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=                               WebOS                                =
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                            Introduction
======================================================================
webOS, also known as LG webOS and previously known as Open webOS, HP
webOS and Palm webOS, is a Linux kernel-based multitasking operating
system for smart devices such as smart TVs that has also been used as
a mobile operating system. Initially developed by Palm, Inc. (which
was acquired by Hewlett-Packard), HP made the platform open source, at
which point it became 'Open webOS.'

The operating system was later sold to LG Electronics, and was made
primarily a smart TV operating system for LG televisions as a
successor to LG Netcast. In January 2014, Qualcomm announced that it
had acquired technology patents from HP, which included all the webOS
and Palm patents; LG licenses them to use in their devices.

Various versions of webOS have been featured on several devices since
launching in 2009, including Pre, Pixi, and Veer smartphones, TouchPad
tablet, LG's smart TVs since 2014, LG's smart refrigerators and smart
projectors since 2017.


2009–2010: Launch by Palm
===========================
Palm launched webOS, then called Palm webOS, in January 2009 as the
successor to Palm OS. The first webOS device was the original Palm
Pre, released by Sprint in June 2009. The Palm Pixi followed. Upgraded
"Plus" versions of both Pre and Pixi were released on Verizon and
AT&T.


2010–2013: Acquisition by HP; the launch of Open webOS
========================================================
In April 2010, HP acquired Palm.  The acquisition of Palm was
initiated while Mark Hurd was CEO, however he resigned shortly after
the acquisition was completed. Later, webOS was described by new HP
CEO Leo Apotheker as a key asset and motivation for the purchase. The
$1.2 billion acquisition was finalized in June. HP indicated its
intention to develop the webOS platform for use in multiple new
products, including smartphones, tablets, and printers.


In March 2011, HP announced plans for a version of webOS by the end of
2011 to run within Windows, and to be installed on all HP desktop and
notebook computers in 2012. Neither ever materialized, although work
had begun on an x86 port around this time involving a team in Fort
Collins, Colorado; work was scrapped later in the year.

In August 2011, HP announced that it was interested in selling its
Personal Systems Group, responsible for all of its consumer PC
products, including webOS, and that webOS device development and
production lines would be halted. It remained unclear whether HP would
consider licensing webOS software to other manufacturers. When HP
reduced the price of the Touchpad to $99, the existing inventory
quickly sold out.

The HP Pre 3 was launched in select areas of Europe, and US-based
units were available only through unofficial channels (both AT&T
and Verizon canceled their orders just prior to delivery after
Apotheker's (HP's CEO at the time) announcement. Notably, these US Pre
3 units, having been released through unofficial channels, lacked both
warranties and carried no support obligation from HP; as a result
parts are nearly impossible to come by. HP announced that it would
continue to issue updates for the HP Veer and HP TouchPad, but these
updates have failed to materialize for the former, and the latter saw
a final, unofficial release called "webOS CE" that contained only
open-sourced components of webOS meant for what remained of the
developer community rather than a conventional, user-centric update to
the operating system. The last HP webOS version, 3.0.5, was released
on January 12, 2012.

In December 2011, after abandoning the TouchPad and the proposed sale
of the HP Personal Systems Group, HP announced it would release webOS
source code in the near future under an open-source license. In August
2012, code specific to the existing devices was released as 'webOS
Community Edition' (CE), with support for the existing HP hardware.
Open webOS includes open source libraries designed to target a wider
range of hardware. HP renamed its webOS unit as "Gram".

In February 2012, HP released Isis, a new web browser for Open webOS.


Growth and decline of HP App Catalog
======================================
The HP App Catalog was an app store for apps for the mobile devices
running webOS.

On June 6, 2009, webOS launched on the Palm Pre with 18 available
apps. The number of apps grew to 30 by June 17, 2009, with 1 million
cumulative downloads by June 27, 2009; 30 official and 31 unofficial
apps by July 13, 2009; 1,000 official apps by January 1, 2010; 4,000
official apps September 29, 2010; and 10,002 official apps on December
9, 2011.

Subsequently, the number of available apps decreased because many apps
were withdrawn from the App Catalog by their owners. Examples include
the apps for 'The New York Times' and Pandora Radio. After a Catalog
splash screen on November 11, 2014 announcing its deprecation, the HP
App Catalog servers were permanently shut down on March 15, 2015. The
number of functional apps remaining at that time is unknown but was
probably much lower due to the imminent abandonment of the project.


2013–present: Acquisition by LG; open-source edition launch
=============================================================
On February 25, 2013, HP announced that it was selling webOS to LG
Electronics for use on its web-enabled smart TVs, replacing its
previous NetCast platform. Under the agreement LG Electronics owns the
documentation, source code, developers and all related websites.
However, HP would still hold on to patents from Palm as well as
cloud-based services such as the App Catalog. In 2014, HP sold its
webOS patents to Qualcomm.

As well as its use as an OS for smart TVs, LG has expanded its use to
various Internet of things devices. As a starting point, LG showcased
a LG Wearable Platform OS (webOS) smartwatch in early 2015.
At CES 2017, LG announced a smart refrigerator with webOS.

On March 19, 2018, LG announced an open-source edition of webOS. This
edition would allow developers to download the source code for free as
well as take advantage of related tools, guides, and forums on its new
open source website to become more familiar with webOS and its
inherent benefits as a smart device's platform. LG hopes that this
will help its goal of advancing its philosophy of open platform, open
partnership and open connectivity.


                              Features
======================================================================
The webOS mobile platform introduced some innovative features, such as
the cards interface or the gesture navigation, that are still in use
by Apple, Microsoft and Google on their mobile operating systems iOS,
Windows Phone, and Android, respectively.

