HP’s Whitman suggests Googorola may close Android
HP CEO Meg Whitman foresees a great future for webOS, the mobile operating system that her company acquired in the $1.2bn Palm deal and is now contributing to the open source community – and part of her reasoning is based on her distrust of Google.
"I think that Android may end up as a closed system because of [Google's] relationship with Motorola," Whitman said in her keynote presentation at HP's company's global partner summit in Las Vegas, according to Channel EMEA.
"I think there is room for another operating system," she said. "iOS is great but it is a closed system." Android is currently open – as long as you're not relying on getting all the info about the latest and greatest versions under development – but Whitman suggests that developers not bank on it remaining so.
Without as much as a nod to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 or upcoming tablet-capable Windows 8 – or, for that matter the MeeGo/Bada open source Tizen mashup or any other mobile OS – Whitman positioned webOS as the go-to alternative to Apple and Google's offerings.
Not that she believes that there will be any mad rush to webOS. "These things take time, she believes. "We decided to contribute webOS to the open source community," she said, "and this will take three to four years to play out." Read more...
HP’s open-sourcing of webOS begins today
The last time we heard about webOS, HP had opted to open-source the mobile platform, letting developers take a stab at breathing some life into it. It was an unconventional move, but not necessarily a bad one: it puts the platform largely in the hands of the development community, and it doesn’t require a large investment.
Today we found out more about HP’s plans for the second coming of webOS. The first step of the open sourcing process, the release of the Enyo application framework, took place today. The entire process is expected to be completed by September of this year. Upon completion of the open-sourcing transition, it will be known as Open webOS 1.0. Read more...
WebOS Open-Sourced; New HP Tablets May Be in the Works
No one can blame you if you haven't heard of WebOS. But just like how iOS powers the iPad and Android powers the Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire, WebOS is what's under the hood of the HP TouchPad -- the iPad-size tablet that HP sold off in a $99 fire sale not too long ago.
The fact most of Android is open-source is one of the big things that's made it so popular, with app developers and hardware manufacturers. Because the programming code is out there on the Internet, for anyone to download and do what they want with it, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble were able to make their e-reader tablets without asking Google's permission. Meanwhile, hobbyists like the ones behind CyanogenMod have created "custom ROMs" of Android, which are now being used by projects and startups like Republic Wireless.
Now, HP has announced it's making its WebOS code open-source. Will the open-sourcing of WebOS revitalize HP's failing project? More importantly, what does it mean for you? Read more...
Why WebOS Hasn’t Lived Up to Its Potential — Yet
When Palm first unveiled webOS in 2009, the new platform was supposed to be the next mobile messiah.
With its sexy user interface, a developer-friendly backend and a host of new features like multitasking and contact Synergy, everyone was certain webOS would be the platform to rejuvenate the once-prominent PDA pioneer company.
As of November 2010, Palm’s market share of U.S. mobile platforms weighed in at a paltry 3.9 percent, according to a comScore report. Sales of the Palm Pre — the flagship device on which webOS was first shipped — were lackluster, with numbers never breaking the 1 million mark in the first three months of the phone’s release. Weigh that against the iPhone 3GS, which launched two weeks after the Pre. One million of Apple’s handsets were sold in the first three days after release. Read more...