Huawei announces HarmonyOS, an open-source platform for every device - Android Authority

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.

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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.

The Huawei CEO also noted that the platform will eventually support a range of apps, specifically noting that HTML5, Linux, and, crucially, Android apps will be compatible. “They will all be able to run on our OS in the future,” Yu says. Yu added that the ARK Compiler used in HarmonyOS app development will also support Kotlin, Java, Javascript, C, and C++.

Read: China plans to fight back if India blocks Huawei

“HarmonyOS 1.0 will be first adopted in its smart screen products, which are due to launch later this year. Over the next three years, HarmonyOS will be optimized and gradually adopted across a broader range of smart devices, including wearables, Huawei Vision, and head units for your car,” read an excerpt of an emailed press release.

What about Android?

The Huawei CEO said HarmonyOS can replace Android on its smartphones “at any time,” but reiterated its previous commitments to Google’s platform.

“If we cannot use Android in the future, then we can immediately switch to HarmonyOS,” Yu explained to attendees, adding that migrating from Android to the new platform “is not that difficult.”

The first product to use HarmonyOS will be the Honor Vision TV set, which will be launched in China tomorrow (August 10).

News of the new operating system also comes in the wake of a U.S. trade ban against the company back in May. President Donald Trump has since claimed that the ban will be partially lifted, but the U.S. Commerce Department is still banning the company.

The U.S. ban complicates Huawei’s ability to offer Android on its phones, so HarmonyOS is seen as a plan B if the trade ban affects Google’s ability to support Huawei in the future. In fact, rumors suggest that the Chinese brand is working on a Harmony OS phone for release later this year.

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https://www.androidauthority.com/huawei-harmonyos-1017511/

2019-08-09 08:38:08Z
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Huawei launches new operating system, says it can 'immediately' switch from Google Android if needed - CNBC

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer division, speaking at the Huawei Developer Conference in Dongguan, China on Aug. 9, 2019

Huawei

DONGGUAN, China — Huawei has launched its own operating system — the HongmengOS, known in English as the HarmonyOS, said the CEO of the Chinese tech giant's consumer division, Richard Yu, on Friday.

Speaking at the Huawei Developer Conference in the Chinese city of Dongguan, Yu said the operating system can be used across different devices from smartphones to smart speakers and even sensors. It's part of Huawei's play in the so-called Internet of Things, which refers to devices connected to the internet.

HarmonyOS will first be used on "smart screen products," such as televisions, later this year. Over the next three years, the operating system will be used in other devices, including wearables and car head units.

Huawei said the OS will initially launch in China with plans to expand it globally, Yu said.

The United States placed Huawei on a blacklist — or the so-called Entity List — in May, which essentially restricts some U.S. companies from selling their products to the Chinese tech giant.

Following that move, Google said it suspended business activity with Huawei. But days later, the U.S. government eased some of those restrictions, and allowed Google to work with Huawei for 90 days. That timeline is almost up.

The Chinese telecom equipment maker has previously acknowledged publicly that it had its own operating system in the works.

How HarmonyOS works

HarmonyOS is open-source, which means that other device-makers could theoretically use its operating system. Making it open-source could help the OS increase its scale and attract more developers to make apps for it. Having a large number of useful apps is important for any OS to be successful.

Yu said he thinks today's operating systems — including Android and Apple's iOS — don't cater for the huge number of different devices that will be connected to the internet.

If we cannot use it (Android) in the future, we can immediately switch to HarmonyOS.

Richard Yu

CEO of Huawei's consumer division

The aim of HarmonyOS is to create a single software that will work across devices, from smartphones and laptops that have a large amount of memory and power, down to smaller hardware such as sensors, that require a lower bandwidth solution. In this way, Huawei hopes apps can work across numerous devices.

That could ultimately help its business, as the company sells products from smart speakers to smartphones. Being able to control the experience across hardware and software could ultimately help Huawei create differentiated products. It's a recipe that has helped rival Apple find success.

'Convenient' to migrate to HarmonyOS

Yu told CNBC in May that the company's own OS could be ready for smartphones and laptops by the end of the year in China, and by mid year in 2020 for international markets.

At the time, Yu stressed that the OS would only be used for smartphones and laptops if Huawei could not get access to Google's Android or Microsoft's Windows operating systems.

Google's services are effectively blocked in China. So Huawei uses a modified version of Android in its domestic market that is stripped of Google apps. That means not having access to Google in China isn't that a big problem for China. However, if Huawei were to get banned from being able to use Android internationally, analysts said this could hurt the Chines firm's smartphone business abroad.

Yu reiterated that Huawei would prefer to use Android on its smartphones, but if it had to migrate to HarmonyOS, that would not be difficult. He said moving to the new OS would only take one or two days and it is "very convenient."

