HP's move to make webOS open source is close to being fully realised, with the company announcing the beta version of 'Open webOS' has now gone live.
The beta release which comes eight months after the platform behind both Palm handsets and HP's own TouchPad was opened up to third parties provides two build environments.
HP has delivered both a Linux desktop build for enhancing webOS, as well as an OpenEmbedded build - which includes an ARM emulator - for porting the operating system to new hardware.
Backstory
HP's original decision to open up webOS came several months after the company dropped full support for the OS and announced plans to discontinue all production of webOS devices.
The platform's original creator, Palm, had originaly been acquired by HP for $1.2 billion in April 2010 to fuel a drive on both the smartphone and tablet markets.
Regardless, little over a year later, then-CEO of HP Léo Apotheker allegedly 'killed' the webOS project just as the company's flagship webOS product the HP TouchPad was hitting the shelves.
Just what direction webOS will now take in its new open form is unclear.
However, longterm support from the open source community will be key, with HP revealing both of the platform's build environments are to be freely available under the Apache 2.0 open source license, allowing devs to use, modify and distribute the software as they see fit.
[source: Open webOS Project]
News
Related Articles
Top Stories
News
8 hours, 52 minutes ago
EU ruling gives Apple six months to bring iPadOS into line with DMA demands
News
10 hours, 35 minutes ago
Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen joins LEGO’s board of directors days after Squad Busters’ soft launch
News
11 hours, 53 minutes ago
A Thinking Ape lays off staff across game design, software engineering, art teams and more
Feature
11 hours, 2 minutes ago
King’s Paula Ingvar: a games industry journey from "I’m not worthy!" to Candy Crush Soda’s VP of product
Feature
Apr 29th, 2024
Hot Five: Supercell’s Squad Busters levels up, retro Nintendo on iOS, and Genshin Impact’s worst month yet
News
Apr 26th, 2024
Week in Views - Squads busted, Apple crushed, War zoned and Snoozin' with the Snorlax…
Events
Dubai GameExpo Summit 2024 | Middle East | May 1st |
The MENA Games Industry Awards 2024 | Middle East | May 2nd |
GameDev Atlantic 2024 | May 4th | |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 7th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Israel Mobile Summit 2024 | Middle East | Jun 6th |
WN Conference Istanbul 2024 | Jun 11th | |
DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |
Popular Stories
News
Apr 23rd, 2024
Supercell’s Squad Busters soft launches today with over 100,000 Google Play downloads
News
Apr 25th, 2024