LG acquires webOS from HP

[RumoredNow]

I've championed LG's broad base of product lines and commitment to quality in the past as an OEM with the guts/vision/drive to use webOS effectively.

Their pockets are pretty deep. Their desire to differentiate and rise to the top in all markets is pretty evident.

I say, "Life's Good," if they have made serious financial investment into webOS.

[Rnp]

Originally Posted by Typo Lad

I just finished interviewing LG's VP of Public Affairs about this, and I have to say, if he's half as psyched as he seemed to be, we're in for good stuff.

Wow... say everything and hide nothing from me!!!


Best Regards...

[carldc]

Originally Posted by ToniCipriani

It could work if there is some sort of gesture pad on a remote.

My thoughts exactly. By the time this is ready for prime-time (pun intended!), Kinect-like gesture tech may be more common. I'm imagining closing a channel with a swipe of the hand... "I'm bored watching this - begone!" (swoosh!).

[mattmayatt]

webOS finds new home with LG and its Smart TVs, phone a possibility | News | TechRadar

Techrader saying that lg have not ruled out making WebOS phones.

[carldc]

Originally Posted by mattmayatt

webOS finds new home with LG and its Smart TVs, phone a possibility | News | TechRadar

Techrader saying that lg have not ruled out doing phones

I hope that pans out, but remember that Meg Whitman did not rule out more webOS tablets, too. Where's that gone?

[typolad]

Originally Posted by Rnp

Wow... say everything and hide nothing from me!!!


Best Regards...

Going up on Techcitement.com at 4:45 ET, but one thing not mentioned in the article is how clearly impressed he was by the technology behind webOS and the brains behind it.

[GMMan]

Just to confirm I'm reading it right: Technically LG has a copy of the webOS source code, and has all staff and websites, plus licenses for patents, but HP still actually owns webOS, and owns all the patents? Or does LG have total ownership of webOS and HP is just holding on to the patents and some cloud stuff?

[ToniCipriani]

Originally Posted by GMMan

Just to confirm I'm reading it right: Technically LG has a copy of the webOS source code, and has all staff and websites, plus licenses for patents, but HP still actually owns webOS, and owns all the patents? Or does LG have total ownership of webOS and HP is just holding on to the patents and some cloud stuff?

webOS and "associated patents" itself went to LG. HP retains the cloud services.

Under the terms of their agreement, LG acquires the operating software's source code, associated documentation, engineering talent, various associated websites, and licenses under HP's intellectual property including patents covering fundamental operating system and user interface technology.
HP will retain the patents and all the technology relating to the cloud service of webOS, HP Chief Operating Officer Bill Veghte said in an interview.

http://news.yahoo.com/hp-sells-webos-operating-system-lg-electronics-162140691--finance.html

[Laura Knotek]

I'm disappointed. I don't own any webOS products. However, I do feel that webOS is a good platform. It would make more sense to me for a company to revive webOS and continue development than to try something new like Firefox mobile or Ubuntu for smartphones / tablets. I believe that Firefox and Ubuntu will be failures; however, I believe webOS could have been successful if the right company actually gave it decent support.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Foroplex

[samab]

Originally Posted by ToniCipriani

webOS and "associated patents" itself went to LG. HP retains the cloud services.

HP sells webOS operating system to LG Electronics - Yahoo! News

No --- if you read closely --- HP retains OWNERSHIP of the Palm patents, LG paid HP to use Palm patents via licensing fees..

[samab]

Originally Posted by GMMan

Just to confirm I'm reading it right: Technically LG has a copy of the webOS source code, and has all staff and websites, plus licenses for patents, but HP still actually owns webOS, and owns all the patents? Or does LG have total ownership of webOS and HP is just holding on to the patents and some cloud stuff?

LG owns the webOS source code --- NOT a copy of the source code. LG owns the engineers.

HP owns the Palm patents and LG paid HP a licensing fee to the Palm patents. HP doesn't have own webOS anymore. HP has to pay LG money to have access to webOS source code in order to service existing webOS device customers.

[bluenote]

Originally Posted by samab

LG owns the webOS source code --- NOT a copy of the source code. LG owns the engineers.

HP owns the Palm patents and LG paid HP a licensing fee to the Palm patents. HP doesn't have own webOS anymore. HP has to pay LG money to have access to webOS source code in order to service existing webOS device customers.

So this is what HP wanted all along once Meg open-sourced it, yes? She said she wanted to keep the cloud-computing piece (somehow to service business users? gram?) but license out webOS for other companies to make webOS electronics.

