A logo sits illuminated outside the Huawei pavilion during the second day of the Mobile World Congress 2015 at the Fira Gran Via complex on March 3, 2015, in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Chinese telecom company Huawei is building an alternative to the Android operating system. The new operating system is expected to be launched as a "contingency measure" against the company's unfavorable terms with Google's operating system, Android.
A team of engineers, which also includes ex-Nokia engineers, is working on the development of the new mobile operating system in Scandanavia, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The development is being spearheaded by ex-Apple employee and designer Abigail Brody, who was hired by the company in October 2015.
Brody was initially hired by the company to change the look of its smartphone skin. The Huawei smartphone skin, which sits on top of Google's Android, has been long criticized by phone reviewers around the world for combining elements of the iPhone and for using the way how app icons look in Apple's iPhone.
The ex-Apple designed is expected to introduce new features in the smatphone skin with Huawei's own flair, The Information has learned. She is also expected to contribute to Huawei's secret development of its new operating system.
Huawei is expected to switch to its own version of the operating system only when Google's Android terms become untenable for the company. However, the chances of it happening in the near future is quite unlikely. But if Google decides to stop supporting Android on third-party devices, Huawei's business would be severely impacted.
Samsung also took a similar step by deploying its own Linux-based Tizen operating system on its Internet of Things hardware. The company is also expected to extend the operating system support to its mobile devices in the near future.
In addition to the development of new smartphone skin and Huawei's own version of operating system, Brody will help the company address the pain points and other glaring issues associated with the next version of EMUI, which is Huawei's Android-based user interface. The new EMUI, which is expected to release in October 2016, will be less like iOS and more like Material Design.
Recently, Huawei defeated Xiaomi and Lenovo to take the leading position among Chinese phone manufacturers. It is estimated that in 2015, the company shipped more than 108 million smartphones.
The following video takes a quick look at Huawei's P9 smartphone:
