webOS Switching to Open Source

As planned, HP has announced the future of webOS and what the plans are for it. Meg Whitman announced that the underlying code of webOS is being made open-source which means it will reach a large amount of people who can in turn develop the platform as needed.

Initially there were two options that HP considered with the first being to sell the OS and the second to make it open-source. The latter was selected and is perhaps the best option.

Meg Whitman commented in a company-wide email that this…“is the best way to ensure the benefits of webOS are accessible to the largest possible ecosystem.”

As well as bringing the aforementioned benefits, HP will also continue to participate and invest in the operating system.

With the project being open-sourced it will allow those who have already purchased a HP TouchPad to begin getting updates in the near future. Meg Whitman also commented that with the help of the community and the investment of HP, webOS will be a “better alternative to other operating systems”.

As for the hardware, HP commented that in 2012 it will focus on a Windows 8 tablet although 2013 could see the launch of HP hardware that will run webOS. This is specifically tablets that the company was talking about rather than a smartphone.

HP is also contributing ENYO which is an application framework for webOS.

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