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For over two years, a small group of stealthy engineers within Google has been working on software that, they hope, will eventually replace Android, the world's leading mobile operating system. . As the team grows, it will have to overcome a fierce internal debate about how the software works.
The project, known as Fuchsia, was created from scratch to go beyond the limits of Android. . It is designed to better take into account voice interactions and frequent security updates and to look the same on a range of devices, from laptops to small sensors connected to the Internet. Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, has steered his company in this direction towards artificial intelligence services that reach consumers around the world. However, its main operating systems, which depend on many hardware partners, have not followed.
Here's what Fuchsia already knows: Alphabet & # 39; s Google has started posting code online in 2016, and the company has left developers open-source code bits. Google has also begun experimenting with applications for the system, such as interactive screens and voice commands for YouTube.
But members of the Fuchsia team have discussed a bigger plan that is reported here for the first time: operating system capable of handling all the internal gadgets of the game. business, like Pixel phones and smart speakers, as well as third-party devices that now depend on Android and another system called Chrome OS, according to people familiar with conversations.
According to one of the people, the engineers said they wanted to integrate Fuchsia on connected home appliances, such as voice-activated speakers, within three years, then move on to larger machines such as laptops. In the end the team aspires to swap their system for Android, the software that powers more than three quarters of the world's smartphones, said the people, who asked not to be identified discuss internal issues. The goal is for this to happen in the next half-decade, said one person.
But Pichai and Hiroshi Lockheimer, his assistant who manages Android and Chrome, have not yet signed a roadmap for Fuchsia. Leaders need to move cautiously on any redesign plan for Android as the software supports dozens of hardware partners, thousands of developers, and billions of dollars in mobile advertising.
Android is also subject to regulatory controls and legal wrangling, which means that any changes to the software will be closely monitored. EU regulators on Wednesday imposed a $ 5 billion record antitrust fine on the company for using mobile software to expand its services. And within Google, Fuchsia is already facing infighting over how it should be designed and deployed, especially in terms of protecting privacy.
Fuchsia is an example of his free approach to creative products. "Google views these open source experiences as an investment in innovation," said a company spokesperson in an email. In 2015, Lockheimer wrote a post saying that the company was not planning to replace its Chrome operating system with Android, a position the Google spokesman still claims to apply today.
Yet, Fuchsia is more than a basement effort. Pichai expressed support for the project internally, said people familiar with the effort. Fuchsia today has more than 100 people, including the revered software staff such as Matias Duarte, a design executive who has led several pioneering projects at Google and elsewhere. Duarte works only part-time on the project, said a person familiar with the company.
The initiative aims to better compete with the main competitor of Google, the iPhone manufacturer Apple. While the 85% Android market share crushes the 15% of Apple, Apple's operating system has a head start in areas such as performance, privacy and security, and integration on Apple devices. Another key benefit: Most iPhone users quickly update their phones when Apple releases a new version of the operating system, while less than 10% of Android users do it. This means that the latest Google services only reach a fraction of Android users.
"Quitting Android could give Google the ability to press the reset button for any mistakes they might have made ten years ago," says Grossman. of the courier application entrust. "They could regain some of the power that they gave to the device manufacturers and the telecom operators."
Google is relying on phone manufacturers and wireless network operators to push regular updates of the operating system and security to Android devices. These partners do not have as much incentive as Google to distribute the latest software: phone manufacturers prefer to sell new hardware, and telecom companies have other priorities. Google has tried to solve this problem head on recently. In May, the company changed its agreement with handset manufacturers by requiring them to update devices with security patches several times a year.
There are signs that Fuchsia is incorporating even more stringent security measures. In the software code posted online, engineers have embedded encrypted user keys into the system, a privacy tool that ensures the protection of information at every software update. They also recruited expertise. Nick Kralevich, a senior security engineer for Android for nine years, has moved to work on Fuchsia in January, according to his LinkedIn profile. In the code pages, Googlers working on Fuchsia specify that the software is not finalized.
At the present time, Android, which was developed when phones were just starting to use touch screens, was not designed to handle the type of voice. compatible applications that Google sees as the future of computing. So Fuchsia is developed with voice interaction at the base. The design is also more flexible in that it adapts to several screen sizes – an attempt to meet new products, such as TVs, cars and refrigerators, where Google is expanding its software.
Despite the pedigree of engineering and support for Fuchsia, Google has not yet unveiled a real use of the software. Some developers have played with the operating system, but none has defined it as the foundation of an application or service on a popular commercial device. A recent code posted on a Google developer site suggests that a YouTube app is running, but no official Google service is running on the system.
The company must also settle some internal quarrels. Some of the principles that Fuchsia's creators pursue have already come up against Google's business model. Google's advertising activities are based on the ability to target users based on their location and business, and the new privacy features of Fuchsia, if implemented, paralyze this important activity. There has already been at least one conflict between advertising and engineering about the security and privacy features of the operating system, according to a person familiar with the subject. The advertising team has prevailed, said this person.
Getting away from Android and Chrome could carry other risks for Google. A huge contingent of independent developers and device manufacturers, such as Samsung, Huawei and LG, depends on the operating system. Chrome OS is also an important software that runs web-based laptops used by many schools and other organizations. Google can not just stop supporting Android and Chrome OS and expect this huge ecosystem to move quickly to Fuchsia.
Another risk comes from the foundation of the new operating system. Android and Chrome OS are built on Linux. The "Linux kernel" is the core of Google's current operating systems, managing instructions between the hardware and software of smartphones and other devices. Fuchsia uses a different kernel, called Zircon, which avoids many older technologies in Linux. This could make some existing devices incompatible.
Switching from Linux, however, could have benefits for Google. The use of technology by Android, which is distributed by Oracle, is at the center of a long and bitter lawsuit between the two companies. No longer using Linux would help Google prove that its software does not depend on Oracle.
Another advantage for Fuchsia: the project offers a technical challenge to several veteran open-source pirates of the company. As often happens, Google has put long-standing staff on this complicated, long-term effort rather than risk losing them to its rivals. One person who spoke to Fuchsia's staff simply described the effort: "It's a retention project of senior engineers."
© 2018 Bloomberg LP
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