Chinese tech giant Huawei announced the official launch of HarmonyOS NEXT at a launch event on October 22. The HarmonyOS Next is the 5.0 version of Huawei's self-developed mobile operating system (OS) HarmonyOS and is the first iteration to be built independent of the Android architecture.
At the event, Huawei executive director Richard Yu revealed the latest progress of the Harmony ecosystem, stating that the HarmonyOS now has been installed in over 1 billion devices and has 6.75 million registered developers. In the first quarter of 2024, HarmonyOS surpassed Apple's iOS to take the number two spot in the Chinese mobile OS market share.
The most crucial breakthrough of HarmonyOS Next is that it is now completely independent from the Android architecture. Previous iterations of the HarmonyOS had a system base that still utilized some codes from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), so they had to be compatible with some Android applications.
Now, with HarmonyOS NEXT having its own operating kernel, programming language, AI framework, and other features that were developed without using the Linux kernel or AOSP, Huawei can develop a fully domestic ecosystem. With deep integration of software, hardware, and cloud, the Huawei Ark Engine was able to have a full upgrade, reducing memory by 1.5G, improving overall performance by 20%, and increasing battery life by nearly an hour.
Richard Yu stated at the event that Huawei worked with more than 10,000 domestic partners to develop HarmonyOS NEXT apps. Media reports stated that there are more than 15,000 apps and meta-services launched on HarmonyOS NEXT, with general office apps covering more than 38 million enterprises across the country. Moreover, these apps are being upgraded at a rapid pace, with some receiving new updates daily.
This is the first time Huawei has integrated its proprietary AI into its operating system. Huawei's Celia virtual assistant, powered by PanguLM, has been significantly enhanced with improved perception and reasoning abilities. It now boasts a task success rate of over 90% and has a knowledge volume exceeding one trillion.
Besides HarmonyOS NEXT, Huawei also revealed several new devices, including the Huawei Nova 13 smartphone series and the Huawei Watch Ultimate.
