Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman says the company’s soon-to-be open source WebOS software will eventually be better than both the Android and iOS platforms.

HP will launch the first version of the reimagined operating system in September this year after deciding to commit the storied software to the open source community.

Whitman said the result will prove to be superior to the ‘closed’ Apple iOS ecosystem and the undeniably ‘fragmented’ Android platform.

She also confirmed that the company will re-enter the tablet market, following the HP TouchPad debacle of 2011.

An open and closed case

In an interview with CRN, she said: “There is a clear vision of what we’re trying to accomplish.

“There will be some people who will not love that vision, and then there are people who are very excited about this vision, and what it can mean for an alternative, open-source operating system that has some real strengths to it.

“We’re going to build another operating system that has huge advantages, in my view, over iOS, which is a closed system, [and] Android, which is incredibly fragmented and may ultimately be more closed with [Google's] acquisition of Motorola Mobility.”

Windows 8 tablet

Whitman, who took the reigns at the world’s largest PC manufacturer in September last year, also stated that HP will be in amongst it when the first Windows 8 tablets come to market later this year.

She said: “We have to have a tablet offering,” Whitman said. “We will be back in that business. We’re coming back into the market with a Windows 8 tablet, first on an x86 chip and then maybe on an ARM chip.”

Via: CRN, BGR

BBX: 10 things you need to know

The future of BlackBerry is HTML5 plus the same QNX operating system that’s in the PlayBook – and also in many cars, set-top boxes and even nuclear power stations.

The next version of the BlackBerry OS will be called BlackBerry 10 or BB10 (not BBX after a lawsuit was filed), it will run on phones as well as tablets and it’s a big change from the current BlackBerry OS (based on a mobile version of Java).

It also means rewriting all the BlackBerry apps out there, including RIM’s own apps like email and calendar, which we still haven’t seen on the PlayBook.

We don’t know the BB10 release date, although we’re expecting to see it next year – but here’s what we do know.

1. BlackBerry 10 isn’t the next version of the PlayBook OS

There’s an update coming for the PlayBook, called PlayBook OS 2.0, which adds key missing apps like email and BBM, but that’s not BB 10 and it won’t have all the BlackBerry features that BlackBerry 10 will include like voice search and push notification for apps.

RIM VP Chris Smith told TechRadar: “The vision is that all the native services in BlackBerry – whether that’s enterprise integration or push or payments, the vision is those services will still be available for developers to plug in to. They will come across onto BBX in the future but it’s incorrect to say they’ll be there on PlayBook 2 out of the gate.”

NOT BBX: The beta of the PlayBook OS 2.0 update looks just like the PlayBook

2. The beta isn’t BB 10 and you don’t want it

If you want to upgrade your PlayBook you can get a beta version today, but this is strictly a developer preview (and the instructions for signing up for the preview are suitably arcane.)

It doesn’t include any of the applications that will be in the PlayBook 2.0 operating system like email, calendar, contacts and BBM, although all the apps that came with the original PlayBook still work just as well.

What it does have is Air 3 and Flash Player 11, the latest version of the Bolt HTML5 browser and the runtime for using Android apps that have been repackaged by developers for BlackBerry – but unless you have your own Android source code to work with, you won’t see Android running.

3. BlackBerry 10 won’t run BlackBerry apps

When the PlayBook first came out, RIM talked about building a BlackBerry emulator so you could keep your existing apps. That’s not going to happen.

“I don’t want to tell you it was an easy decision,” the new head of developer evangelism at RIM Alec Saunders told TechRadar; “we spent a lot of energy on getting the BlackBerry Java platform to run in BBX.”

But when they looked at how the apps would compare to what you could build on BB10 with QNX, HTML5 and AIR, “it would look like a diminished experience”.

4. But BBX will run Android apps

BBX and PlayBook OS 2.0 will run Android apps, but you can’t just download them from Android Marketplace – they have to be repackaged for BlackBerry 10. That doesn’t mean changing the code but the developer has to take the .APK source code and use the RIM tools to turn it into an app.

