LG (066570) on Monday announced that it had acquired webOS from HP for an undisclosed sum. Earlier reports noted that the two companies were in talks over a potential partnership as of last fall. Bill Veghte, executive VP for software and solutions at HP (HPQ), disclosed certain terms of the deal to AllThingsD on Tuesday.
The executive said that the deal includes the source code, documentation, the remaining user experience team and a license to all the associated patents, which HP will retain. Employees who work with the cloud services infrastructure in webOS, however, will stay with HP.
Dr. Skott Ahn, president and CEO of LG’s mobile operations, later revealed that his company plans to make the operating system a “core technology of LG,” and that “we would like to incorporate it first into our Smart TV platform, and then in the future in other devices.” The executive reaffirmed LG’s commitment to Android for smartphones and tablets, and said that webOS will be featured in refrigerators and other appliances down the road.
LG’s first webOS-powered Smart TV is expected to launch in 2014.
