Huawei may have a backup OS in case it has to drop Android
It'd be hard to blame Huawei executives if they're feeling very nervous lately. The US has created havoc for ZTE by renewing an export ban over trade violations, potentially depriving it of its Android license and leaving it without a platform. How would Huawei avoid a similar fate? Simple: it would use its own operating system instead. South China Morning Post sources have claimed that Huawei has been developing its own mobile operating system (there are reportedly tablet and PC equivalents) ever since it and ZTE faced an American investigation in 2012. It's considered an investment for "worst-case scenarios," the insiders said.
The company hasn't released this OS because it isn't up to Android's level of quality and app support, the sources added.
Huawei hasn't confirmed or denied the software's existence, saying only that it "has no plans" to launch an in-house OS in the "foreseeable future" -- if there is one, there's no rush to use it. There was a purported meeting leak in 2012 that referenced a new platform.
See also: ZTE and the Unknown Unknowns
Related: U.S. Intelligence Agency Heads Warn Against Using Huawei and ZTE Products
Huawei CEO Still Committed to the U.S. Market
Related Stories
Intelligence agency heads have warned against using Huawei and ZTE products and services:
The heads of six major US intelligence agencies have warned that American citizens shouldn't use products and services made by Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE. According to a report from CNBC, the intelligence chiefs made the recommendation during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday. The group included the heads of the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the director of national intelligence.
During his testimony, FBI Director Chris Wray said the the government was "deeply concerned about the risks of allowing any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments that don't share our values to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks." He added that this would provide "the capacity to maliciously modify or steal information. And it provides the capacity to conduct undetected espionage."
These warnings are nothing new. The US intelligence community has long been wary of Huawei, which was founded by a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army and has been described by US politicians as "effectively an arm of the Chinese government." This caution led to a ban on Huawei bidding for US government contracts in 2014, and it's now causing problems for the company's push into consumer electronics.
Verizon and AT&T recently cancelled plans to sell Huawei's Mate 10 Pro smartphone.
Don't use a Huawei phone because it's too Chinese. Don't use an Apple phone because strong encryption is not "responsible encryption". Which phone is just right for the FBI?
Previously: U.S. Lawmakers Urge AT&T to Cut Ties With Huawei
Related: FBI Director Christopher Wray Keeps War on Encryption Alive
U.S. Government Reportedly Wants to Build a 5G Network to Thwart Chinese Spying
Huawei's consumer business group CEO Richard Yu is not giving up on selling smartphones and other devices in the U.S., despite warnings against the company made by U.S. government officials and a lack of support from retailers. The company recently released a new flagship smartphone, the Huawei P20 Pro:
"We are committed to the US market and to earning the trust of US consumers by staying focused on delivering world-class products and innovation," Yu told CNET in an email. "We would never compromise that trust."
The comments mark a defiant response to the vague warnings made by US officials that have effectively crippled Huawei's ability to get its phones in front of consumers. In January, AT&T pulled out of a landmark plan to sell the Mate 10 Pro, an important high-end Huawei phone. Verizon reportedly also scuttled a deal to carry the device based on political pressure. CNET was also first to report that Best Buy, the US' largest electronics retailer, dropped Huawei phones from its roster.
[...] "The security risk concerns are based on groundless suspicions and are quite frankly unfair," Yu said. "We welcome an open and transparent discussion if it is based on facts." [...] "We work with 46 of the 50 global operators," Yu told CNET, "And have maintained a very strong security record because security is one of our top priorities." [...] "Even without the United States market, we'll be No. 1 in the world," Yu said earlier this week.
Huawei reported a 27% jump in profits in 2017, despite its struggle to establish itself in the U.S. market.
See also: Huawei P20 launch highlights the risks of U.S. paranoia over Chinese security
Huawei's P20 Pro is a hugely promising phone that will upset Americans
Previously: U.S. Lawmakers Urge AT&T to Cut Ties With Huawei
Verizon Cancels Plans to Sell Huawei Phone Due to U.S. Government Pressure
The U.S. Intelligence Community's Demonization of Huawei Remains Highly Hypocritical
Report: Google argues the Huawei ban would hurt its Android monopoly
The Trump administration would probably describe its Huawei export ban as a move that improves national security by keeping China's pet telecom company out of the US market. According to a report from The Financial Times, Google's recent discussions with the US government actually argue that the Huawei ban is bad for national security. Google is reportedly asking for an exemption from the export ban.
The argument, reportedly, is that Huawei is currently dependent on Google for its Android smartphone software, and that dependence is a good thing for the US. The Financial Times quotes "one person with knowledge of the conversations" as saying, "Google has been arguing that by stopping it from dealing with Huawei, the US risks creating two kinds of Android operating system: the genuine version and a hybrid one. The hybrid one is likely to have more bugs in it than the Google one, and so could put Huawei phones more at risk of being hacked, not least by China."