And not every Android app can be repackaged, Saunders explained to us. “As an Android OEM you get to licence Google Maps. We’re not an Android OEM, so we don’t. If you have an app that relies on Google Maps it won’t run but there are about 70% of apps that will come across unchanged.”

SOME ANDROID: Not all Android apps can be packaged for BB10 but the Pulse social media client looks good on the PlayBook

5. HTML5 and Flash are the future

The Bolt browser for the BlackBerry is based on WebKit and ex-co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said RIM will be “investing in making sure we have the best HTML5 implementation in the world”.

It’s not just about web pages. RIM VP Alan Brenner told us he expects “the vast majority” of apps to be HTML5 within a few years. Developers can start work now; HTML5 and Air apps that work with BlackBerry 7 will also run on BB10.

The PlayBook is getting Flash Player 11 and Air 3 (the runtime that Photoshop Touch for Android is built in) in the next update. That puts RIM in head-to-head competition with Android tablets and it might come down to who can do the best job of connecting phone features like push notification to Web apps; RIM is promising to let Web apps integrate deeply with BlackBerry 10 features like the inbox and BBM.

SPECIAL EFFECTS: The RIM browser team is working on HTML5 standards and tools, like the AliceJS library to make it easier to do animations in CSS

6. It looks like only one phone will launch with BB 10

Despite the song and dance that RIM has made about its next-gen BlackBerry 10 handsets, sources say the company now only has one so-called ‘superphone’ under development.

The two handsets codenamed BlackBerry Colt and BlackBerry Milan have reportedly been kicked to the curb by the Canadian company, with only the BlackBerry London still in the running.

According to BGR‘s sources, despite some minor design changes, the London still looks very much like the leaked prototype we reported on back in October 2011.

7. Native is the future too

Thanks to QNX, BB10 – and the PlayBook today – can run the same kind of C++ code as a PC, Mac or console and most of the major gaming engines like Unity, Marmalade and ShiVa3D are now available for building PlayBook games, so you’ll see games using the same animation engine as on the PlayStation 3.

RIM is building a lot of open source projects right into the platform for developers to work with – including the Qt framework that was at the heart of Intel and Nokia’s ill-fated Meego operating system. That gives developers who are used to other platforms a lot of tools to build apps with that other mobile devices don’t have.

8. There’s lots of 3D: meet Cascades

Forget the boring black and blue BlackBerry interface; BB 10 apps will have 3D effects and animations so pages flip on and off screen, lists fold up like a concertina when you filter them and photographs curl slightly at the side like a real print.

That’s courtesy of user interface company The Amazing Tribe that RIM bought last year; they’ve written a user interface framework on top of Qt called Cascades that makes it easy to create those kinds of special effects.

The PlayBook picture viewer actually uses an early version of this but BlackBerry 10 will have far more effects and any app can use them.

3D LOOK: Cascades makes on-screen pictures look real and BB10 apps look more elegant

9. Think PlayBook in the car

The current PlayBook OS is based on the version of QNX built for car makers and “the next generation of QNX for cars is going to be built from BBX,” Alec Saunders told us; car makers are keen to use HTML5 for in-car information and entertainment.

That makes it easier to treat your car as another device, he suggested, and to share information. “Ultimately you will be able to transition from your smartphone to your tablet to your TV to your car. Sync will be important. I think you’ll start to see devices do things like Bridge today, where it mirrors [on the PlayBook] what’s on the BlackBerry handset.

“You’ll use one device to access what’s on another. QNX is made for these kind of scenarios, projecting information from one device to another. You won’t have five devices and have all your content on everything; it’s going to have to grow seamlessly across them.”

10. BlackBerry 7 isn’t dead yet

There will be BlackBerry 10 phones; “future unnamed devices” as Alec Saunders mysteriously puts it. But BlackBerry 7 phones will be on sale for quite a while, with new models launched recently and there will be new services coming out for BlackBerry 6 and 7 like the BBM Music social media sharing system.

RIM’s going to have to compete with Honeycomb tablets (and probably Ice Cream Sandwich ones too) with the PlayBook 2.0 update; BB 10 will probably come out in time to compete with Windows 8.

11. BlackBerry 10 is / isn’t delayed

RIM was forced to hit back at reports that it lied about the reason for the delay in bringing the next generation of BlackBerry phones to the market.

