HP WIll Produce more WebOS Hardware

A small update about the WebOS situation: HP will produce more WebOS tablets, but not phones.

HP announced not too long ago that WebOS will be given to the open source community, but at the time it wasn’t clear if any new hardware would be produced.

Well, the company claims that it is still dedicated to the platform, and that it will continue to produce hardware for the platform.

The Verge managed to score an eclusive interview with CEO Meg Whitman and board member Marc Andreessen where the two revealed that HP will be releasing new hardware, but not necessarily in 2012.

When asked about what form factor the devices will come in, Meg said that it would most likely be tablets. She said that there are no plans to reenter the smartphone market.

A tidbit that Mark let loose was that, when asked about HP keeping IP back, he said the intent was to be truly open. While he didn’t come out and say “We’re giving away the IP to those who want to use it,” he did hint that that may be the case. and Meg made sure to make it clear that Enyo, the app platform behind WebOS, was included in that.

In all, this bodes very well for WebOS. The company seems to be actually dedicated to it, and they will be keeping much of the old team to work on the software. Meg said that they don’t expect it to be an overnight success, comparing the project to other open source ventures Mozilla Firefox and Red Hat.

If the company plays its cards right, WebOS could yet live again. And if it manages to get traction, it will have a hell of a story to tell. Few products have changed hands and directions so often.

The Verge Photo by : Don DeBold