HP announced today that it will contribute the WebOS software to the open source community. HP says WebOS provides developers an easy way to develop applications based on standard web technologies. And, for device vendors, WebOS provides “a platform to run across multiple devices”.
WebOS can provide a new option for mobile device vendors who are looking for an open operating system. Device vendors would use it under an open source license that would require them to contribute their enhancements back into the WebOS.
Good spirit but no body: WebOS is an innovative web based operating system. Its support for web technologies, such as HTML5, can make it a compelling platform. But it has failed to gain traction, for several non-technology reasons. And, due to lack of use, it probably hasn’t been polished enough. At the moment, no hardware vendors are publicly developing devices based on WebOS. HP itself withdrew from WebOS-based hardware five months ago, when it put its WebOS-based TouchPad tablets on a fire sale.
In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Meg Whitman said HP will likely release new WebOS devices, but not until 2013. And, they won’t be doing smartphones.
Harder chicken and egg problem to solve: Regardless of how good WebOS might be, it is challenging to attract developers to write applications for it without any devices. On the other hand, it would be hard for device vendors to justify making WebOS-based devices, since there is not a healthy community of application developers for WebOS.
Lower priority hedge: For most smartphone and tablet vendors (other than Apple, RIM and Nokia), Android has become the dominant choice of mobile software. These vendors would probably welcome a second option as a hedge against the risk of being solely dependent on Google. At the moment, that choice is Windows Phone, or upcoming Windows 8 for tablets. WebOS is another choice, but it has to start at the bottom of the priority.
The good news is, for now, WebOS lives to see another day. The challenge is to cultivate a healthy ecosystem of devices and developers around it. Let’s see if a WebOS champion will come forward!
See our related post on WebOS: HP Loves Me…HP Loves Me Not … Picking Strategy Petals!
We will be at Consumer Electronics Show 2012, leading the discussion at Planet of the Apps session.
This is what I just posted on the WSJ article: “As a reasonably informed person who writes for several blogs, how will this decision positively affect my life? I am not a techie and will not learn all the jargon. There’s too much of it and it changes over time. Where are reporters who can tell me, the reader and normal Internet user, what this means to me? Thank you in advance.”
Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203413304577088582229860486.html#ixzz1g6x0dI7d
Hi Ron,
That is an excellent question, and I am sure it would help many others.
At the top level, having another software option for mobile devices can mean additional choices and perhaps lower cost for consumers. Let me elaborate.
As a user, you have the choice of Apple iOS devices, Android devices, BlackBerry, and to lesser degree Windows Phone devices. Having WebOS will provide another option for the device vendors to consider for their software. This will provide a new choice of devices with new interfaces and experiences for users.
On cost side, WebOS is open source now, so theoretically, device vendors will not have to pay for license fees. In addition, the standard Web technologies used in WebOS should allow device vendors to deploy one software across smartphones and tablets, and other devices. So, the cost savings might be passed on to the users. For WebOS application developers, standard web technologies would require shorter learning curve, so it might be easier/cheaper for them to develop applications for WebOS. Again, that cost savings might be passed on to the consumers.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for your response. The advantage seems to be for people who like a variety of Apps on their phones. I don’t. I’m basic.
This comment is still a little too abstract for me to see where it may be a good thing for me: a new choice of devices with new “interfaces and experiences” for users.
I think I’m not in the target market.
Thanks again.