Long after HP abandoned webOS as a platform for Palm smartphones and tablets, LG is still using the technology it acquired in 2013 to run applications and manage voice assistants on new smart TVs. While continuing to maintain an open source edition, LG has just confirmed that it will open the webOS ecosystem for use by other manufacturers, naming RCA, Ayonz and Konka as some of the brands that have joined. An earlier report mentioned Blaupunkt as well.
LG Home Entertainment President Park Hyoung-sei said in a statement: “By welcoming other manufacturers to join the webOS TV ecosystem, we are embarking on a new path that allows many new owners of TV experience the same excellent user experience and features available as LG TVs. “Other manufacturers already use panels made by LG Display, so extending the availability of their software can be an easy business to do.
So far, no other top-tier manufacturer has been mentioned as joining this business, but it adds another option to the mix of low-cost smart TVs that already run Android, Roku or Amazon’s Fire TV. This can also benefit people who buy LG TVs as it creates a larger audience. Streaming services can prioritize the platform for new applications and features, if they haven’t already.
According The Verge, licensees will start running webOS 5.0 – the latest version for which their SDK is publicly available – instead of the latest version that discards the blade launcher entirely for a more traditional look. Park Hyoung-sei said that version 6.0 is “the most significant update since we introduced webOS in 2014”, so hopefully it will be widely available sooner or later.