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HP Gives webOS Platform To Open-Source Community By Mark Long December 9, 2011 4:47PM     Hewlett-Packard said the open-source community would obtain access to the underlying code for webOS under an open-source license. The goal is to enable developers, partners, and other hardware manufacturers to commercially release ongoing webOS enhancements as well as new platform versions of webOS.   Related Topics Hewlett-Packard webOS TouchPad Palm Open Source Latest News Chrome Gets Conversational Search Attention GIFers, It's Pronounced 'Jif' Nvidia GPU Boosts Citrix XenDesktop Security Alert: New Trojan Attacking Blue Coat Beefs Up Big Data Security Hewlett-Packard said Friday that the computing hardware giant has decided to contribute its webOS mobile software platform to the open-source community. HP obtained the rights to webOS when the company acquired Palm for $1.2 billion in April 2010. Hewlett-Packard initially had high hopes for webOS as an operating system that it could run side-by-side on the company's next-generation Windows desktop PCs and laptops. Following the departure of CEO Leo Apotheker and the demise of HP's webOS-based media tablet, however, the company has decided that the best way to enable webOS to evolve is to fully engage the resources of the open-source community. "WebOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud -connected and scalable," said HP CEO Meg Whitman on Friday. "By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open-source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices." This is an exit strategy for HP and not a bad one at that, noted Al Hilwa, director of applications software development at IDC. "It throws a bone to the small but passionate community that appears to be interested in evolving webOS," Hilwa said Friday. An Unwinnable Battle Earlier this year, industry observers had expected HP to recoup part of its $1.2 billion investment in Palm by selling the webOS platform to another company. Though some analysts viewed Amazon as a potential webOS buyer, the online retail giant adopted a customized version of Android instead to enable its Kindle Fire tablet customers to access selected apps from Google's Android Market. Hilwa believes that HP ultimately realized that the company could not use webOS to build a top-tier application and content ecosystem that could compete with well entrenched mobile rivals such as Apple and Google. "For mobile devices, iOS and Android have an early lead, with Microsoft and RIM on their heels," Hilwa said. "WebOS has found it difficult to breakthrough as the market matures and coalesces -- drawing clearer battles for developer mindshare down the road." HP said Friday that the open-source community will obtain access to the underlying code for webOS under an open-source license. The goal is to enable developers, partners, and other hardware manufacturers to commercially release ongoing webOS enhancements as well as new platform versions. (continued...) 1  |  2  |  Next Page >   Tell Us What You Think Comment: Name: Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers are engineered to withstand drops, spills, dust and grime, and to perform in the harshest environments. Rugged reliability, low cost of ownership and accolades from reviewers are just a few of the reasons why Toughbook computers keep winning over the world's toughest users. Click here to learn more.  Linux/Open Source 1.   Android Extends Its World Dominance 2.   Google Pursuing Android-Chrome Plan 3.   Firefox OS To Also Go for High End 4.   Mozilla: Spyware Posing as Firefox 5.   Newest Ubuntu Faster, More Polished

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Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Dell Kills Its Public Cloud Effort, Will Offer Partner Marketplace Putting the kibosh on its efforts to build out a public cloud, Dell has announced a new program to offer a choice of cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service through a central marketplace of partners.   Dell's Dismal Quarter Shows PC Maker's Challenges Dell's financial decay worsened during its latest quarter as the company slashed its personal computer prices in response to the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets in the beleaguered industry.   U.S. Defense Department Gives iOS 6 Security OK In a vote of confidence for Apple's iOS devices, the Defense Department has given the all-clear for employees to use iPads and iPhones for work. But only those running iOS 6, and only if issued by the government.

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

Samsung Sells 10 Million Galaxy S IVs -- Four Every Second The new Galaxy S IV smartphone from Samsung is off to a strong start. The South Korean manufacturer has announced that global sales for the device have exceeded 10 million units in one month.   Google Adds Conversational Search to Chrome If you like chatting with Siri, sending voice texts while driving or telling your Xbox when to pause or rewind a DVD, you're going to enjoy the upgrade to Google's Chrome browser.   HTC Execs Bolt, Sales Slide. Is the End Near for the Company? What's going on with HTC? A string of executives quitting and slowing sales for new phone models are raising questions about the health of this major phone maker. Is the end in sight?

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

New Nvidia Chip Boosts Citrix Graphics for Remote Workers The latest Nvidia Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) promises to boost remote graphics sharing through the Citrix remote desktop service. The new chip delivers better graphics for remote workers.   Security Alert: Beware of Tiffany Trojan on the Attack Malware writers are using a luxury name to hack your PC. Security watchdog Sophos reports e-mails appearing to be from Tiffany.com carry an attachment that can install a malicious Trojan on your PC.   Blue Coat Beefs Up Big Data Security with Solera Buy California-based Blue Coat Systems is expanding into Big Data security in the advanced threat protection space. The company has snapped up Intel-backed Solera Networks for its DeepSee platform.

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