back to article It may be out of sync with the US govt, but Huawei is rolling out its Harmony OS to more devices in 2020

2020 probably won’t be the year of the Linux desktop, but it’ll be the year Huawei starts aggressively rolling out its Harmony OS operating system, according to a company spokesperson. Harmony OS is a microkernel-based operating system, which will provide much of the underpinning of Huawei’s future product lineup, ranging from …

  1. IGotOut Silver badge

    Makes sense.

    For items that have no direct interface for the end user, apart from basic functionality, why bother with something you don't control.

    1. doublelayer Silver badge

      Re: Makes sense.

      It's probably helpful from a continuity perspective as well. Rather than design new platforms based on Linux or Android every time they start making a new smart television, they can stick with this and reuse some code. That is if they remember they've got that code, which has not been a hallmark of other IoT manufacturers.

      That said, I wonder how much code can profitably be shared between a smartwatch and a television. While the kernel could be copied, the smartwatch has the problems of limited processing and very limited battery life, while the television is connected directly to the mains and has an excuse for a much more powerful processor. That doesn't mean they can't use exactly the same kernel for both, but one designed for a television might put heavy pressure on a watch's battery and one designed to preserve the resources of a watch might not be as snappy as users of a television would like.

  2. bombastic bob Silver badge
    Meh

    Honor Vision

    I don't know why but this makes me think of a quote like "In Communist China, TV watches YOU..."

    1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

      Re: Honor Vision and what you may not

      I don't know why but this makes me think of a quote like "In Communist China, TV watches YOU..." ..... bombastic bob

      How difficult is it to secrete a camera inside a TV enabled to record and cast everything it sees and hears?

      And would it surprise you if you discovered it to be true, or would you just accept it as normal and a logical progression for mass population command and control?

      1. Tail Up

        Re: Honor Vision and what you may not

        3 downvotes just because of a question asked, while a possibility to answer is not taken away. Never can I understand things like this.

      2. GidaBrasti
        Angel

        Re: Honor Vision and what you may not

        IIRC Samsung SmartTVs have been doing that for a number of years. I think LG as well.

        For example: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/09/if-you-have-a-smart-tv-take-a-closer-look-at-your-privacy-settings.html and elsewhere

        Icon because it only does so with the best of intentions.

    2. Rameses Niblick the Third Kerplunk Kerplunk Whoops Where's My Thribble?

      Re: Honor Vision

      In Communist China, TV watches YOU

      As opposed to "In Corporate America (well, all of the world these days really), anything that has ever had anything to do with Google watches you, listens to you, tells its corporate masters about you, follows you around, looks over your shoulder as you browse the internet, reads your texts and emails, checks what you buy and where you bought it, notes when you turn your lights and heating on and off, watches who visits you and generally tries to turn you in to a commodity"?

      A TV that watches me and tells the Chinese? Well it can watch me try to care less than I currently do.

  3. MrGutts

    Good on them for not waiting around. Pretty sure that OS is on my watch already.

  4. deadlockvictim

    We are the dead

    I wonder if you'll be able to watch videos of Tiananmen square [1] on it, or, if doing so, lands you in a room filled with caged rats and a life thereafter drinking Victory gin.

    [1] A massive square in Beijing noted for the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong and nothing else. No, nothing at all.

    1. Robert Helpmann??
      Childcatcher

      Re: We are the dead

      I wonder if you'll be able to watch videos of Tiananmen square...

      I had a conversation with a younger (mid-30s) coworker about the subject. He had never heard of it. The reason it came up was I was there immediately prior and was talking with someone who was a student there at the time, comparing notes. Our education system has failed us massively if this sort of thing is simply ignored.

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