And she got it. And LG gets a web-based unique OS for its electronics and some good patents, probably at a great price for them. And they have to help the open source community continue in some way.

In terms of servicing the existing Palm users, they are not getting any software updates anyway right? So the only thing they would get is cloud backups (thats HP as it wants cloud services) and the app catalogue so I can assume HP would push out business branded apps for its cloud services.

So why is this not a WIN-WIN? The verge wrote too hastily.

What remains unclear is what LG does if it has opens up its tv eco system to third party apps.

[GMMan]

Originally Posted by samab

LG owns the webOS source code --- NOT a copy of the source code. LG owns the engineers.

HP owns the Palm patents and LG paid HP a licensing fee to the Palm patents. HP doesn't have own webOS anymore. HP has to pay LG money to have access to webOS source code in order to service existing webOS device customers.

That's funny. Instead of selling everything Palm wholesale, HP keeps the good bits (patents) for themselves and pushes the rest on to someone else. Oh well, it's business.

[bluenote]

Originally Posted by GMMan

That's funny. Instead of selling everything Palm wholesale, HP keeps the good bits (patents) for themselves and pushes the rest on to someone else. Oh well, it's business.

Allthingsd which i think is owned by WSJ spoke to HP and LG.
So it looks like the webOS toaster is more probable than a webOS phone (see below). Still, I say anything can happen as tech changes--if the webOS tv takes off and 3rd party app ecosystems start becoming the rage on tv, who knows?
I know TheVerge wrote that now LG is still not ruling out a phone but it seems allthingsd has a more complete take on the current situation.


What LG Will Do With webOS - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD
"Ahn told me that webOS will become a “core technology of LG,” and that “we would like to incorporate it first into our Smart TV platform, and then in the future in other devices.”
What other devices? Probably not phones and tablets. LG is pretty firmly in the Android camp there. But there are other appliances that might benefit from webOS, Ahn said, like refrigerators and other appliances and also smart signage.
So there you have it: webOS will appear first in TVs, and then perhaps later in other household appliances from LG."

[samab]

Originally Posted by bluenote

So why is this not a WIN-WIN? The verge wrote too hastily.

We don't really know what LG is up to --- they could have just bought the engineers.

Palm bought the BeOS source code and the engineers --- and wanted nothing to do with the BeOS source code. LG could have just bought the engineers and for the safety of not getting sued --- bought the webOS source code in case these engineers cut and paste something old from webOS to their new LG projects.

The best case scenario would be that Nokia is keeping their skunkworks in case WP8 fails, Samsung is keeping Tizen just in case Android fails, and LG is modeling Samsung in keeping an OS (like Samsung keeping Tizen) as a back-up.

Not just a back-up if Android fails --- but if Samsung grows stronger Samsung could ditch Android in the future and use their own proprietary Tizen.

[laingman]

I could see it if you had a smartphone that's also a remote that controls the tv and one could have the shows arranged how want them, stacked whatever, that could work. Maybe they first gonna make a tv with a webos remote.

[rnld]

LG has WebOS. They are going to use it on Smart TVs. It's a safe bet that Smart TVs are about to become even smarter with tablet style function. That is an exciting future for some no matter what.

[samab]

Originally Posted by rnld

LG has WebOS. They are going to use it on Smart TVs. It's a safe bet that Smart TVs are about to become even smarter with tablet style function. That is an exciting future for some no matter what.

Except that nobody has a clue on making tv's anymore --- last year it was 3D tv, this year is 4K tv --- you know it's going to be a failure.

[bluenote]

I could see having multiple windows open on a tv as people multitask anyway with their mobile devices while watching. The losers are the advertisers.
The tv makers are probably afraid of the rumored Apple TV and this is a way to stay competitive or ahead. The tv model is also broken now because the apps are slow and not good selection, I have 3 boxes hooked up now to my tv and constantly switch remotes, the only thing I never use is the Internet on my horribly slow Blu ray player

[kevets]

They are not talking about phones yet because they still want to sell their current line and they probably aren't ready yet. Makes sense to start with TV's as there isn't really any exciting innovation that's caught on yet. LG doesn't have a very good Touchwiz or Sense competitor that everyone selling Android thinks they need to differentiate themselves. They are not heavily engrained in Anrdoid any more than HTC is. They've both taken a shot at Windows Phone. Why not give webOS a go?

I like it.