HarmonyOS NEXT will soon be officially commercialized to open up a safe and intelligent all-scenario smart life
2024-08-17
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Cover News reporter Meng Mei and Ouyang Hongyu
At the Huawei Developer Conference in June this year, Huawei announced that HarmonyOS NEXT will be launched in Beta for developers and pioneer users, and will be officially commercialized in the fourth quarter of this year. It is understood that more than 5,000 commonly used applications have started the development of Hongmeng native applications, of which more than 1,500 have been launched. At the same time, partner applications from 18 vertical fields and Huawei's own applications such as Huawei Video and Huawei Music have also been fully renewed based on the full-scenario, native security, and native intelligence features of HarmonyOS NEXT.
Starting from scratch, to over a thousand apps, native security, Xiaoyi intelligent body... For an operating system, this is not just an upgrade, but a leap, bringing HarmonyOS from "usable" to a new era of "easy to use". Now, with the arrival of HarmonyOS NEXT, users no longer have to hesitate between iOS and Android operating systems, because Hongmeng has provided a sufficiently differentiated and excellent experience.
During the HarmonyOS NEXT Beta Media Tasting Event in Chengdu held recently, Huawei demonstrated to the media the innovative features of HarmonyOS NEXT and the new experience of Hongmeng native applications, allowing us to witness the many innovative achievements of HarmonyOS NEXT in full scenarios, native intelligence, native security and other aspects.
It is a mobile OS and also a full-scenario system
One-time development for all scenarios
With the adaptation of a large number of apps, the HarmonyOS ecosystem is gradually growing. These apps are based on HarmonyOS NEXT's "different devices, one system", achieving one-time development and multi-terminal deployment, and enabling a unified experience on different terminal devices.
Unlike iOS and Android, which separate the operating systems of mobile phones, tablets and other devices, HarmonyOS NEXT achieves seamless interconnection across devices, making it easier than ever for users to switch between multiple devices.
This innate cross-terminal gene allows HarmonyOS NEXT to share a system on mobile phones, tablets, smart screens and other devices. This means that different types of terminal devices have created a unified ecosystem in the same system, which brings great convenience to developers.
Taking iPhone and iPad as examples, when developers upgrade and iterate the App, they need to consider the differences in functions, display ratios, etc. between different devices, and then make fine adjustments during software maintenance; in the Android system, targeted maintenance is required for products from different manufacturers.
On HarmonyOS NEXT, developers only need to maintain one version of the HarmonyOS native application to provide consumers with a convenient and consistent experience on different devices.
Applications developed in this way run and respond faster than those developed in traditional ways on Android and iOS. It is estimated that due to the comprehensive upgrade of the distributed soft bus of HarmonyOS NEXT, the connection speed is increased by 3 times with lower power consumption, and up to 4 devices can be connected at the same time. The connection interaction between multiple devices has also been optimized, and they can automatically sense when they are close to each other, and there is tacit understanding, making the interaction simpler and more natural.
In addition to Hongmeng native applications, developers can also quickly access the Hongmeng ecosystem by developing meta-services. It is reported that based on the low-code capabilities of calling the meta-service API set and dragging the graphical interface, developers can complete meta-service development in as fast as one day. Not only that, as a carrier of service distribution under the Hongmeng ecosystem, meta-services can also provide users with continuous, intelligent, and real-time services through capabilities such as intent frameworks and AI big models. In this process, meta-services will also bring unlimited business opportunities to partners.
Equip your phone with a “brain”
Transforming OS with native intelligence
When you touch the screen, the phone not only responds to commands, but also predicts your needs... This is not a plot in a science fiction novel, but an experience innovation brought about by a phone equipped with HarmonyOS NEXT.
It is reported that Huawei has combined the AI capabilities accumulated over the years with the Harmony native application ecosystem to bring the new Harmony Intelligence. HarmonyOS NEXT also integrates AI capabilities into the system for the first time to empower the ecosystem.
In the past, many operating systems of smartphones were equipped with a "voice assistant" that could quickly assist users in basic operations such as checking the weather, playing music, and making phone calls. However, after a deep experience, it was discovered that these assistants were not that smart, and some were even "dispensable".
More than a decade ago, Smartisan OS was praised by users for its humanized interactive designs such as Big Bang, Flash Capsule, and One Step. Today, in the first year of the application of big models, AI mobile phones are accelerating their implementation; HarmonyOS NEXT has also upgraded Xiaoyi to Xiaoyi Agent. Empowered by big models, AI agents can perform more complex operations, and with the support of end-cloud big model collaboration and intent framework, they can gain better scene perception, intent recognition, and user understanding capabilities, which can help users better obtain the personalized services they need.
At work, it is very common to re-edit received text messages, pictures, and even audio and video. Tests have found that when using HarmonyOS NEXT, users only need to drag the content that needs to be re-edited to the navigation bar at the bottom of the desktop to start the Xiaoyi intelligent agent to recognize and process the corresponding content. For example, setting notification information as a schedule, converting chart screenshots into Excel tables, and letting AI summarize the main points of meeting documents can all be achieved through the Xiaoyi intelligent agent.
