei’s Honghu 818 Intelligent Display Chipset and the maker’s AI Camera NPU chipset.

According to Honor, the Honor TV will feature the company’s ‘Sharp Tech innovations,’ serving as a smart display for controlling other devices and sharing information in addition to watching television.

The model will feature a 55-inch 4K HDR display with a ‘Full-View’ design that eschews bezels on three sides of the device.

Honor says its smart display has a screen-to-body ratio of 94-percent, sporting a 0.27-inch full metal frame, diamond-pattern back panel, TÜV Rheinland Eye Comfort Mode, and a built-in light with a breathing effect.

Two different versions of Honor Vision will be launched, a standard unit with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, as well as a Pro version that bumps the storage to 32GB.

For months, rumors have circulated that Chinese tech giant Huawei was hard at work on a homegrown operating system, an increasingly necessary step toward independence after US sanctions prompted Google to sever ties.

It’s true that HarmonyOS has been built with that breadth of applications in mind.

The open-source platform is destined for smart TVs, smartwatches, and a bevy of Internet of Things doodads.

(The kernel is the core of an operating system, the hands that make the marionette dance.

Huawei touts HarmonyOS as having a “Deterministic Latency Engine,” a fancy way of saying that it can better prioritize resources when apps and functions compete over them.

While smartphones weren’t the primary focus of Huawei’s announcement, they’re clearly top of mind.

Today, Chinese manufacturing giant, Huawei, commenced its annual developer conference.

We already knew that Huawei has its own OS and we have heard names like HongMeng OS, Ark OS, Oak OS, etc.

However, when the company announced the system, it came with the name “Harmony OS”.

Speculations did not capture this name and Huawei’s CEO has explained the reason behind the name.

“HongMeng’s meaning in Chinese is something close to “opening the earth”.

The closest English word is Genesis which loosely mean “beginning”.

Huawei Technologies will first equip its self-developed operating system on new smart display products to be launched by budget brand Honor this weekend, according to people familiar with the situation.

This comes as the world’s second largest smartphone vendor continues to battle the effects of being placed on a US trade blacklist.

The long-awaited operating system, known as Hongmeng, will be introduced during the three-day Developer Conference in Dongguan starting August 9, said the people, who declined to be identified as the information is private.

On July 26, Honor president George Zhao Ming unveiled the HiSilicon “Honghu 818” intelligent chipset and smart pop-up camera for large screens at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) in Guangzhou.

The move was a warm up ahead of the official release of the smart display products in Dongguan.

Google and Microsoft, whose Android and Windows operating systems are currently used on Huawei’s laptops and tablets, have both suspended access for new Huawei devices.

Huawei kicked off its annual developer conference today, and it’s just announced HarmonyOS.

The new, open-source platform is ostensibly the final name for its Hongmeng OS.

HarmonyOS is “the first microkernel-based distributed OS for all scenarios,” consumer group CEO Richard Yu told attendees at the Huawei Developer Conference.

The new platform supports smartphones, smart speakers, computers, smartwatches, wireless earbuds, cars, and tablets.

In fact, Yu says the platform supports RAM sizes ranging from kilobytes to gigabytes.

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