As tipped by SmartHouse two months ago LG Electronics is set to reveal a Web OS based TV at CES 2014.
The move comes as both LG and Samsung move
to create their own operating system for smart TVs.
12 months ago LG acquired the LG webOS, a
mobile-device operating system, from Hewlett-Packard who like a lot of things
with the struggling US Company had failed to turn the once Palm phone OS into a
commercial reality.
The Web OS was originally developed by Palm
to power smartphones that would compete with the likes of Apple’s iPhones. H-P
acquired Palm in 2010 and used webOS to power a tablet and its smartphone
models. But the system failed with HP Australia forced to cut a deal with
Harvey Norman to offload hundreds of Web OS tablets for $99.
Despite the OS being robust HP did not have
a clue as to how to market the OS up against Android and the Apple iOS.
Despite H-P’s struggles with the operating
system, LG had said in February, when announcing the deal, that it was drawn to
webOS because of its technology and because the company wanted its own
operating system.
LG now plans to showcase an Internet-connected
television model powered by webOS in January at the Consumer Electronics Show
in Las Vegas.
The LG source said that the new OS would
retain the “cards” system, or a stack of pop-ups that allows users to navigate
multiple applications, originally used in the webOS mobile devices launched by
H-P.
The person didn’t comment on the company’s
plans to market the webOS-powered TVs but said the operating system may be
developed and later adopted for LG’s other consumer electronics, including
smartphones.
According to the Wall Street Journal, LG,
the world’s second-largest TV market after Samsung Electronics, has been busy
churning out new premium TV models this year to spark interest in a segment
that accounts for nearly 40% of its revenue. The company is also set to
showcase a whopping 105-inch curved-screen television at CES, with a similar
model expected from Samsung.
While the market for operating systems for
mobile devices is dominated by Google Inc.’s Android, there is no such leader
for smart TVs.
Samsung has long been working on a new
operating system, together with Intel dubbed the Tizen that is expected to
power smartphones and TVs. Tizen’s expected debut next year will likely
intensify the competition between the two Korean conglomerates.