Although there are more and more mobile phones that use "AI" as a selling point, from a practical perspective, whether consumers will pay for it depends mainly on whether the AI in the mobile phone system can really bring convenience. From a practical perspective, Xiaoyi Intelligent Body has realized functions such as image intelligence, call intelligence, document intelligence, and cross-application collaboration, greatly improving the user experience; at the same time, Huawei has fully built AI capabilities open to applications, and has jointly created ecological-level Hongmeng native intelligence with developers, allowing users to enjoy more intelligent and personalized services.
Building native security capabilities
Change management authority to management data
In the era of big data, privacy protection is also a focus of users. From the perspective of the existing system in terms of privacy and security protection, we can no longer rely on a single software to achieve information security, but need to optimize at the system level.
It is reported that under the new Star Shield security architecture, HarmonyOS NEXT has rebuilt the security system and order of the operating system, bringing a natively secure system and ecology.
Currently, operating system and software security are facing two major challenges. First, malicious threat programs are increasing year by year, from 150 million in 2022 to 160 million in 2023, which continue to threaten the software environment. Second, the risk of privacy leakage is increasing. Relevant data shows that 40% of applications have excessive permissions and 78% of users have experienced information leakage.
It can be seen that in today's environment where privacy data is frequently obtained and flows, the operating system, as the hub of the device, needs to completely innovate the underlying layer and try to avoid problems instead of "tinkering with it". Therefore, at the beginning of planning, HarmonyOS NEXT completely renewed the full-stack root technology and built native security capabilities.
iOS has always been praised by Apple fans for its "pure" software. In HarmonyOS NEXT, mobile applications are also built from the source, with strict processes and mechanisms to ensure that the applications installed and run by users are inherently safe. This means that applications and codes that have not been security-tested cannot be put on the shelves and installed, thus ensuring that the applications running in HarmonyOS NEXT are natively pure, trustworthy, traceable and reliable applications, and users no longer have to worry about harassment from viruses and malicious applications.
In terms of application management, the rules for apps on HarmonyOS NEXT to obtain privacy data have also been comprehensively reviewed, and 9 types of unreasonable permissions such as call records, text messages, phone calls, and reading the list of installed applications have been cancelled, reducing users' management costs and reducing the risk of privacy leaks from the root.
For example, when scanning a QR code with a camera to take a photo, the application can only obtain the result of the scan, and the user does not need to give permission to use the camera to take photos. The security policy formulated from the access mechanism changes the mechanism for applications to obtain private data, realizing the transition from "managing permissions" to "managing data", completely innovating the way users manage permissions and truly returning privacy control to users.
In addition, have you ever faced such a scenario at work: when a confidential document is shared with others, it may be forwarded multiple times, resulting in the risk of leaks. In HarmonyOS NEXT, you can authorize specific recipients to read the document simply by "encrypting and sharing" the document. This technological innovation from personal single-device security, multi-device security to multi-person and multi-device collaborative security is the system-level file encryption of HarmonyOS NEXT. Even if a file is shared multiple times on a mobile phone or tablet, only authorized users can open it.
As the first operating system in history that connects hardware and scenarios, supports diverse interactions and free flow, HarmonyOS NEXT does not transplant or patch the existing technical architecture, but vertically integrates from the kernel to the architecture and then to the mechanism, integrating the security mechanism into the entire operating system. This security strategy is designed for mobile smart devices that are connected to everything, and also solves consumers' problems to the greatest extent possible, allowing users to feel a native sense of security from HarmonyOS.
As a new force in the mobile OS industry
Pure-blooded Hongmeng will lead the industry to continue to move forward
Data shows that the number of Hongmeng ecosystem devices has now exceeded 900 million, covering not only various fields such as mobile phones, PCs, tablets, wearables, smart screens, and car computers, but also Hongmeng intelligent connected products and terminals in thousands of industries.
As Richard Yu, Huawei's executive director, chairman of the Device BG, and chairman of the Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, said during the Huawei Developer Conference 2024, Hongmeng has become the torrent of the times. Behind this is the huge breakthrough of HarmonyOS NEXT in all scenarios, intelligence, security, and fluency.
In terms of horizontal comparison of operating systems, it is understood that the Hongmeng kernel has surpassed the Linux kernel in terms of technology. The pure-blooded Hongmeng, which will be officially commercialized in the fourth quarter of this year, has helped improve the overall performance of the machine by 30% compared to HarmonyOS 4. This improvement is not something that can be achieved by upgrading the chip process by one or two generations.
From 0 to 1, Hongmeng has gone through the most difficult moments; from 1 to 100, the Hongmeng ecosystem is heading for prosperity. Full-scenario, native security, and native intelligence have constituted the core competitiveness of pure-blooded Hongmeng, bringing consumers an innovative full-scenario experience.
HarmonyOS NEXT will be officially commercialized soon. Then users will have the opportunity to experience the new experience brought by this revolutionary operating system. The continuous innovation of pure-blooded HarmonyOS in performance, security and intelligence will undoubtedly become a strong force in the field of mobile operating systems, leading the industry to a better future.
