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HP has big plans for WebOS [San Jose Mercury News, Calif.](San Jose Mercury News (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) June 01--RANCHO PALO VERDES -- Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) has big plans for the WebOS software it acquired along with Palm last year, including potentially licensing it out to other companies, HP CEO Leo Apotheker said at the D9 conference here on Wednesday. WebOS currently runs on a small number of Palm-developed phones, and HP has announced that it will release a tablet computer that runs the operating system this summer. On Wednesday, Apotheker reiterated what HP officials have said in the past, that they expect to install WebOS on printers and PCs. But Apotheker also said the company sees much wider potential for the software. He envisions it running on everything from specialized devices designed for HP's business customers to the appliances that might be found in consumers' homes. In bringing WebOS to new products, HP is already talking to other gadget manufacturers about licensing the software. "It's a uniquely outstanding operating system," Apotheker said. "Why wouldn't we make it available to other people?" In the near future, HP expects to have WebOS running on every printer it sells for more than $100, he said. And the company plans to install WebOS on every PC it sells. At first, it will simply be an alternative to Windows. But Apotheker implied that in the future, WebOS could potentially be installed instead of Windows. While Microsoft's operating system runs on 100 percent of the PCs HP ships today, that won't be the case in the future, he said. To date, consumers have bought relatively few WebOS devices; its market share is tiny compared with that of Apple's (AAPL) iOS, which runs on the iPhone, or Google's (GOOG) Android software. Palm didn't have the resources to make WebOS a success in the market, and HP has been slow to roll out WebOS devices, Apotheker said. "That's one thing I regret, that HP didn't take Palm and WebOS to market quicker," he said, noting that he arrived at HP after the company acquired Palm. "It would have made life easier." Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/troywolv. ___ To see more of the San Jose Mercury News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mercurynews.com. Copyright (c) 2011, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) |