Gadgetgo » WebOS

Refresh Roundup: week of May 7th, 2012

Zachary Lutz — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:34:00 +0000

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of May 7th, 2012

Refresh Roundup: week of May 7th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 20:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Switched On: Not weaned from Windows

Ross Rubin — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 21:30:00 +0000

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

This recent announcement that Dell would not be pursuing new smartphones for the time being following the retirement of its Venue Windows Phone devices raised the spotlight on PC companies -- at least those other than Apple -- and why they have struggled so mightily in the US smartphone market. Virtually every major PC company, including HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba and ASUS, has either passed completely on entering the domestic market or released only a handful of models without much carrier support behind them. HP, of course, made the largest investment in mobile with the purchase of an ailing developer of devices and operating systems. But even before that Palm slapped its forehead, HP had only casually flirted with smartphones, releasing a few token Windows Mobile smartphones.

PC companies have been fighting the battle with some heavy handicaps.

To be fair to these companies, the investment demands of the ultra-competitive smartphone market have proven formidable for many companies, including many, like Motorola, Nokia and RIM, that were once considered masters of the game. Even companies that have not seen such a prolonged decline, like HTC, can find the tables turned on them in the course of a financial quarter. But PC companies have been fighting the battle with some heavy handicaps.

Continue reading Switched On: Not weaned from Windows

Switched On: Not weaned from Windows originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

HP cuts 275 webOS jobs in transition to open source

Christopher Trout — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:27:00 +0000

In news that should come as little surprise to anyone who's followed the decline of the ill-fated brand, HP is reportedly laying off 275 webOS employees as it transitions the division from producing hardware to open source software. The cuts have apparently been in the works since the company announced the move to open source back in December, and follow on the heels of former Palm chief, Jon Rubinstein's departure last month. A statement from the outfit cited the need for "a more nimble team" to "sustain HP's commitment to the software over the long term," and stated HP's intentions "to redeploy employees affected by these changes to other roles at the company." While reports have surfaced saying the cuts are primarily in engineering, we're told positions in multiple departments are at stake.

HP cuts 275 webOS jobs in transition to open source originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink webOS Nation | | Email this | Comments

New privacy policy standards agreed to by world’s major app store owners

Terrence O'Brien — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:01:00 +0000

The California Attorney General has struck a deal with the world's major app store opperators that will see new privacy policy standards put in place. Apple, Google, Microsoft, HP, RIM and Amazon have all agreed to require any software that uses personal information to provide a privacy policy that can be viewed in the store before an app is downloaded. The agreement will bring the various markets in line with the California Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires developers provide such a policy. In addition to providing links to the relevant documents in an obvious and consistent location, the companies will have to offer a simple way for users to report devs that violate the rules. For more details about the deal check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading New privacy policy standards agreed to by world's major app store owners

New privacy policy standards agreed to by world's major app store owners originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MacRumors | California Department of Justice | Email this | Comments

HP rolls out more open webOS components, new Isis browser and some organization

Mat Smith — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:12:00 +0000

While we thought a tasteful retrospective was the way to go, it looks like HP's not finished picking over those webOS bones. The company has now released the UI widgets for Enyo 2.0 (following its source code release last month), details on how webOS deals with the Javascript core and a new Isis web browser. The browser will apparently add "enhanced support" for plug-ins and Flash -- even if its days are numbered. HP also plans to corral dev efforts, organizing projects and assigning management committees -- based on a "meritocracy" -- to different parts of the code. We're promised yet more OS components to reveal themselves in the next few months, with the full open webOS release expected to roll out in September.

Continue reading HP rolls out more open webOS components, new Isis browser and some organization

HP rolls out more open webOS components, new Isis browser and some organization originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink webOSnation, Phonescoop | HP webOS developer blog | Email this | Comments

Switched On: The fit and the pendulum

Ross Rubin — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

In the pre-smartphone era, the industry focused on making cell phones smaller. In the 2001 movie Zoolander, the title character played by Ben Stiller uses a humorously diminutive flip phone closer to the size of a Bluetooth headset than the StarTAC it parodies. But if the movie were being made today (IMDB lists a sequel slated for 2014), the fictional male model might hold up an iPad 2 or Toshiba Excite to his head: particularly since 2010, phones have been expanding to accommodate their sprawling displays.

