LG has had a few announcements at CES over the years and some of them have included webOS since the company unveiled it’s webOS smart TVs in 2014.
The televisions are now on to version 3 of the OS. Late last year we saw stories that webOS would appear on a video projector and in the last few days a refrigerator.
What did the CES presentation in Las Vegas have to offer? As ever, it was less than hoped (at least for webOS on mobile fans), but within the bounds of it’s presentation, what was shown was very impressive.
We send our best wishes to our readers at this time of year. To those that celebrate Christmas, other seasonal festivals or none at all, be of good cheer for webOS still seems to be here for another year!
News crumbs is where we briefly note stories that may have some interest to webOS users. In light of the season, this one will be a little ‘fatter’. Let’s talk turkey.
The start of this month saw the arrival of a new app for webOS. The occasional app still appears along with the various fixes and patches that keep the system running despite the time that has passed since any official, corporate support from it’s creators. These gifts are usually unexpected, so pleasant surprises. DianBao, a client for the Telegram messaging service, may have brought an additional gift. Singaporean developer and forum member, ‘mrrekcuf’ originally created the app as a prize-winning entry for a competition to make a Blackberry 10 app. To port it to Legacy webOS has also meant porting the Qt5 cross-platform application framework. It is this up to date version that has allowed many of the new features of LuneOS, including a modern browser. It remains to be seen if this development will lead anywhere, but if one thing could bring yet another lease of life to Legacy webOS, a new browser would be it. Comment thread.
At webOS Ports, the build servers will be down for the last few days of 2016. Don’t panic! It is only for maintenance and upgrades. LuneOS developers take note.
For those developing apps for LG webOS televisions, note that LG’s developer website will also be shut down just after Christmas. Again, it is merely to allow for a new, improved site! Here’s the announcement. From the 27th the new web address will be: webostv.developer.lge.com
Over the years, webOS enthusiasts have experienced highs and lows from the Consumer Electronics Show. At this time of year we look to the start of January to see what items of interest may be exhibited in Las Vegas. One such item is the LG Probeam laser projector. While only a slight step to a new product category, this at least shows LG’s continuing commitment to webOS in their audio / visual products. Comment thread.
News that may be of interest to Palm fans is that TCL / Alcatel has signed a license deal with Blackberry to produce phones (the last couple of BB phones were rebranded TCL models). New products may well be exhibited at CES next month. Notable for us was TCL’s purchase of the ‘Palm’ brand almost two years ago. Since that announcement, there has only been silence… Comment thread.
Remember Classic? It was the PalmOS emulator you could use to run old Palm apps on webOS. Those who follow us on Twitter, may have noticed a few retweets when former editor of webOS Nation, Dieter Bohn announced a redesign of his current site, The Verge. He rashly promised a sticker for the first screen shot of the site on a Palm Pre. Alan Morford is not one to do things by halves.
That’s it for now. See you in the new year with an announcement about pivotCE.
It is said that a watched pot never boils, but will a webOS toaster send a pop-up toaster alert to a webOS watch when the toast is ready? Only time will tell…
We have another Chicago meet up on the 11th, 7pm at Moretti’s in Schaumburg. (Note: That’s THIS SUNDAY, not the 15th – which was previously posted in error). New faces are welcome.
There is some background on the webOS watch excitement from The Wall Street Journal. It seems the plan is to slowly build the eco-system. After the webOS watch, the software on home appliances (toaster?!) is also a possibility. Sadly LG seems to believe that on phones, “everyone expects Android”, so there may be a long wait for that product.
More Smart Watch news! Metaview has added Pebble compatibility to this app. Give it a try with your Pebble watch.
As we mentioned here back in October, LG let slip they were building a webOS smart watch. Thanks to CES, LG has confirmed this to be true. The watch is slated for a 2016 production release.
Android Central has the exclusive and webOS Nation adds their own speculation. But the key to take away is that LG is building an ‘ecosystem’. Forgive me for speculating but a company does not build an ecosystem with just a watch and of course, TVs…
So allow me to predict the future for a second: webOS smart phone in 2016. I’m calling it. 😉
Be sure to check Android Central’s article for more photos and here’s their video:
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