DAILYHOSTNEWS, December 13, 2011 – When HP announced that it was ending production of the company’s TouchPad tablet computer in August, to some, it appeared all but guaranteed that the news also meant an end for the device’s operating system webOS.
While the company just announced Friday that it would be open sourcing the OS platform, a recent interview conducted around the same time by tech site The Verge confirms that webOS is still indeed in the company’s plans.
When The Verge asked HP CEO Meg Whitman if webOS would be used again, Whitman stated, “The answer to that is yes but what I can’t tell you is whether that will be in 2012 or not. But we will use webOS in new hardware, but it’s just going to take us a little longer to reorganize the team in a quite different direction than we’ve been taking it in the past.”
Pressed for further information, Whitman signaled that HP could reenter the tablet market.
Along with announcing the TouchPad’s end in August, the company said it would “continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.”
Meanwhile, shortly following news that the company was ending the TouchPad, sales of the tablet increased thanks to a price reduction.
About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems.
Website: http://www.hp.com
