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HP Turns WebOS Open Source, Could Offer Manufacturers Alternative to Android
HP today announced that it will be open sourcing its webOS mobile operating system acquired when it purchased Palm last year. The fate of webOS has been unclear since the company's August announcement that it would be spinning off its PC division and exiting the tablet and smartphone markets. HP later reversed course on its planned PC unit spinoff, but has continued to weigh its options for webOS amid the discontinuation of its mobile hardware effort.
“webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. “By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices.”As ZDNet notes, the open sourcing of webOS adds a competitor for Android, offering hardware manufacturers wary of relying too much on Google's open source platform an option to diversify their own slates of products.
HP will make the underlying code of webOS available under an open source license. Developers, partners, HP engineers and other hardware manufacturers can deliver ongoing enhancements and new versions into the marketplace.
Android is the king of mobile as well as open source operating systems. However, carriers and smartphone makers want to diversify away from Android as well as Apple’s iOS. WebOS could be a nice diversification tool that could splinter Android support. The other reality: The WebOS UI is better than Android’s, but Google’s platform has the apps.The availability of webOS for use by numerous manufacturers could also threaten Microsoft and its efforts to make Windows Phone competitive by partnering with Nokia.
Update: In an interview with The Verge, HP CEO Meg Whitman reveals that the company is planning to use webOS on future tablet products, indicating the company is not abandoning mobile hardware entirely. No timeframe for such products has been announced.
Will HP be creating any new webOS hardware?
Meg: The answer to that is yes but what I can't tell you is whether that will be in 2012 or not. But we will use webOS in new hardware, but it's just going to take us a little longer to reorganize the team in a quite different direction than we've been taking it in the past.
Are we talking printers? Or tablets and phones?
Meg: In the near term what I would imagine — and this could change, in full disclosure — is I would think tablets, I do not believe we will be in the smartphone business again.
[ 301 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
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102 months ago
Probably the best outcome for everybody.
HP wouldn't have done this if they could have gotten a buyer that offered any decent amount, so the community wins.
HP wouldn't have done this if they could have gotten a buyer that offered any decent amount, so the community wins.
102 months ago
Wow, that's cool. HP made a great decision that will not only benefit its current customers but also hopefully add an alternative to android
102 months ago
Interesting move HP. This puts you back in play and may even slow Android down a little. I wouldn't be surprised if the Military jumps on a version of this as MeeGo has turned out to be a major disappointment.
102 months ago
That's great.
How open will it be though?
The same way as carriers murder android with junk-ware?
The same way Android phones hardly get an update?
...
...
I hope HP will prioritise these things and make it a better open-source software than Android.
How open will it be though?
The same way as carriers murder android with junk-ware?
The same way Android phones hardly get an update?
...
...
I hope HP will prioritise these things and make it a better open-source software than Android.
102 months ago
Not anymore. "Open" does not = "true competitor" to a successful, closed, controlled vertically-integrated platform.
It's basically a piñata now. Everyone will try to break it open and grab whatever falls out.
and yet Android is gaining market share from iOS.
102 months ago
Yes!!!
This will have Google pulling their hair out.
I can see this happening if some of the big names on the Android platform pick up the webOS platform and it starts taking off! Which I hope it does!!!! Good stuff!!
102 months ago
Yes!!! WebOS has been sit free from it's shackles. It can now be built upon and made EVEN better.
102 months ago
...
After having an iPad 2, touchpad and samasung galaxy 10.1 I can say the following:
iPad2 kicks ass
Touchpad sucks but webOS is better than iOS (needs more apps though and better hardware)
Galaxy 10.1 is nice hardware but Honeycomb is horrible and it ruins the whole experience because the key capabilities of the tablet (browser etc) are poorly executed
After having an iPad 2, touchpad and samasung galaxy 10.1 I can say the following:
iPad2 kicks ass
Touchpad sucks but webOS is better than iOS (needs more apps though and better hardware)
Galaxy 10.1 is nice hardware but Honeycomb is horrible and it ruins the whole experience because the key capabilities of the tablet (browser etc) are poorly executed
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