WebOS Team Flees HP, Jumps Onboard Android Ship

From DailyTech: When Hewlett-Packard Comp.'s (HPQ) bold and ultimately doomed webOS experiment was terminated, many assumed that was the end. But it turns out that webOS had more fans than it seemed and many a blog was written bemoaning the loss of innovative features like "swipe to dismiss" multitasking tiles. WebOS even briefly managed to seize second place in tablet sales, thanks to enthusiasm surrounding the TouchPad clearance sale.

But HP has committed to open sourcing webOS and stepping out of the mobile market for now, so those who stuck it out on the "Enyo" team, a core group of webOS developers, were bound to be head somewhere else. (Enyo was the name of the open sourced version of the JavaScript framework used in webOS.)

Turns out that "somewhere else" is Google Inc. (GOOG), makers of the world's most used smartphone operating system, Android, according a report by The Verge. The tie-up seems a natural fit. After all, many members of Android's team are already veterans of Palm, whom HP acquired webOS and the webOS team from. Android's design chief Matias Duarte is an ex-Palm veteran, who launched just before the launch of the original Pre.

Despite these departures, HP says it will stick to the plan to open source webOS, starting with the first finished Enyo release. The company writes:

We're pleased with the traction Enyo has gained to date and plan to continue its development along with the open source community. The Open webOS project is on schedule and we remain committed to the roadmap announced in January.

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