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| Huawei announces Harmony update for its smartphones |
Huawei has announced that it will be using its HarmonyOS operating system on its smartphones in an upcoming update.
Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business, said the company is updating about 100 devices around the world with the new operating system, including tablets like the MatePad Pro.
In theory, this is a significant change from previous cell phones.
Previous Huawei phones used an open source version of Android with Huawei's own services.
The Huawei service has replaced Google's software and cannot be integrated into the new device due to US sanctions.
Harmony will launch on its latest flagships such as the Mate 40, P40 and Mate 30 series and on other devices later this year.
The company said: Old phones such as the Mate 9, Mate 10, P20 and P10 will receive updates in the first half of next year.
Huawei Harmony released:
The company stated that Harmony enables its phones to create a more seamless connection between different devices. This includes easier pairing with compatible headphones and speakers using a drag-and-drop interface.
Huawei said: It has also improved its support for home screen widgets. It's similar to what we saw in iOS 14 from Apple last year.
The Chinese tech giant first announced Harmony in 2019.
The first device equipped with this operating system was the Vision TV from its sub-brand Honor.
Due to the pressure of ongoing US sanctions, the brand was subsequently sold.
However, the CEO of the main company Yu Chengdong hinted at Huawei's developer conference last year that the operating system may appear on smartphones in 2021.
Although Harmony is marketed as an entirely new operating system, it is said to be sharing a lot of code with the open source Android version that it replaces.
Earlier this year, Ars Technica conducted an investigation and reported that Harmony is basically a version of Android.
In addition to mobile phones, Huawei also launched a new MatePad with Hongmeng technology and a new smartwatch Huawei Watch 3 with Hongmeng technology.