Boy Genius Report posted a story claiming that phones running the new BB10 operation system had been pushed back because RIM did “not have a working product.”

This contradicted the Canadians’ assertion that BB10 handsets would not arrive until later in 2012 because it was waiting for new LTE chipsets to be manufactured.

RIM’s full statement reads: “RIM made a strategic decision to launch BlackBerry 10 devices with a new, LTE-based dual-core chipset architecture. As explained on our earnings call, the broad engineering impact of this decision and certain other factors significantly influenced the anticipated timing for the BlackBerry 10 devices.

“The anonymous claim suggesting otherwise is inaccurate and uninformed. As RIM has previously explained, and as Mike Lazaridis reiterated on the earnings call, we will not launch BlackBerry 10 devices until we know they are ready and we believe this new chipset architecture is required to deliver the world-class user experience that our customers will expect. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply false.

“We appreciate the interest in our future platform and we will continue to work hard to deliver that platform as soon as possible. At the same time, we also remain very excited with the success of our recently launched BlackBerry 7 smartphones and we believe these products offer a very compelling choice for both new customers and the almost 75 million BlackBerry users around the world.”

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HP’s WebOS will begin life as an open source operating system in September 2012 after the company committed to a release time frame.

The operating system, developed and formerly owned by Palm, was given a stay of execution last month when HP decided to offer the software up to the open source community rather than ditch the division.

The source code will be released in September, but for now developers can get cracking on building apps with today’s launch of the Enyo 2.0 tool.

Enyo 2.0 enables developers to create apps for WebOS, which will also work for Android, iOS and web browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome.

Decisive step forward

“HP is bringing the innovation of the webOS platform to the open source community,” said Bill Veghte, HP’s executive vice president and chief strategy officer.

“This is a decisive step toward meeting our goal of accelerating the platform’s development and ensuring that its benefits will be delivered to the entire ecosystem of web applications.”

In today’s announcement HP has laid out the timescale for the next nine months which will result in the launch of a full WebOS course code in September.

The company originally bought WebOS from Palm in April 2010 for $1.2 billion but its grand plans to enter the smartphone and tablet business ended in failure when the Pre 3 and TouchPad floundered badly.

An Android-aping iPad 3 would be utter rubbish

Indulging jailbreakers’ lust for customisation by making iOS more ‘open source’ is the worst thing Apple could possibly do to the iPad 3.

Some people, cough cough, think Apple should embrace the open source ethos and make iOS 6 more flexible. Much as it pains me to disagree with my esteemed colleague, he’s wrong. All wrong.

I’m one of those people that finds Android incredibly messy. That’s one of the reasons why I favour an iPhone over any Android handset – I’ve used Android phones before and the interface of each and every one has consistently annoyed me by either looking awful or sucking up masses of my time trying to make it look good. Ice Cream Sandwich will make this a lot less painful, I’m sure, but as easy as iOS? Nope.

Eazy-E

Absolutely the best thing about iOS being controlled and insular is that it makes everything very easy: easy to use, easy on the eye, easy to get what you want and easy to put it where you want it. Easy.

This wealth of simplicity makes Apple’s OS incredibly inclusive. I don’t just mean that my tech-phobic great aunt can get to grips with a simple row of apps; I’m talking more specifically about my tech-loving brother, Michael, who has Down’s syndrome.

Michael has an iPad and an iPod touch. He uses them non-stop – downloading apps, FaceTiming, watching videos, creating playlists (full of awful pop music but what can you do) – and he’s only ever called me for tech support twice.

Do you think he’d have as much success with an Android tablet or phone? I don’t. I think I’d have to block his number because he’d be on the phone to me every three minutes – or his expensive gadgets would sit in a drawer gathering dust. Adding new and inevitably more complicated options will only make this already-advanced tech seem even more intimidating to the tech-illiterate.

Jailbreakers anonymous

Fine, you may say, but those people aren’t the masses. Fine, I counter, but neither are the jailbreakers: one million iPad 2 and iPhone 4S devices have been jailbroken in three days, thus proving, Gareth argues, that added customisation and access to non-Apple approved apps is what the people want.

