“Huawei, the second largest Android phone maker in market share behind Samsung, is ‘secretly developing an alternative mobile operating system’ in a bid to hedge its bets against Google’s increasingly assertive control over Android,” Daniel Eran Dilger reports for AppleInsider.
“China’s Huawei (pronounced ‘wah-way’) is working to embellish its current Android ‘skin’ appearance the on phones it sells to appear less like a copy of iOS, but the company is also working on an OS of its own as a contingency measure, reported Amir Efrati of The Information,” Dilger reports. “While achieving high volume sales in China, Huawei has struggled to gain a footing in the US and other markets. Huawei ‘hasn’t yet been able to strike a deal for a top U.S. wireless carrier to sell one of its flagship phones,’ the report noted. ‘That’s probably because the U.S. government forbids those same carriers from using Huawei telecom equipment due to fears of Chinese government snooping.'”
Dilger reports, “Samsung has struggled to develop its own OS software, initially serving as a licensee for Nokia’s Symbian, then adopting Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and toying with Linux, including the Bada and Tizen projects.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The Android slaves are getting restless.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dominick P.” for the heads up.]
iOS 10 beta with a skin, lol. China is one of the few countries that could pull off a completely new OS, but they won’t..they will “borrow” IP then claim it as their own.
Then sue Apple for infringement and banning IPhone sales in China.
Developing a new operating system is one hell of a challenge and many have failed to rise to that challenge, but that’s not to say that it is impossible.
If Huawei pull this off, they could end up vertically integrating their own hardware and software ( does that sound familiar ? ). They also have the advantage of seeing how others have approached it and also how some have failed.
So long as they are not copying Apple’s techniques and products too closely, I’m all for it. I don’t think that Apple either needs competition to spur further improvements, or needs to fear competition. Android on the other hand has rather a lot to lose if another operating system gains traction.
Much depends on what Huawei sees as it’s objective. If it wants to take a shot at the premium end of the market, then the bar is already very high indeed, but if it wants to flood the market with cheap handsets using it’s own operating system, then that market isn’t particularly concerned about performance or sophistication and a few rough edges may be acceptable in exchange for a low selling price.
I applaud Huawei on this. Google is too self-centered to make a safe OS. If you don’t believe it, look at the Slashdot articles on the latest Android security hole today allowing rooting of 90% of Android devices, where a majority of Android devices are never updated.
Though it is a mega-effort to “roll your own” OS, the Linux open source code goes a long way to allowing a company to start with a position that is very advanced.
Huawei’s effort will assure that Apple doesn’t let its guard down.
You think Huawei is going to make a safe OS!? It will come preloaded with spyware.
https://youtu.be/KeFoGo3N_4g They are smart. They look for things.
Huawei, being Chinese, is incredibly unlikely to come up with a decent operating system for mobile devices. And if they ripped off someone else’s (the likely scenario) they’d be stuck with having no apps. They might as well ripoff Windows Mobile, for all the good it will do them.
Reminder:
Samsung attempted the same thing and came up with Tizen OS. That went well. 😆😂