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LG WebOS smart TV on the way!

The Gadget Show  Thursday 25 October 2012

LG WebOS smart TV on the way!

The last time we saw Palm’s beautiful WebOS operating system, it was on the ill-fated TouchPad tablet, which ended up being unceremoniously dumped by HP just weeks after launch. The company has since moved to open-source the software, and now the project might be bearing fruit: according to a new report, LG is working on a WebOS TV, no less.

WebOS Nation reports that Gram, the company overseeing the open source project that was spun off from HP earlier this year (confusing, we know), is hard at work helping adapt the webOS interface for TVs, to replace LG’s NetCast service. LG is allegedly unhappy with the performance of Google TV so far, and keen to find another solution.

How to turn any TV into a smart TV

Open WebOS could be it, but there’s work to be done. When it first debuted on the Palm Pre in 2009, WebOS was years ahead of its time in terms of UI design with its unobtrusive notifications and intelligent multi-tasking. But it was sluggish, and indeed the report says that LG and Gram are having to work hard on the boot up time of it for the project: after all, when did you ever wait for your TV to boot up rather than simply turn on?

WebOS Nation says we may see the LG WebOS Smart TV debut at the CES tech expo in Las Vegas in January, but we’ll doubtless hear more before then. In the meantime, get stuck in with your view in the comments below: can WebOS ever have the apps you need to make it the right smart TV choice?

Five things to look for in a smart TV

Tags:

LG, Smart TV, TV, HDTV, webos, gram, open webos

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