Huawei's Mate 70 Smartphones Will Run Its New Android-Free OS (theverge.com) 23
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Huawei has announced its new Mate 70 series smartphone lineup, which will be the first offered with the company's new HarmonyOS Next operating system that doesn't rely on Google's Android services and won't run any Android apps, according to a report by Reuters. The four models of the Mate 70 also don't feature any US hardware following a half decade of US sanctions.
The Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro, Mate 70 Pro Plus, and Mate 70 RS will also be offered with Huawei's HarmonyOS 4.3, which first launched in August 2019 as an alternative to Google's Android OS and is still compatible with Android's extensive app library. Users who decide to opt for Huawei's new Android-free HarmonyOS Next will have less choice when it comes to the apps they can install. Huawei says it has "secured more than 15,000 applications for its HarmonyOS ecosystem, with plans to expand to 100,000 apps in the coming months," according to Reuters.
Starting next year, Huawei also says all the new phones and tablets it launches in 2025 will run HarmonyOS Next. [...] Huawei hasn't confirmed what processors are being used in the Mate 70 lineup, but the company has previously used chips made by China's SMIC for last year's Mate 60 series and other smartphones.
The Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro, Mate 70 Pro Plus, and Mate 70 RS will also be offered with Huawei's HarmonyOS 4.3, which first launched in August 2019 as an alternative to Google's Android OS and is still compatible with Android's extensive app library. Users who decide to opt for Huawei's new Android-free HarmonyOS Next will have less choice when it comes to the apps they can install. Huawei says it has "secured more than 15,000 applications for its HarmonyOS ecosystem, with plans to expand to 100,000 apps in the coming months," according to Reuters.
Starting next year, Huawei also says all the new phones and tablets it launches in 2025 will run HarmonyOS Next. [...] Huawei hasn't confirmed what processors are being used in the Mate 70 lineup, but the company has previously used chips made by China's SMIC for last year's Mate 60 series and other smartphones.
Dead On Arrival (Score:3)
There simply isn't room for a third mobile Platform.
If Microsoft couldn't force one into existence by sheer force of Marketing, then it is highly unlikely anyone can.
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The market for this in China is huge. Huawei sales in China have beaten Apple for the first time recently.
Previously:
America then: "Hey Chyna, communism bad. Be more capitalist."
America now: "Hey Chyna, we can't compete in the market, plus our spooks cannot backdoor your 5G equipment like we can our own. Sanctions! Tariffs!"
So what?
You can't base a Platform on only one Country.
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So what?
You can't base a Platform on only one Country.
When that "only country"has 1.4 billion people, and the Google Play Store does not operate there in the first place... then yes, you can.
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It could spread to the global south as well, which is much friendlier to China than the west. Countries hostile to the US will trust it more than Android.
It’ll go absolutely nowhere in western countries, but globally it could grab a big chunk of marketshare.
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The countries might trust China more than the US, their people don't.
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The countries might trust China more than the US, their people don't.
I live in the country in the global south. People here do not care one way or the other. If the handset price is right, and your Apps like banking, e-govt and other stuff work, people will gladly buy the phones.
Re: Dead On Arrival (Score:3)
Nah, this is still probably the open source Android core OS, with google app store, and other services removed and replaced with Huavei App store, and non-google services. The app store will feature the same android apps and will install the same apks that everyone is used to. To say "this is not android" is a exageration.
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Nah, this is still probably the open source Android core OS, with google app store, and other services removed and replaced with Huavei App store, and non-google services. The app store will feature the same android apps and will install the same apks that everyone is used to. To say "this is not android" is a exageration.
Apparently you missed the part in TFS that stated it would not Run Android Apps.
Moron.
The quandary for MS and Google (Score:2)
Re:The quandary for MS and Google (Score:4, Interesting)
Do they risk making no apps for the Harmony OS Next and have Chinese counterparts blossom into competitors, or do they bend over backwards to accommodate the Chines government and get a foothold on the platform? The fact that FB's ban in China has not affected its overall economic goal may support the prospect of abandoning Harmony OS. This will be a very interesting development to watch.
Google does not operate in china since forever.
There, every phone maker had their App store, and the Apps in those App store were coded against AOSP. Huawei knew full well which Apps were important and which not (by vitue of owning the store).
During the "HarmonyOS is a clone of AOSP" phase, they pleaded, begged, wheeled and dealed with the makers of the most important/relevant Apps on THEIR market (currently china) to release non-AOSP versions, coded to HarmonyOS native APIs, while the AOSP part took care of the rest.
Now, in the "HarmonyOS is using the Huawei LiteOS kernel instead of AOSP" phase, the most important/relevant Apps are already there, and the less relevant developers will decide if they port or not.
Also, Huawei is open to give this tOS o other Cellphone makers (it is FOSS, by the way), and since this is not Android anymore, a vendor could very well offer the same HW with Android and HarmonyOS, depending on market.
While this will not fly in NAFTA or EUrope, it may as well work in other parts.
Android Free* (Score:2)
*Android clone
-Hopefully this time they managed to remove all the Google logos and trademark notices. The first time they claimed to have released their "fully home grown" OS they forgot to do so...
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I assume it’s not open source?
But will it get lifetime security updates? (Score:2)
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Greetings fellow Windows XP SP0 user!
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What do you actually lose from not getting updates?
If we are talking about security updates, well you lose security, as in your banking Apps, e-government Apps, or some other Apps that holds valuable personal info.
If you mean OS Updates (as in Android 13 -> 14 or iOS 17 -> 18):
Imagine you have a very important App in your smartphone. I'll use WhatsApp as an example, because it is very important in my region, but it could be anything, a banking App, or e-govt app for example, any App that is very important to you... anyway:
Peetty much every year, Whats
Re: (Score:2)
Precisely this. Whether the current version of the OS gets backports of security patches, or the OS gets upgraded to the latest version, I don't really care. But the regularity and consistency of vulnerabilities being discovered is not something to ignore, and I certainly would not be running a PC on the internet without constant security patches.
Androids biggest fail point is the fact that it can't receive security patches from a central release, so each and every device model requires time and a budge
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Slashdot hates Apple but it's the only answer. The iPhone 6S from 2015 still gets OS patches.
I guess I will buy Huawei-Free phone (Score:2)
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Google's and Apple's moat is too big
Huawei does not care about you or me. Huawei cares about china, about markets where the Google Play Store does not operate, and about emerging markets like in Africa, SE asia, parts of the middle east and africa...
I love it! (Score:2)
A brand new platform being widely deployed without real-world testing? Just think of all the new zero-days! Yay! I mean, oh no! 0;-)