Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei officially launched the 2.0 version of its self-developed operating system (OS) on Wednesday night, the HarmonyOS. The move paved the way for the Chinese firm to challenge Google’s and Apple’s role in current and future OS ecosystems.
Among the major strong points, the HarmonyOS, with a highly scalable (可扩展的) platform, can be applied to various devices, including smart phones, computers, and other electronic devices, the company said.
Analysts said the OS will do a lot to promote Huawei’s change into being a software service provider. Huawei’s founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei said that the company was focusing on software because future development in the field was basically “out of US control and we will have greater independence and autonomy (自主权)”. Ren called on the company’s staff to “dare to lead the world” in software.
“The success of a software system will always have to rely on hardware (硬件), but nowadays, Huawei doesn’t have enough hardware to support its software ambitions — that’s the most difficult part,” said Jiang Junmu, chief writer at a news website. Once as the world’s largest smart phone maker, Huawei’s national smart phone market share (份额) has continued to drop in recent months. Liang Zhenpeng, an industry analyst, said that as an OS designed for the Internet of Things(IoT) era, the HarmonyOS may need more time and equipment to test than the OS for smart phones, and that will take at least two to three years.
Moreover, Liang noted that an ecosystem will always be the decisive factor for the success of an operating system. “Does the HarmonyOS have enough applications that can attract consumers to update to the OS? That’s a question,” Liang said. So far, more than 300 application and service partners, 1000 hardware partners, and 500,000 developers have joined in the set-up of the Harmony ecosystem.
12. What advantage does the HarmonyOS have over other operating systems?
A.It provides users with a secure experience. |
B.It operates faster than Google system. |
C.It works on a wide range of equipment. |
D.It has different versions in different countries. |
13. What can you infer from Ren Zhengfei’s words?
A.Huawei’s change is challenging. |
B.Huawei is seeking a new software service provider. |
C.The company’s staff need to improve their skills. |
D.Huawei will break its dependence on the US. |
14. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?
A.The difficulties in promoting the HarmonyOS. |
B.The success of developing the HarmonyOS. |
C.Smartphone sales in the national market. |
D.The future software ambition of Huawei. |
15. What does Liang expect partners and developers to do?
A.Create enough applications. |
B.Update the original devices. |
C.Cooperate with experts in various fields. |
D.Build the HarmonyOS ecosystem. |