LG to Buy H-P WebOS for Use in TVs

mmadhankumar

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A mobile-device operating system that Hewlett-Packard Co. once had high hopes for will get a new lease on life at LG Electronics Inc.

The South Korean company will acquire the system, known as webOS, and some of the employees who work on it from H-P for an undisclosed amount. LG plans to use webOS in televisions, said Skott Ahn, LG president and chief technology officer.

LG is the latest of several companies to bet on the software. WebOS was originally developed by Palm Inc. to power smartphones that would compete with Apple Inc.'s iPhone. The technology was widely praised upon its release, but it failed to gain traction with the developers who write apps for devices.

H-P acquired Palm in 2010 for $1.2 billion.

The next year, H-P used webOS to power a tablet and its own line of smartphones. But despite a big publicity campaign, the devices didn't sell well and H-P pulled the plug on them six weeks after they launched.

H-P later decided to make webOS open source in the hope that others would use it in devices, but those efforts didn't produce many results.

LG was drawn to webOS because it's a good technology, Mr. Ahn said, adding that the company wanted its own technology platform as opposed to one that other companies also use.

Unlike smartphones and tablets, where Apple's or Google Inc.'s operating systems have a vast number of apps written for them, smart TVs don't have a dominant operating system yet. Developers could just as easily choose to write programs for webOS, said Bill Veghte, H-P's chief operating officer.


As part of the deal, LG will get the rights to the operating system as well as the engineers who work on it. Engineers who work on some other aspects of webOS will stay with H-P. Overall, several dozen people work on webOS, Mr. Veghte said.

LG will also receive a license to use the webOS technology. H-P will retain ownership of the patents it acquired along with Palm.

Many companies see televisions as the next device category that will get a "smart" makeover. The thinking is that including software in TVs could make it easier for consumers to pick from an array of programs that come from a broad number of sources.

Mr. Ahn said that LG hopes to release its first webOS-based TV "very soon."



LG to Acquire H-P WebOS for Use in TVs - WSJ.com
 
good updates to all members my dear buddy madhan!:luv
 
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