Over the years there have been countless operating systems that have since died and been forgotten; but few have had the chance - or should I say the resilience - to survive even when all seemed lost. I'm referring to WebOS, a very capable mobile OS that had more than a few things to show any other mobile OS, but that unfortunately wasn't able to be pushed forward by Palm. Then HP took over, and people hoped this would be it, with such a giant behind it, WebOS would finally make it to the big leagues... But we all know out that turned out. Now... once again WebOS seem to defy it's own death, as LG has bought it from HP.
For now LG says their interest it to put it on their Smart TVs, but I don't think LG will stop there. Maybe they'll use the SmartTV platform to iron out some of the quirks and get to know what they can do with WebOS... but it would be a waste not to use it in their own smartphones - replacing their current proprietary mobile OS that, let's be frank about it... sucks.
However, bringing the WebOS back from the grave is not something that will depend on the WebOS alone. People will require it to have a very strong App market that will attract developers, and users, and make it "work". That will certainly be the most difficult part. But, maybe it will join Firefox OS in showing that we do need to make a transition to Web based technology and apps, that free us from any platform specific app store. Who knows?... Maybe WebOS will end up being everything it should have been in the first place.
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