"If we cannot use it (Android) in the future, we can immediately switch to HarmonyOS," Yu said.

Neil Shah, analyst at Counterpoint Research, said the operating system is a "big opportunity" for Huawei in China to create a "unified platform" across various devices.

However, it's success in smartphones will rely heavily on whether it can get developer support. Shah said that Google services are "still more robust and sticky, which is missing here for Huawei to be adopted."

"So Huawei has the shop laid out nicely but needs better goods and services inside the shop to attract users, sell, and make them buy again and again," Shah told CNBC.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/huawei-launches-its-own-operating-system-hongmengos-or-harmonyos.html

2019-08-09 07:24:47Z
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Huawei launches new operating system, says it can 'immediately' switch from Google Android if needed - CNBC

A Huawei logo displayed at a retail store in Beijing.

Fred Dufour | AFP | Getty Images

DONGGUAN, China — Huawei has launched its own operating system — the HongmengOS, known in English as the HarmonyOS, said the CEO of the Chinese tech giant's consumer division, Richard Yu, on Friday.

Speaking at the Huawei Developer Conference in the Chinese city of Dongguan, Yu said the operating system can be used across different devices from smartphones to smart speakers and even sensors. It's part of Huawei's play in the so-called Internet of Things, which refers to devices connected to the internet.

HarmonyOS will first be used on "smart screen products," such as televisions, later this year. Over the next three years, the operating system will be used in other devices, including wearables and car head units.

Huawei said the OS will initially launch in China with plans to expand it globally.

The United States placed Huawei on a blacklist — or the so-called Entity List — in May, which essentially restricts some U.S. companies from selling their products to the Chinese tech giant.

Following that move, Google said it suspended business activity with Huawei. But days later, the U.S. government eased some of those restrictions, and allowed Google to work with Huawei for 90 days. That timeline is almost up.

At the G-20 summit in Osaka in June, President Donald Trump said he would allow American companies to sell products to Huawei where national security is not compromised. But the exact details remain unclear.

The Chinese telecom equipment maker acknowledged publicly that it had its own operating system in the works. Yu told CNBC in May that the company's own OS could be ready for smartphones and laptops by the end of the year in China, and by mid year in 2020 for international markets.

At the time, Yu stressed that the OS would only be used for smartphones and laptops if Huawei could not get access to Google's Android or Microsoft's Windows operating systems.

Google's services are effectively blocked in China. So Huawei uses a modified version of Android in its domestic market that is stripped of Google apps. That means not having access to Google in China isn't that a big problem for China. However, if Huawei were to get banned from being able to use Android internationally, analysts said this could hurt the Chines firm's smartphone business abroad.

Yu reiterated that Huawei would prefer to use Android on its smartphones, but if it had to migrate to HarmonyOS, that would not be difficult. He said moving to the new OS would only take one or two days and it is "very convenient."

"If we cannot use it (Android) in the future, we can immediately switch to HarmonyOS," Yu said.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/huawei-launches-its-own-operating-system-hongmengos-or-harmonyos.html

2019-08-09 07:07:15Z
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Google Maps AR Navigation comes to iPhones and Android devices - Ars Technica

• Google Maps AR, in action.

  The Wall Street Journal

• A gif of how it works.

  Google

• It's a camera feed with 3D navigation arrows positioned in the real world.

  The Wall Street Journal

• The camera feed actually helps with your precise location and orientation. Google calls the system "VPS" or "Visual Positioning System."

  The Wall Street Journal

• When you reach your destination, you'll still see a big red pin.

  The Wall Street Journal

• Google doesn't want you staring at the phone all the time. You can also see the "alpha" label in the corner.

  The Wall Street Journal

• At one point in the video a fun animation plays while Google determines your location.

  The Wall Street Journal

• Another arrow shot.

  The Wall Street Journal

Google Maps is finally rolling out its augmented reality walking navigation to a wider audience. The feature was announced at Google I/O 2018 (yes, '18), entered private testing in February, and launched for Pixel phones at Google I/O 2019. Now, regular people will have access to AR navigation, as the feature is launching in beta on Android devices and iPhones.

The AR navigation feature is called "Live View," and it's meant to help kick off your walking navigation. GPS is great for pinning your location on a map, but nothing about GPS determines which direction you are facing. To help with this, phones have built-in compasses, which are supposed to nail down your heading, but mobile compasses, especially in Android phones, kind of suck. Compasses work by detecting the Earth's magnetic field, and while that is fine when you have a regular analog compass, building a compass into a smartphone means surrounding it with electronics and several actual magnets, which can make an accurate reading tough to obtain. When you're walking out of the Starbucks and just want to know if your first step is to the left or right, watching your compass helplessly spin around in a circle is not helpful.

