LG’s putting webOS to good use – as the basis for its new smart TV platform. The operating system has taken many turns in its long and varied history, starting out as a smartphone platform under Palm and then later finding a home at HP through acquisition, as a basis for the doomed HP TouchPad. Finally, it’s now ended up at LG.
I spoke to LG’s Itai Vonshak, the VP of Design and Product Management for webOS at the company, about what his newly integrated company brings to the table for LG and for smart TVs. The key ingredient is bringing the power of HTML5 and the native web to LG’s TV hardware in as seamless a way as possible.
This is just the beginning for LG’s webOS plans, too. Vonshak didn’t have anything more specific to share about the company’s plans for webOS on other platforms including connected appliances and smartphones than what LG said on stage, but the company did reveal it’s a least taking steps in those directions.
WebOS may end up becoming the platform that outlives us all at this rate, but for now just watching to see how it impacts the race for the best, most-connected smart TV platform is interesting enough.
