webOS Going the Open Source Route, Says HP
It has been up in the air on what the future of webOS was going to be, but today, HP has announced the platform will be open sourced. What this means is, webOS will be able to be installed on different hardware and other vendors will be able to do what they want with it.
HP will actively support webOS and push the development for the public to try and help make the platform successful, without putting in to much more money. Also, the patents for webOS will stay in control of HP to protect developers. There is no official word on whether HP will produce any more hardware for webOS or if they will leave it completely up to 3rd party vendors. We would not rule out the possibility though.
This is a pretty bold move, but it is really the only sensible move that HP could make, besides just killing the platform off completely. Maybe this won’t help webOS and it will eventually die completely, but hopefully some will use it and we will finally see the software and hardware progress.
HP Lost billions on webOS
HP purchased webOS and everyone expected them to take the company and turn it around, because they had the funding. Well, that did not happen. HP had their Q4 Earnings Report and it shows that they lost a little more than was probably expected.
HP bought Palm for 1.2 billion this year, took the company and readjusted it for their needs. After it was all said and done at the point it is now, they have spent a total of 3.3 billion over the course of purchase and almost dead point. Even though HP is still doing good finically, it has to hurt to loose a couple of billion over an experiment.
As of right now CEO Meg Whitman has not announced the final decisions for webOS but says that if they decide to keep it alive, they will do something very significant with it. Whitman is saying we should hear something in the next couple of weeks, so who knows, webOS might be dead soon. Should they go ahead and kill it?
The Gadget Gurus Podcast Ep 126 – Bromigos
This week on The Gadget Gurus, the world is introduced to The Gaming Gurus! They guys also talk about HP, webOS, Motorola, Google and much more! Enjoy the show!
Make sure you download The Gadget Gurus App available on Android and iOS!!!
Want to get in touch with the Gurus? Leave us a voicemail at 805-69-GURUS or send us an email at podcast@thegadgetgurus.net
webOS was Collateral Damage
The news that HP was axing webOS devices came as a surprise to most. We all knew HP was “struggling” with it and having a hard time getting people interested. Sales of these devices are laughable and the blatant disregard HP had for webOS was obvious. Did HP even want webOS devices to succeed? Why did they spend $1.2 billion on, what was essentially, the purchase of webOS to then kill off it’s hardware production 18 months later?
HP Ditching all webOS Hardware
Yes, you heard it right people, HP has discontinued all the hardware running webOS and has no future plans to make hardware for the devices. This comes as a huge surprise being that the HP Touchpad was just released and the Pre 3 was on it’s way.
HP is saying the company is not succeeding in making hardware that is competitive in the market and they do not want keep putting money into it over the next 2 years to be successful (even that being a gamble). However, they did say that they are not abandoning webOS entirely. They have mentioned plans to license the software to other manufacturers.
All though there are no exact plans yet HP says, within the next 2 weeks the direction and plans for webOS should be a lot more clear. In the meantime, if you were a webOS fanboy you can morn the loss of that Palm hardware you have loved, but maybe now if they license the OS we might get a plethora of devices to pick from in the future so the platform can grow and be the successful OS that it should be.
(via Slashgear)