So Google Maps Live View throws all that compass stuff out the window and instead handles directional heading with cameras and sensors. Google calls the system "VPS," or "Visual Positioning System." Your phone's GPS narrows down your location, you point your camera at the world, and Google matches the camera footage to the plethora of visual data it has from things like Street View. This gives VPS your position and heading in 3D space, assuming Google has the data for your location. And that makes it a lot more accurate than a compass.

Since you're firing up the camera anyway, you might as well use it to display a super-cool augmented reality interface. Google overlays the camera feed on top of a map and draws directional arrows in the camera feed. Early experiments had you follow a virtual character around, but sadly there's no guide mode in the shipping version.

Google says the new Maps feature is rolling out to "Android and iOS devices that support ARCore and ARKit."

Listing image by The Wall Street Journal

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https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/08/google-maps-ar-navigation-comes-to-iphones-and-android-devices/

2019-08-08 16:37:00Z
52780347971548

Samsung unveils Galaxy Note 10, Note 10 Plus - CBS News

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYrp988r4YM

2019-08-08 14:37:12Z
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Samsung Announces Always-Connected Galaxy Book S Laptop with Snapdragon 8cx - AnandTech

Samsung has introduced its new always-connected PC based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform and featuring Microsoft’s Windows 10 OS. This time around the company went with the Snapdragon 8cx SoC, a clamshell form-factor, and a 13.3-inch display, emphasizing that its Arm-powered computers compete against mainstream x86-based laptops in terms of performance and capabilities. Like other Snapdragon-based Windows machines, Samsung is aiming for long battery lifetimes here, with the new Galaxy Book S rated to work for up to 23 hours on a single charge.

The Samsung Galaxy Book S is equipped with a 13.3-inch Full-HD LCD featuring a 10-point multi touch system and a 16:9 aspect ratio. By contrast, last year’s Galaxy Book2 used a 12-inch Super AMOLED display featuring a 2160×1440 resolution and a 3:2 aspect ratio. Unlike last year’s mobile PC, the new one is a laptop, not a convertible, so it cannot be used as a tablet. Considering that we are talking about an aluminum machine with a 13.3-inch display that weighs 0.96 kilograms, the clamshell form-factor makes more sense for mainstream users. Furthermore, the overall construction looks very solid.

The new Galaxy Book S laptop is expected to be considerably faster than its predecessor as it is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx processor with eight general purpose cores (four Cortex-A76 and four Cortex-A55-class cores), a 10 MB L3 cache, the Adreno 680 GPU, and an eight-channel LPDDR4X-4266 memory controller. The SoC is accompanied by 8 GB of RAM as well as 256 GB or 512 GB of NAND flash storage (expandable with a microSD card).

When it comes to wireless connectivity, the Samsung Galaxy Book S includes Snapdragon X20 LTE modem (Cat 18, 5CA, 4x4 MIMO, depending on the market and operator), 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.0. The PC’s wired connectivity department is limited to USB Type-C that is used for data and charging, a microSD card slot, yet we do not know whether it has a 3.5-mm audio connector.

As far as imaging and multimedia capabilities are concerned, the Galaxy Book S has a 720p webcam, a built-in microphone as well as Dolby Atmos-badged stereo speakers co-designed with AKG. The laptop also has a Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint reader.

Apart from performance, one of the key improvements of the Galaxy Book S compared to its predecessor is its longer battery life. The PC comes with a 42 Wh battery that enables it to work for up to 23 hours (based on tests conducted by Samsung), up from 20 hours for last year's device.

Specifications of the Galaxy Book S
		General Specifications
Display		13.3-inch, 1920×1080 165 PPI
CPU		Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 4 x Kryo 495 Gold at 2.84 GHz 4 x Kryo 495 Silver at 1.8 GHz 10 MB L3
Graphics		Adreno 680 GB
RAM		8 GB LPDDR4X
Storage		256 - 512 GB
Wi-Fi		802.11ac Wi-Fi
Bluetooth		5.2
WWAN		Qualcomm X20 Gigabit LTE Cat 18, 5CA, 4x4 MIMO, up to 1.2 Gbps DL, up to 150 Mbps UL
USB	3.0	? × Type-C
Webcam		720P
Other I/O		Microphone, stereo speakers, trackpad, MicroSD card reader, etc.
Battery		42 Wh
Battery Life		23 hours
Dimensions	Width	305.2 mm
	Height	203.2 mm
	Thickness	6.2 - 11.8 mm
Weight		960 grams
Price		?

Samsung will start sales of the Galaxy Book S in two colors this Fall. Pricing of the device is currently unknown.