[...] Google's control over the Android ecosystem—even when devices don't use the Google apps—means there is still some level of security and updateability going into these devices. Google's first argument in that Financial Times report is that more secure devices are better for national security.
The second argument in the above quote is that a ban would "create two kinds of Android" and hurt Google's monopoly over Android. If you're a smartphone manufacturer looking for a smartphone OS, Android is the only game in town. The latest worldwide OS market share numbers from the IDC show an 86.6/13.3 percent share between Android and iOS, respectively, with "Other" clocking in at 0.0 percent market share. Taken as a whole, the US has a smartphone OS monopoly.
More secure devices (used by foreign targets for NSA hacking) are better for national security? Nice try, Google.
Previously: Huawei Working on its Own OS to Prepare for "Worst-Case Scenario" of Being Deprived of Android
Huawei Hysteria is a False Alarm, Culture Secretary Tells MPs
Google Pulls Huawei's Android License
The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google's Iron Grip On Android
Huawei Calls on U.S. to Adjust its Approach to Tackle Cybersecurity Effectively
Huawei Clarifies Android Update Situation, Commits to Android Q for Last 2 Generations
Huawei last night launched an information campaign about the status of software updates on existing devices in the face of the company's troubles with the U.S. Commerce Department.
The important news is that Huawei is confirming to and committing to continues[sic] security and Android platform updates, specifically the upcoming release of Android Q.
In general the news is no surprise as certification and approval happens several months before the actual software update. With Huawei receiving a reprieve on updates, it means in general business continues as usual for the moment being.
Huawei Announces Nova 5 & Nova Pro in China: Introduces New Kirin 810 Chipset
Today Huawei announced the brand new Nova 5 series of smartphones. The company released the new Nova 5, Nova 5 Pro and Nova 5i in China with availability later this month. The new Nova 5 and 5 Pro are particularly interesting because they now represent Huawei's lowest priced devices with OLED displays, also featuring high-end cameras and SoC options.
The new Nova 5 and Nova 5 Pro are interesting phones because they are essentially the same device, with the peculiarity of having different SoC options: The Nova 5 in particular is the first phone to now introduce the new Kirin 810 chipset. The new chip features a combination of 2x Cortex A76 CPUs at up to 2.23GHz and 6x Cortex A55's at 1.88GHz. In terms of GPU, Huawei has opted for a Mali-G52MP6 running at 820MHz. It looks like the Kirin 810 is extremely well positioned to compete against Qualcomm's Snapdragon 730 SoC which was announced just back in April.
Previously: Huawei Working on its Own OS to Prepare for "Worst-Case Scenario" of Being Deprived of Android
Google Pulls Huawei's Android License
The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google's Iron Grip On Android
Huawei Calls on U.S. to Adjust its Approach to Tackle Cybersecurity Effectively
Google Doesn't Want Huawei Ban Because It Would Result in an Android Competitor
Trump reversed course on Huawei. What happens now?
Six weeks after Huawei was blacklisted by the US government, President Donald Trump had what the Chinese telecom firm described as a "U-turn." Trump said Saturday that "US companies can sell their equipment to Huawei," allowing the transactions won't present a "great, national emergency problem."
Trump's comments at the G20 in Japan came after a widely anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jingping. The two sides met to discuss the impasse in the trade dispute, and Huawei, one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world, has become a flash point in the battle.
In May, the US Commerce Department banned sales of American-made goods to Huawei without first obtaining a license. US officials have accused the company of working to undermine US national security and foreign policy interests. Trump said Huawei was still part of the ongoing trade discussions between Washington and Beijing, but for now, he would move to resume allowing US companies to sell parts to the Chinese firm.
Also at Android Authority and Business Insider:
President Trump has said US firms can continue selling to Huawei, apparently contradicting a Commerce Department trade blacklist on the Chinese tech firm.
See also: A China-U.S. Trade Truce Could Enshrine a Global Economic Shift
Previously: New Law Bans U.S. Government from Buying Equipment from Chinese Telecom Giants ZTE and Huawei
Huawei Working on its Own OS to Prepare for "Worst-Case Scenario" of Being Deprived of Android
Google Pulls Huawei's Android License
The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google's Iron Grip On Android
Huawei Calls on U.S. to Adjust its Approach to Tackle Cybersecurity Effectively
Google Doesn't Want Huawei Ban Because It Would Result in an Android Competitor
Huawei Soldiers on, Announces Nova 5 and Kirin 810
Related: U.S. Reaches Deal to Keep China's ZTE in Business: Congressional Aide
US Hits China's ZTE with $1 Billion Penalty
(Score: 5, Interesting) by tekk on Tuesday May 01 2018, @12:23AM
I bought an Xperia X specifically to run Jolla's Sailfish OS. Real multitasking, pretty, and it's an actual Linux system (Wayland+Qt+glibc+busybox.) Runs smoothly, way lighter than Android, if you license it from Jolla you get android compatibility (I'm not sure how it works techically speaking, whether it's a reimplementation of the android APIs or just a port of the android runtime to normal Linux systems,) so they may or may not be able to use it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by KiloByte on Tuesday May 01 2018, @12:47AM
My Gemini [indiegogo.com] is finally on its way from factory to Europe; I don't plan to boot Android even once. I wonder how phone stuff will work in practice.