Features from releases of webOS  Feature         LG webOS        Open webOS
HP/Palm webOS
Multitasking interface  Line cards      Cards
Gesture interface       Magic Remote    touch screen and physical keyboard
App store       LG Content Store                HP App Catalog
Over-the-air updates    colspan="3" Yes
Service discovery
Open source             Yes


Multitasking interface
========================
Navigation uses multi-touch gestures on the touchscreen. The interface
uses "cards" to manage multitasking and represent apps. The user
switches between running apps with a flick from left and right on the
screen. Apps are closed by flicking a "card" up—and "off"—the screen.
The app "cards" can be rearranged for organization. webOS 2.0
introduced 'stacks', where related cards could be "stacked" together.


Synergy
=========
Palm referred to integration of information from many sources as
"Synergy." Users can sign into multiple email accounts from different
providers and integrate all of these sources into a single list.
Similar capabilities pull together calendars and also instant messages
and SMS text messages from multiple sources.


Over-the-air updates
======================
The OS can be updated without docking to a PC, instead receiving OS
updates over the carrier connection.


Notifications
===============
The notification area is located on the bottom portion of the screen
on phones, and on the top status bar area on tablets.

On phones, when a notification comes in, it slides in from the bottom
of the screen. Due to the resizable nature of the Mojo and Enyo
application frameworks, the app usually resizes itself to allow
unhindered use while the notification is displayed. After the
notification slides away, it usually remains as an icon. The user can
then tap on the icons to expand them. Notifications can then be
dismissed (sliding off the screen), acted upon (tapping), or left
alone.


Sync
======
By default, data sync uses a cloud-based approach rather than using a
desktop sync client. The first version of webOS shipped with the
ability to sync with Apple's iTunes software by masquerading as an
Apple device, but this feature was disabled by subsequent iTunes
software updates.


Third-party applications
==========================
On HP webOS, officially vetted third-party apps are accessible to be
installed on the device from the HP App Catalog.

As HP webOS replaced Palm OS, Palm commissioned MotionApps to code and
develop an emulator called Classic, to enable backward compatibility
to Palm OS apps. This operates with webOS version 1.0. Palm OS
emulation was discontinued in WebOS version 2.0. MotionApps disengaged
from Classic in 2010, citing HP Palm as "disruptive."

Another source of applications is homebrew software. Homebrew apps are
not directly supported by HP. Programs used to distribute homebrew
webOS apps include webOS Quick Install (Java-based sideloader for
desktop computers) and Preware (a homebrew webOS app catalog, which
must be sideloaded). If software problems do occur after installing
homebrew programs, "webOS Doctor" (provided by HP) can restore a phone
back to factory settings and remove changes made by homebrew apps and
patches.


Developer Mode
================
Developer mode allows for developer access of the device, and is also
used for digital forensic investigations. It can be accessed by typing
'webos20090606' on the device’s keyboard, or on some devices typing
'upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart' (a reference to the Konami
code) on the cards view. Once in developer mode, data on the system
partition can be accessed freely, even if the device was locked.


Smart TV features
===================
LG has redesigned the UI of webOS, maintaining the card UI as a
feature called "Simple switching" between open TV apps. The other two
features promoted by the company are a simple connection (using an
animated Clippy-like character called Beanbird to aid the user through
setup), and simple discovery.


                              Platform
======================================================================
Underneath the graphical user interface, webOS has much in common with
mainstream Linux distributions. Versions 1.0 to 2.1 use a patched
Linux 2.6.24 kernel.

The list of open-source components used by the different releases of
webOS, as well as the source code of and patches applied to each
component, is available at the Palm Open Source webpage. This page
also serves as a reference listing of the versions of webOS that have
been publicly released.

In 2011, Enyo replaced Mojo, released in June 2009, as the software
development kit (SDK).


                              Hardware
======================================================================
!webOS version  !Type   !Device !Release date   !
rowspan="11" |HP/Palm webOS     rowspan="7" |Phones     |Palm Pre       Pre Plus
|June 6, 2009   January 25, 2010        |
|Palm Pixi      Pixi Plus       |November 15, 2009      January 7, 2010 |
|Palm Pre 2     |October 22, 2010       |
|HP Veer        |August 18, 2011        |
|HP Pre 3       |August 18, 2011        |
|WindsorNot     rowspan="2"     |
|Mako   |
rowspan="4" |Tablets    |HP TouchPad    |July 1, 2011   |
|HP TouchPad Go rowspan="3"     |
|Sapphire       |
|Twain  |
rowspan="5" |LG webOS   rowspan="2" |Televisions        |LG smart TV models
rowspan="3"     |
|LG smart laser projector       |
|FOX TVs (Serbia)
|Refrigerators  |LG smart fridge models |
|Watches        |LG Watch Urbane LTE    |April 27, 2015 |


                              See also
======================================================================
* List of smart TV platforms and middleware software
* Enyo
* Mobile platform
* Access Linux Platform
* LuneOS
* List of WebOS devices


                           External links
======================================================================
*[https://webosose.org webOS Open Source Edition (LG)]
*[https://swsolutions.lge.com LG Software Solutions]
*[https://webos.developer.lge.com webOS Developer Center]
*[https://webostv.developer.lge.com/ LG webOS TV Developer Center]
* [https://www.lgwebos.co.il/ LG webOS TV Israel]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20211130034118/http://webosauto.swsolutions.lge.com/
webOS Auto Developer Center]
*[https://www.webos-internals.org webOS Internals Wiki]


License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebOS