With No Buyers, Whitman Announces HP will Make webOS Open Source

  • Faced with little interest from potential buyers, Hewlett-Packard is making its mobile operating system, webOS, available for free, allowing individuals and companies to make improvements (with certain guidelines).
  • When HP purchased webOS with Palm Inc. in July last year for $1.2 billion, it was “a highly regarded technology, but one that had failed to gain much traction with consumers,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
  • HP plans to continue enhancements to webOS and keep the 600 or so employees involved with the system. CEO Meg Whitman said HP may build devices with webOS in the future, but not in the next year.
  • The mobile operating system is “a fabulous technology that we don’t want to have go away,” explained Whitman in an interview, further noting that the decision to go open source is “a great answer.”

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