Hewlett-Packard makes webOS open source

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has announced plans to make its webOS platform open source.

Chief executive Meg Whitman confirmed that the firm's 600-strong webOS will be given autonomy to take advantage of the 750,000 HP Touchpads on the market, as well as Palm smartphones.

"By combining the innovative webOS platform with the development power of the open source community, there is the opportunity to significantly improve applications and web services for the next generation of devices," said HP in a statement.

HP acquired webOS when it bought out Palm in a $1.2bn deal last year. The operating system was partly responsible for a $2bn write-off in the company's last fiscal quarter.

However, Whitman said that HP will not release any devices running webOS in 2012. The company is developing two Windows 8-powered tablets for launch next year.

"In 2012 as you know we're bringing two Windows 8 tablets ... DS