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WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO

engadget.com

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Re: WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO

#11

Post by pragmatic »

I believe it means the PC's would run _BOTH_.

> every HP PC being able to run WebOS and MIcrosoft Windows as an integrated experience in 2012

I have an HP touch screen laptop/tablet. It has a mode where you can boot into a "light" OS that just has a web browser.

BTW, I've never used it.

> Instant Web is an instant on software solution that allows users to quickly and easily get to a browser, an IM client, and their media in a secure, fast booting environment.

I believe its based on Splashtop: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splashtop

Re: WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO

#12

Post by raganwald »

Ok, I know I need another coffee, so I apologise in advance for being the Grinch here, but...

This is pure CEO puffery. When will these guys get it? When will they start looking up to Steve Jobs instead of treating him like a guy who just happened to get lucky eight times (Apple II, Macintosh, Pixar, Macintosh again, iPod, iTMS, iPhone, App Store, iPad)?

Steve does not talk about what will ship on every Macintosh next year. He might talk about what will ship in the next sixty days if there is an SDK he is shipping to developers today. Steve does not talk about Apple investing in R&D. Steve invests in R&D.

Talking about the future is the action of a person interested in how he looks and sounds, rather than the actions of a person interested in how the company performs.

Steve ships. Leo had better spend less time with his PR people and more time with his engineers. I have nothing against shipping WebOS on every HP PC next year. But please, Leo, just fucking do it. Talk to your engineers, not to me.

Re: WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO

#13

Post by jbrennan »

nopassrecover wrote: post #10
gfodor wrote: post #5

It will be so great if HP gets its groove back. It's really sad to see one of the great American companies flounder for so long. Ever since Carly merged it with Compaq they've been basically stagnant, IMHO, I think WebOS might really set them up for a big power play against Apple over the next few years.

The only PC I've ever hated was a HP. Overpriced for poor parts, slow as hell for its advertised purposes and using their provided software, and when parts broke I had to pay for special HP parts because they used custom sizing and screws.

Sounds a lot like Apple right before they bought NeXT.

Re: WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO

#14

Post by danlove »

There are two ways this could go, using WebOS as an instant-on OS. Or some form of framework running within Windows to allow WebOS applications to be run, with notifications being forwarded over Wi-Fi from WebOS devices. Remember the new Enyo framework was actually demonstrated running within Google Chrome. Either way this could be a boast to the developer eco-system, and reduce the cost per HP PC.

Re: WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO

#15

Post by cryptoz »

apl wrote: post #6
cryptoz wrote: post #2

I'll be blown away if HP is actually the first company to put their mobile os on a full desktop computer. I always imagined I would love running something like Android on a desktop; easy to use for everyone, no worries about viruses or software updates, nice modern UI design...really, it's a wonder that these machines don't work like that already. I can't believe I'm rooting for HP on this one, but I sure hope this w…

> no worries about viruses or software updates ?

Fair point. But that's the way it's supposed to be. I guess my comment might seem humorously ignorant given the current Android situation, but it'd be tough to argue that it's not directly in Google's interest to get all that fixed up.

On the other hand, it's not in Microsoft's interest to make software updates easy or viruses to go away. They're side problems that other companies deal with. HP's webOS should be more like Android than Windows, at least in the user experience philosophy.

Re: WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO

#16

Post by jdub »

First thing: Don't assume that this means they're going to replace Windows! :-)

Besides the guts of the OS which talks to the hardware (a very slick Linux build) on webOS phones, the platform is basically just HTML, CSS and JavaScript. It has always been easy to run and debug applications in Chromium.

You can download the SDK today and run an x86 build of webOS in VirtualBox. If you haven't played with webOS before, I urge you to try it.

Web developers who care about mobile will go absolutely bananas for it, and their new framework 'Enyo' is an even better experience for developers.

Here's a blog post about webOS I wrote quite a while back: http://bethesignal.org/blog/2010/06/07/why-im-excited-about-...

Re: WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO

#17

Post by modernerd »

A shame that HP are coupling webOS with HP PCs, instead of putting webOS on the Web, where it might better thrive and spread.

With webOS on the Web, Pre3 and TouchPad owners could log in at webos.me (or similar) from any WebKit browser and see their apps and data pre-synced; isn't that a better vision for a company that 'believes the Web is the future'?

HP's new Enyo SDK already allows developers to build apps for WebKit-based browsers that resize for desktop, tablet, and mobile screens[1]; it is a joy to use and targeting multiple screen sizes works great, so it feels like a missed opportunity that webOS developers will spend their time building apps in a WebKit browser, but be unable to publish them for others to use in a WebKit browser too.

If they're trying to attract developers -- the Web offers a much larger userbase than HP machines ever will. I think it worth sacrificing desktop and laptop sales to build mobile sales and create a healthy future for webOS.

[1]: http://www.precentral.net/hp-posts-enyo-development-walkthro...

Re: WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO

#19

Post by jarek »

raganwald wrote: post #12

Ok, I know I need another coffee, so I apologise in advance for being the Grinch here, but... This is pure CEO puffery. When will these guys get it? When will they start looking up to Steve Jobs instead of treating him like a guy who just happened to get lucky eight times (Apple II, Macintosh, Pixar, Macintosh again, iPod, iTMS, iPhone, App Store, iPad)? Steve does not talk about what will ship on every Macintosh nex…

> Steve does not talk about what will ship on every Macintosh next year.

Nah, he just talks about where he thinks the entire industry is heading and post-what era we are entering at the moment.

Come on.

Re: WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO

#20

Post by recoiledsnake »

cryptoz wrote: post #15
apl wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no worries about viruses or software updates ?

Fair point. But that's the way it's supposed to be. I guess my comment might seem humorously ignorant given the current Android situation, but it'd be tough to argue that it's not directly in Google's interest to get all that fixed up. On the other hand, it's not in Microsoft's interest to make software updates easy or viruses to go away. They're side problems that other companies deal with. HP's webOS should be more…

>On the other hand, it's not in Microsoft's interest to make software updates easy or viruses to go away.

Huh, why not? How easier updates should get? If set to automatic, they're almost done Chrome style (except for the reboots GRR). And what about MSE?

>HP's webOS should be more like Android than Windows

With Windows, it gets updated instantly whichever OEM built your PC. With Android. it can take upto a year after getting released, or never come out at all.

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