LG at work on WebOS-based HDTV, report says

From CNET News.com: LG has teamed up with Gram, the organization established by HP to handle the WebOS project, to create a television that will be running on the open-source operating system, according to a new report from WebOS Nation. That blog reports that LG and Gram have been working closely for several months on the project.

The road to Gram has been a long and hard one for HP. In 2010, the company made the ill-advised decision to acquire Palm for $1.2 billion. After a few product launches -- including the HP Veer smartphone and TouchPad tablet -- turned customers away, HP quietly folded the operation.

Late last year, HP CEO Meg Whitman decided to open-source the operating system. Earlier this year, the company announced that the WebOS Project had been spun off into Gram. It also announced the first version of WebOS in beta.

That LG is considering building a television platform on an operating system that was built for mobile products is rather surprising. And according to WebOS Nation, the company has faced several pitfalls in developing the operating system, including getting apps onto the software. LG has reportedly used Enyo, an application development framework, to partner with developers and bring apps to the television, including Netflix.

The other issue, according to WebOS Nation, is WebOS' slow boot times. LG is reportedly considering leaving the computer behind the television running all the time, and only flipping the screen off when a user hits the "off" button. There's no telling how that might impact power consumption.

LG, like other manufacturers, is feeling the pressure of delivering integrated services with its televisions. Earlier this month, NPD reported that so-called Smart TVs, which offer apps and Web connections, have witnessed shipments rise 15 percent this year. Smart TV shipments are expected to rise over the next several years.

View: Article @ Source Site