But that’s one million out of how many? Apple sold one million iPad 2s in the first weekend they were available and over four million iPhone 4S handsets in its first weekend. One million jailbroken devices is a drop in the ocean.

“Apple wants to preserve the iconic look of its iOS,” reckons Gareth. “But it will need to let go of that idea if it hopes to keep users hooked in the future as rivals offer more customisation.”

Wrong again, Beavis. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Apple can do whatever the hell it likes and people will love it. Take voice control – nobody needed that, people barely even wanted it and yet Siri is the headline feature of arguably the most successful iPhone yet. Apple sets the bar, Apple doesn’t follow suit.

And seriously, what options do you need that you don’t already have? Changing the background, rearranging icons, filing apps in folders that you can rename… what more do you want? Widgets?

The only time widgets have ever be vaguely useful in day-to-day life is when you want to check the weather at a glance. And, to be honest, that’s only useful in the mornings before I open my curtains because otherwise I can just look out the window.

That’s not to say I’m going to faff about asking Siri if I need an umbrella or not either though – like many people, I am cool with the two-second process of tapping a button before receiving information that I consume with my eyes.

If Apple takes a leaf out of the Android book of customisation for the iPhone 5 and iPad 3, as Gareth suggests it should, it would put iOS on a rocky road to exclusion and annoyance.

Jailbreakers are a fearless lot: fair play to them for being the masters of their own destinies and taking matters into their own hands. But they’re the exception, not the majority. Leave them to their fun and keep things simple for the rest of us.

Apple might be one of the biggest hitters in the smartphone and tablet space, but it needs a big re-think of its strategy if it’s going to stay at the sharp end.

Sure, iOS 5 has been a big hit, with record numbers of iPhone 4S and iPad 2 sales plus the conversion of older devices to the new platform, but unless something changes soon the Cupertino brand could begin slipping backwards quickly.

The news that record numbers of iPhone and iPad jailbreaks are now happening (one million in three days) should tell Cook’s crew all they need to know about user trends: iConsumers want more freedom with their Apple gadgets and are starting to look longingly at their Android counterparts more frequently.

That’s not to say that Apple’s got it all wrong up to now; far from it, its success in mobile devices has been predicated on creating a controlled, simple and, above all, usable system, and that should never change.

But smartphone users are moving from buying the iPhone as the de facto gadget to purchase if you’re looking to move into the world of apps to more discerning handset owners – the rise and rise of Android sales is testament to that, and searches for ways to customise the experience on a new smartphone is hitting an all time high.

Inviting the devil to tea

So what Apple needs to do is finally embrace the jailbreak ethos and begin to give users the choice – we’re not talking letting any old title through the App Store or handing over development to hacker forums, but a greater degree of customisation should be number one on the list for iOS 6 features.

There’s no reason why Apple shouldn’t allow users to have alternative homescreens – widget-filled paradises compared to the current rows and rows of icons, or simply just tweaking the way the notifications bar looks to suit a user’s preference.

But Apple wants to preserve the iconic look of its iOS – it’s a pivotal part of the brand presence created by that ‘large screen, home button’ look it’s worked on for so long – but it will need to let go of that idea if it hopes to keep users hooked in the future as rivals offer more customisation.

Installing non-validated apps is a bit more treacherous though; while we’d love to be able to install all and sundry on our iPad, users that don’t understand the dangers and battery-sucking capabilities of apps from the internet will quickly blame Apple for ‘letting’ them ruin their device in some way.

Jailbreaking – not a dirty word

But Apple has to be aware that the jailbreak community has moved from the hacker in a bedroom spending hours and hours working a way to open up their iPhone to a simple process that many users are willing to use in order to exercise a level of control over their Apple product.

That’s not to say it should dispense with simplicity altogether – there are reams of users that can’t be bothered with ‘all that messy Android stuff’ – but customisation should be an option.

Total control over the user experience has absolutely been the right idea up until now – but that’s not going to last forever. The brand has shown its open to popular ideas from other operating systems (pull-down notifications bar sound familiar?) so let’s hope that it can repeat the trick and make iOS 6 just a touch more open source.