Report: HP eyes making webOS-powered tablets in 2013

 

TechCrunch said this was after HP officials announced the company is contributing the webOS operating system to the open-source community.

 

"(HP board member Marc) Andreessen says that because of the open source model, we’ll have a future with webOS-powered tablets and says HP will be one of those companies that will develop webOS tablets. (HP CEO Meg) Whitman says this may not happen in 2012, but will probably take place in 2013," TechCrunch said.

 

Whitman said HP is "excited" about webOS and realized the best thing to do is to "open-source the technology, contribute to it and invest in it.”

 

“We will harness the power of the community to make this a better alternative to to other operating systems,” she said.

 

Also, HP said developers, partners, HP engineers and other hardware manufacturers can deliver ongoing enhancements and new versions of webOS into the marketplace.

 

HP also will contribute ENYO, the application framework for webOS, to the community in the near future along with a plan for the remaining components of the user space.

 

Windows 8 tablet in 2012

 

TechCrunch quoted Whitman as saying HP is planning to make a Windows 8 tablet in 2012.

 

“We’ll continue to invest in the existing tablet ecosystem” and in the near term “will bet heavily with Windows,” it quoted her as saying.

 

Internal memo

 

A separate TechCrunch article said Whitman assured HP employees in an internal email that webOS’ best days are ahead.

 

"webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected, and scalable. By providing webOS to the open source community and other hardware vendors we have the potential to fundamentally change the landscape," she said in the email.

 

She said HP engineers, partners, other developers and hardware manufacturers will be able to contribute to the development of webOS.

 

"We strongly believe that the best days for webOS are still ahead," she said. — LBG, GMA News