Hewlett Packard has decided to make available the code behind the webOS mobile operating system to developers and companies.
The company in a statement said that it plans to continue to be active in the development and support of webOS, which it had acquired from Palm in 2010 for $1.2bn.
HP CEO Meg Whitman said the company plans to solicit ideas from developers before deciding on the licensing terms. "We like the adoption of Android. It’s growing like wildfire with a big developer community and hardware community," Whitman added.
While saying that HP may get back into the consumer tablet market in 2013, Whitman said that they would not be making any more smartphones. During a conference call on Oct.27, Whitman had hinted that HP would partner with Microsoft for a set of Windows 8 tablets.
After HP had withdrawn its TouchPad tablet, owing to poor sales, the future of webOS has been uncertain since August. Meanwhile, many technology companies, including Oracle, were reportedly mulling the option of buying webOS from HP.
