Huawei releases OS source code in push for own ecosystem

SHANGHAI, China - Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Thursday said its nascent homegrown operating system could be available on smartphones early next year, as it pushes to build an alternative app ecosystem after the US barred it from using Google's Android.

The source code for HarmonyOS will be made available beginning in December to software developers who create apps for smartphones, said Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's consumer products division.

HarmonyOS is so far used only with certain products including smart TVs, in-car entertainment systems and wearable devices, not the company's smartphones.

Huawei is the number-two smartphone producer in the world after Samsung, but tech market analysis firm Canalys said Huawei surpassed the South Korean company in the virus-affected second quarter. 

Huawei is facing an intense campaign by the United States to isolate the firm, saying it poses a cybersecurity threat. Both Huawei and China's government deny the accusation.

The US has been pushing allies to shun products made by Huawei, which is also the global market leader for 5G and other telecom-network equipment.

The Trump administration has essentially barred Huawei from the US market and introduced a series of steadily escalating moves to cut off its access to the computer chips and other technology the company needs to survive.

Huawei's announcement on HarmonyOS was made at an annual software developers conference that it organises at its headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The move indicates Huawei intends to push ahead with plans to create its own ecosystem, a challenge analysts say is daunting in a world dominated by Android and Apple's iOS.

Yu, however, expressed hope that China's huge smartphone market, the world's largest, could remain a safe space and a platform for drawing global users to HarmonyOS.

"We are dedicated to introducing Chinese developers’ work to global consumers, hoping to see more TikToks in the future," said Yu, a reference to the wildly popular Chinese-owned short-form video app that also is now in Trump's crosshairs.

Yu also said overseas developers could continue to find a large market among Chinese users via HarmonyOS.

"We would like to be the bridge in between," he said.

Agence France-Presse

Users of some iPhones, iPads urged to update OS to avoid issues

MANILA—Apple said its users must update their iPhone or iPad operating system to the latest version to avoid issues with GPS location and other functions.

The company said some iPhone and iPad models introduced in 2012 and earlier will require an iOS update to maintain the accuracy of their GPS location.

"This is due to the GPS time rollover issue that began affecting GPS-enabled products from other manufacturers on April 6, 2019. Affected Apple devices are not impacted until just before 12:00 a.m. UTC on November 3, 2019," Apple said in its official website.

The software update must be done before midnight UTC on Nov. 3, or 8 a.m., Sunday, Manila time.

The updated software version number should be iOS 10.3.4 for iPhone 5 and iPad (4th generation, Wi-Fi + Cellular) and iOS 9.3.6 for iPhone 4s, iPad mini (1st generation, Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular (CDMA models only) and iPad (3rd generation, Wi-Fi + Cellular).

The issue does not affect iPod touch and any Wi-Fi only iPad models. Devices newer than those mentioned are likewise not affected by the GPS issue.

Apple said users of iPhone 5 are required to update their device's software to maintain accurate GPS location, as well as to continue using functions that rely on correct date and time, including App Store, iCloud, email, and web browsing. 

Those who will fail to update the software in their iPhone 5 would have to back-up and restore their devices using a computer, as over-the-air software and iCloud Backup will not work beyond said date.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huawei launches first product with own operating system

DONGGUAN, China - Chinese telecom giant Huawei, which has been caught in the crossfires of the Washington-Beijing trade war, on Saturday unveiled a new smart television, the first product to use its own operating system.

The television will be available from Thursday in China and marks the first use of HarmonyOS, chief executive George Zhao said, adding that it will be marketed by its mid-range brand, Honor.

Huawei revealed its highly-anticipated HarmonyOS on Friday as an alternative operating system for phones and other smart devices in the event that looming US sanctions prevent the firm from using Android technology.

American companies are theoretically no longer allowed to sell technology products to Huawei, but a three-month exemption period -- which ends next week -- was granted by Washington before the measure came into force.

That ban could stop the tech giant from getting hold of key hardware and software, including smartphone chips and elements of the Google Android operating system, which runs the vast majority of smartphones in the world, including Huawei's.

Huawei -- considered the world leader in fast fifth-generation or 5G equipment and the world's number two smartphone producer -- has been blacklisted by US President Donald Trump amid suspicions it provides a backdoor for Chinese intelligence services, which the firm denies.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Google I/O

The most used search engine on the internet is all in on the upcoming conference that they have been conducting in a few days time named as the Google I/O.
The Google I/O conference is pretty overmuch important for Google as well as many another companies as the famous search engine administration is all set to announce some of the most important breakthroughs within this Google I/O conference.

The main matter that will be announced as per to the speculations roaming in about the whole of the internet is all about the brand new Operating system designed by Google named as the Android for the cell phones and the complete support of Adobe Flash within the new OS. The support of the Adobe Flash within the new OS stands for the fact that Flash is the most widely used animation as well as content delivery system on the internet that we know of at this very moment in time, and

the Android powered smart phones will as well have the full flash capabilities tuned into their phones so that they can view the web on their cells as they actually view it on their computers.


Source: Google I/O