Huawei working on its Android alternative as relation with the US deteriorate

Huawei in the past six months seen a rough patch in its relation with the US. And now with threats that it won't be able to use Android, the company has reportedly started developing its own alternative to Android, reports South China Morning post.

Huawei hasn't lost its license to use Android, but another Chinese smartphone maker ZTE has almost lost it. This is forcing other firms in China to come forward and built something of their own, considering the growing tension between China and the US.

Android is currently the most used mobile platform across the world, but other companies have been working to develop their own operating systems for the past few years. Samsung has shelled out a good amount of cash and R&D on its Tizen platform, though it hasn't appeared on all Samsung phones, and now reports suggest Huawei is on a similar path.

Huawei's OS hasn't been released yet, and while there's no known reason why, it's most likely that the platform lacks third-party support, or may be it's just not mature enough compared to Android or iOS. This isn't the first time Huawei has been reported to be working on its own OS, as it actually began working on it back in 2012, but was shelved soon after.

Huawei has seen a few tough months in the US and the Trump Administration has evidently made it tougher for firms like Huawei to make profits in the US. With ZTE possibly losing its license to use Android, it wouldn't come as a surprise if Huawei loses it too. Huawei is yet to announce the existence of the new OS, and it likely won't until it's ready for use.

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Moreover, Huawei is also said to be working on an AI assistant. The company already has a voice assistant for its products in China, but now it seeks to push the limits and develop a new one that will 'provide emotional interactions.' Huawei vice president of software engineering, Felix Zhang, told CNBC about the upcoming product. "We want to provide emotional interactions. We think that, in the future, all our end users wish [that] they can interact with the system in the emotional mode. This is the direction we see in the long run."