Honor Smart TV, and not Huawei‘s Mate 30 smartphone, could be the first device to launch with Harmony OS. The Chinese tech giant is expected to launch Harmony OS as its homegrown operating system next month. The operating system is believed to be called as HongMeng OS in China. The company has also trademarked Ark OS and the final name is not known yet. Huawei is expected to announce the OS at its developer conference in China next month. Since Honor’s Smart TV is planned to debut in August, insiders say it will be the first to run Harmony OS.
The first model is said to arrive with a 55-inch screen. With Harmony OS, the smart TV is said to work as a hub for Huawei’s smart home system in addition to being an entertainment device. According to Yicai Global, the operating system will bring added functionality to Chinese smart TV users. With users moving away from the big screen and focusing on their phones, Huawei thinks that Harmony OS can help win back the audience. The number of people watching TV in China has declined significantly in the past few years.
Zhao Ming, President of the Honor brand, told local media that the company can win back customers. Ming hopes that Huawei’s experience with building smartphones can be leveraged to make a better TV. He did not confirm the name of the operating system, but it could be the Harmony OS. Huawei has been building its own operating system since 2012. While it was being built as a contingency effort, the operating system has risen to prominence now.
After US placed Huawei in an entity list, the company was cut-off from getting software or hardware from the US. While Trump has reversed the ban, the company could lose access to Google’s Android anytime. Harmony OS (or HongMeng OS) is expected to fill the gap in case it loses access. The leaks so far claim that HongMeng OS is compatible with Android applications. Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei recently told that HongMeng OS is faster than Android and macOS.
