Ever since Apple launched the iPhone and Google responded with Android, vendors and open projects have dreamed of breaking the smartphone operating system duopoly and establishing a ‘third way’. So far, these efforts have failed, whether they came from giant players (Microsoft Windows Mobile), established mobile majors (BlackBerry OS or Samsung-backed Tizen), operators (LiMo) or open communities (Firefox and Canonical). Of course, Huawei is now being pressurized by US hostilities to develop its own OS (see separate item), and could establish a major base in China, though despite the weaker position of Google and Apple relative to western markets, an ‘all-Chinese’ smartphone OS has yet failed to make big impact, despite the efforts of giants like Alibaba and Baidu. And…