Submitted by “As April draws to a close we are pleased to share more code for Open webOS. This month’s scheduled release includes support for Node.js as well as updates to Enyo and Ares. In addition, we are pleased to announce early delivery of the System Manager Bus (which was originally scheduled for July) and a release of three policy components based on our Platform Portability Layer. We’re happy to be ahead of schedule in getting this component of the Open webOS platform into your hands.” Can’t wait for the day I can run an up-to-date WebOS version on my SII.
It will be curious to see how competing HTML heavy platforms try to distinguish themselves, yet provide opportunity for portability that seems to be the underlying premise behind an HTML based application platform (once you get beyond base line familiarity).
If Tizen and WebOS can come to some reasonable common ground in terms of platform features as exposed via HTML5, then app writers can target both, and device makers can focus on other issues than app availability in terms of platform choice. But if they’re still racing to distinguish themselves in to oblivion, I don’t know what else could be done.
Don’t forget boot2gecko, here’s to hoping those three indeed get a common ground for software developers. Don’t mind the different ui’s (which is where webos shines), but a common app-ecosystem kinda should be the point of using web-based technology.
Boot2gecko sound sort of like a mee-too project inspired by the chromium OS. Ever since the demise of Mozilla Prism, I haven’t taken much of their side projects too seriously.
I have the complete opposite feeling. Mozilla seems to be very serious about boot2gecko and is investing heavily in it. They also seem to be the only ones that make webapps a number one priority.
Tizen, webos, ms phone, chrome(os) all seem like dead ends to me. Look at what google is doing with ‘webapps’ only making them work in chrome and using plugins like nacl. Look at what ms is doing with ‘webapps’ where they only run on IE.
Watch out for Mozilla’s marketplace where they will give you an apps experience with webapps that should be able to work on any browser/device.
The only cool things are the hardware interaction api’s which everyone of those projects has written differently, and will not work on anyone else’s os unless they write support for it.
The only apps that will work on anyone else’s device are those webpages that are already in existence now. Why do you need a marketplace for them? Isn’t that just a limited version of Google? Just a terrible waste of Mozilla’s scarce resources, IMHO.
So the people in Mozilla claiming otherwise are dumb?
The huge success of apps should give you clue about why making a webpage into an app is a good idea.
I don’t think they are claiming this. As it would be stupid. How else are operating systems and browsers already written going to support api’s that are only now being written? And yes, I don’t think anyone is going to implement their apis as everyone has their own version of doing the same thing.
Do you remember the start of the app? Steve Jobs said himself, you write the apps in HTML 5 for the iphone. Then apparently he saw the light and introduced the app store with the iphone 3G. People want native.
I don’t think Steve Jobs had the best interests of users in mind$$$. I also don’t think that people will know the difference between apps and webapps. How would they know?
Yeah sort of a good point, in theory. In reality, webapps just don’t “belong” on devices. No one has made a webapp that appears to be as well designed for the system as a native app. Mozilla’s prism was pretty much proof that they are not the same thing. They tried integrating web apps and making them appear to be normal apps, but it wasn’t worth the bother. Bookmarks work just as well.
I guess really the only true differentiator they could come up with is raw dhtml / canvas performance, that’s one of Android’s uncovered flanks.
By delivering order of magnitude better performance they could have a selling point and maybe tempt some app houses to pour more energy into their mobile web interfaces.
And the pain to make CSS+HTML+JavaScript work in a consistent state across multiple browsers and operating systems.
Who are they developing this OS for? There is no hardware being sold that can run it or there?
“Can’t wait for the day I can run an up-to-date WebOS version on my SII”
Is there any particular advantage to running WebOS on it over Android then?
Yeah, there is an advantage. You just need to use a WebOS Tablet oder phone and you will see that the Usability is much more advance than at an android tablet.
Edit: I can’t read. totally misread your post. Never mind.
Edited 2012-05-19 03:30 UTC
Considering I have never used webOS… I don’t know. That’s kind of the point.
Just in case you should find yourself with money to burn, used Pre 3s are being auctioned on eBay Germany for around 150 Euros at the moment
http://www.ebay.de/ccg/HP-Pre-3-8GB-Schwarz-Ohne-Simlock-Smartphone…