Big news for webOS fans today, as the beta version of Open webOS has been released. The news was announced on The Open webOS Project blog, with the team explaining that the beta version contains 54 webOS components and over 450,000 lines of code. The release is made up of two build environments: one for desktops that'll allow developers to add things like new features to the platform, and then an OpenEmbedded build "for porting webOS to new and exciting devices." Also included in the release are goodies like an ARM emulator in the OpenEmbedded build and System Manager support for applications in the desktop build, which includes Core Applications (think Calendar and Contacts) and third party Enyo apps.
HP originally announced plans to open source webOS in December 2011, with the intent being to allow other parties (including developers manufacturers) to contribute to the growth of webOS after HP opted to "discontinue operations" on webOS hardware a few months prior. According to the Open webOS schedule shown in January, we can expect Open webOS 1.0 to land in September. It'll definitely be interesting to see what devs can cook up with both this beta release and next month's full release, and I'm sure many webOS fans are glad to see the open source version of the platform gaining steam rather than simply fading away after HP axed its webOS hardware plans. Anyone interested in checking out the Open webOS beta can find all the necessary information at the links below.