Continue reading Switched On: The fit and the pendulum

Switched On: The fit and the pendulum originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

HP Veer 4G, Pre 3 and TouchPad celebrate a melancholy birthday

Zachary Lutz — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:40:00 +0000

Just one year ago, HP officially introduced the TouchPad, Pre 3 and Veer to its lineup. Much has happened in the 365 days since that time, which marked the end of the Palm brand, the discontinuation of the company's webOS hardware development and the decision to open source the crown jewel, webOS. Today, we hope you'll join us after the break as we bow our heads, sing some praises and remember the final three members -- for now, anyway -- of HP's webOS lineup. We'll have fireworks at the end.

Continue reading HP Veer 4G, Pre 3 and TouchPad celebrate a melancholy birthday

HP Veer 4G, Pre 3 and TouchPad celebrate a melancholy birthday originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink webOS Nation | | Email this | Comments

HP releases Android kernel for TouchPad, makes hackers’ lives easier

Terrence O'Brien — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:05:00 +0000

You may remember that during the TouchPad fire sale, a few slates slipped out with a rather primitive Froyo build on them. Well, HP doesn't seem to know how the tablets hit shelves with Android on board, but its decided to release the source code for the OS nonetheless. Devs had previously called on the company to hand over the code, but the request was refused since HP had never intended for TouchPads to ship with Android, and thus were not obligated to abide by the open-source requirements. As a gesture of goodwill to the community (and under a certain amount of pressure from it) the former purveyor of all things webOS has reversed course though, and let the TouchPad-specific kernel loose on the internet for others to repurpose as they see fit. Hit up the source link to download it now.

HP releases Android kernel for TouchPad, makes hackers' lives easier originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink webOS Nation | RootzWiki | Email this | Comments

webOS Enyo 1.0 now available to all, just requires patch and patience

Sharif Sakr — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:18:00 +0000

HP's Enyo framework is an essential ingredient for allowing new apps to work on webOS devices with different resolutions, but due to some sort of ethnocentric hiccup, v1.0 hasn't officially reached all international webOS phones and tablets. Fortunately, WebOS Internals has prepared a nice little Preware install package that anyone, anywhere can enjoy. At this point, adding Enyo will only provide access to a few extra apps, but at least the world will be reunited in its preparedness for a glistening future, right?

webOS Enyo 1.0 now available to all, just requires patch and patience originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink webOSNation | webOS Internals (Twitter) | Email this | Comments

Jon Rubinstein leaves Hewlett-Packard

Daniel Cooper — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:56:00 +0000

Former Palm chief Jon Rubinstein has left Hewlett-Packard, having completed the 24-month commitment period he agreed to when HP acquired Palm. An HP spokesperson has confirmed the story, first reported by AllThingsD, in a brief statement: "Jon has fulfilled his commitment and we wish him well."

Rubinstein rose to fame as a hardware guru at NeXT, ultimately joining Apple after the company acquired NeXT in 1996. He was instrumental in developing the iMac and PowerMac desktops before spearheading the iPod project that would herald the company's business dominance. After retiring in 2006, he joined Palm to revitalize the flagging device maker's fortunes, developing the Palm Pre and WebOS software before being crowned as its CEO in 2009. A year later, Hewlett-Packard purchased the company for $1.2 billion: but just a year later, pulled the shutters down as Rubinstein was shifted (or "dumped") to a "product innovation role" within HP, where he saw out the last of his retention period before departing. In a terse comment to The Verge, the man himself has said that he's "going to take some well deserved time off," and after the last twelve months, we wouldn't blame him.

Jon Rubinstein leaves Hewlett-Packard originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All Things D | | Email this | Comments