This one has a full-blown physical keyboard that Huawei's devices lack, but you don't need to ship an off-the-shelf distribution unmodified.
Ceterum censeo systemd esse delendam.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by drussell on Tuesday May 01 2018, @12:49AM (6 children)
Weird... The US "powers that be" are being idiots and forcing others to develop their own solutions?
I don't like Huawei or ZTE and have never purchased their hardware, nor do I intend to anytime in the near future, but if the US wants to shoot itself in the foot by alienating everyone and everything on the planet, I say... good luck and good riddance!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday May 01 2018, @12:54AM (3 children)
You're forgetting that Trade Wars™ are good, and easy to win.
(Score: 2) by Fluffeh on Tuesday May 01 2018, @01:14AM (1 child)
Right up until the point where the other side starts to react. Then they aren't so easy to win. And also not so good - but we've digressed already. What were we saying again?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2018, @06:33AM
> What were we saying again?
You may have blinked and skipped a news cycle. Mr. Zombie was sarcastically quoting some idiot. [twitter.com]
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday May 01 2018, @06:20PM
Hell yeah Trade Wars [wikipedia.org] is a good thing.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday May 01 2018, @03:50AM
It would not be the first time - see "Chinese exclusion policy of NASA" [wikipedia.org].
As results:
- the Chinese started to develop their own technologies and space programs (pushed out from ISS - develops a space station on its own [wikipedia.org]).
- China remained and established other such collaborations with Europe and Russia (for Moon and deep-space) [gbtimes.com] (to the point of Russia considering dropping out with US and focusing on China [popularmechanics.com]).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday May 01 2018, @03:56AM
Google Pixel and Pixel XL were manufactured by HTC [wikipedia.org], which... wait for it... is the westernalized name for "宏達國際電子股份有限公司". True, Taiwan is not quite mainland China... (yet. It will be unfortunate when it will be, but I think it's inevitable on long run)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mendax on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:13AM
I don't know about you but the Android operating system is a nasty beast. There may be room for another major mobile operating system. The question is would it get any traction?
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Arik on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:17AM (4 children)
Wow. Android doesn't even ship with gcc or make, and this is even *worse?*
I'm trying to imagine how that could be possible.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday May 01 2018, @04:36AM (3 children)
It's pirated Win10 Phone, duhhhh
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Funny) by Arik on Tuesday May 01 2018, @07:29AM (2 children)
Named after the facial expression of anyone trying to use it, no doubt.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by quacking duck on Tuesday May 01 2018, @03:28PM (1 child)
You really have to wonder why big organizations come up with long names without ensuring their likely abbreviations don't have bad or unintended connotations... *especially* in the "native language" of the organization.
Microsoft once released the Critical Update Notification Tool... I mean, seriously?
I'm also thinking that time the then-newly merged right-wing party in Canada called themselves the Canadian Conservative Reform Alliance. They didn't have the brains to think ahead and realize "party" would inevitably be tacked on the end, even if not part of the official name, so of course they became known as CRAP even after they quickly changed the official name.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday May 01 2018, @06:33PM
Well they had to release her. Continuing to keep her chained in the basement wasn't going to end well.
"so of course they became known as CRAP even after they quickly changed the official name."
Wouldn't that be CCRAP though? C-CRAP? CANADIAN CRAP.
I can't imagine why they weren't a big hit.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 3, Informative) by iWantToKeepAnon on Tuesday May 01 2018, @01:34PM (3 children)
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday May 01 2018, @06:00PM (1 child)
I am confused too. Android is FOSS, so it's not like the US can do anything to stop Huawei, at least not without setting groundbreaking precedents (what's to stop the US from banning export of Linux then?)
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday May 01 2018, @06:41PM
Linux was originated and developed by a Finn. The beauty of Open Source is that it's out there for everyone. Someone decides to stop developing X and market paid version Y? Just, fork the original. Sure, the US could do something Really stupid and try to block freely available software, but again that would be really stupid.
We import Linux and / or it belongs to the world and / or whatever you want to call Open Source, etc.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by toddestan on Wednesday May 02 2018, @03:23AM
It wouldn't surprise me at all if they are doing just that. Most of the development work would involve replacing things like the Google Play Store and perhaps some of the Google apps which they presumably would not have access too. It's also likely they wouldn't be able to use the Android trademark and would have to call it something else, which could be the source of the confusion.