The tussle between Huawei and Google due to the recurring trade ban has led the former company to search for alternatives to alienate itself from the prevalent Google ecosystem.
Its first step was launching an OS in the form of HarmonyOS to compete with Google’s Android. The next step, as per the reports, is a Google Map replacement. According to the local publishing house China Daily, Huawei is working on a new mapping service dubbed Map Kit.
It isn’t exactly a Google Map alternative but a framework that will allow developers to build map apps. The report says that the new service is in works but it is “not directly for consumer use.”
The features offered by Huawei’s Map Kit would include real-time traffic conditions, AR features and lane change recognition. It is expected that the service will be available in 40 languages and Huawei could launch it in October this year.
Huawei has collaborated with Yandex, a popular Russia-based search engine and Booking Holdings that owns the popular travel fare aggregator website for the Map Kit service.
It seems like the most obvious step as Huawei is trying to develop an alternate ecosystem and it would need some native apps for it.
However, the company has reiterated that it wants to keep working with Google. These efforts could be apart of Plan B which could come into effect in case the US decides to impose a permanent ban on the company.
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