Related Reading:

• Samsung Unveils Galaxy Book2: 12-Inch, Snapdragon 850 with X20 LTE, 20 Hrs
• Hands-On with Industry’s First 5G Laptop: A Lenovo with Qualcomm’s 8cx SoC and X55 Modem
• Qualcomm Tech Summit, Day 3: Snapdragon 8cx, the New ACPC SoC
• Spotted: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Wafer on 7nm
• Lenovo Announces Yoga C630: The First Windows on Snapdragon 850
• Huawei Readies Windows 10 Laptop Based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 850

Source: Samsung

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https://www.anandtech.com/show/14726/samsung-announces-alwaysconnected-galaxy-book-s-laptop-with-snapdragon-8cx

2019-08-08 13:00:00Z
52780346925365

Samsung Announces Always-Connected Galaxy Book S Laptop with Snapdragon 8cx - AnandTech

Samsung has introduced its new always-connected PC based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform and featuring Microsoft’s Windows 10 OS. This time around the company went with the Snapdragon 8cx SoC, a clamshell form-factor, and a 13.3-inch display, emphasizing that its Arm-powered computers compete against mainstream x86-based laptops in terms of performance and capabilities. Like other Snapdragon-based Windows machines, Samsung is aiming for long battery lifetimes here, with the new Galaxy Book S rated to work for up to 23 hours on a single charge.

The Samsung Galaxy Book S is equipped with a 13.3-inch Full-HD LCD featuring a 10-point multi touch system and a 16:9 aspect ratio. By contrast, last year’s Galaxy Book2 used a 12-inch Super AMOLED display featuring a 2160×1440 resolution and a 3:2 aspect ratio. Unlike last year’s mobile PC, the new one is a laptop, not a convertible, so it cannot be used as a tablet. Considering that we are talking about an aluminum machine with a 13.3-inch display that weighs 0.96 kilograms, the clamshell form-factor makes more sense for mainstream users. Furthermore, the overall construction looks very solid.

The new Galaxy Book S laptop is expected to be considerably faster than its predecessor as it is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx processor with eight general purpose cores (four Cortex-A76 and four Cortex-A55-class cores), a 10 MB L3 cache, the Adreno 680 GPU, and an eight-channel LPDDR4X-4266 memory controller. The SoC is accompanied by 8 GB of RAM as well as 256 GB or 512 GB of NAND flash storage (expandable with a microSD card).

When it comes to wireless connectivity, the Samsung Galaxy Book S includes Snapdragon X20 LTE modem (Cat 18, 5CA, 4x4 MIMO, depending on the market and operator), 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.0. The PC’s wired connectivity department is limited to USB Type-C that is used for data and charging, a microSD card slot, yet we do not know whether it has a 3.5-mm audio connector.

As far as imaging and multimedia capabilities are concerned, the Galaxy Book S has a 720p webcam, a built-in microphone as well as Dolby Atmos-badged stereo speakers co-designed with AKG. The laptop also has a Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint reader.

Apart from performance, one of the key improvements of the Galaxy Book S compared to its predecessor is its longer battery life. The PC comes with a 42 Wh battery that enables it to work for up to 23 hours (based on tests conducted by Samsung), up from 20 hours for last year's device.

Specifications of the Galaxy Book S
		General Specifications
Display		13.3-inch, 1920×1080 165 PPI
CPU		Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 4 x Kryo 495 Gold at 2.84 GHz 4 x Kryo 495 Silver at 1.8 GHz 10 MB L3
Graphics		Adreno 680 GB
RAM		8 GB LPDDR4X
Storage		256 - 512 GB
Wi-Fi		802.11ac Wi-Fi
Bluetooth		5.2
WWAN		Qualcomm X20 Gigabit LTE Cat 18, 5CA, 4x4 MIMO, up to 1.2 Gbps DL, up to 150 Mbps UL
USB	3.0	? × Type-C
Webcam		720P
Other I/O		Microphone, stereo speakers, trackpad, MicroSD card reader, etc.
Battery		42 Wh
Battery Life		23 hours
Dimensions	Width	305.2 mm
	Height	203.2 mm
	Thickness	6.2 - 11.8 mm
Weight		960 grams
Price		?

Samsung will start sales of the Galaxy Book S in two colors this Fall. Pricing of the device is currently unknown.

Related Reading:

• Samsung Unveils Galaxy Book2: 12-Inch, Snapdragon 850 with X20 LTE, 20 Hrs
• Hands-On with Industry’s First 5G Laptop: A Lenovo with Qualcomm’s 8cx SoC and X55 Modem
• Qualcomm Tech Summit, Day 3: Snapdragon 8cx, the New ACPC SoC
• Spotted: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Wafer on 7nm
• Lenovo Announces Yoga C630: The First Windows on Snapdragon 850
• Huawei Readies Windows 10 Laptop Based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 850

Source: Samsung

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https://www.anandtech.com/show/14726/samsung-announces-alwaysconnected-galaxy-book-s-laptop-with-snapdragon-8cx

2019-08-08 12:07:33Z
52780346925365