HP Seeks Buyer For WebOS Patents

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HP Seeks Buyer For WebOS Patents

Posted by timothy on Thursday October 24, 2013 @03:09AM from the webos-youbos-let's-allbos dept.

judgecorp writes "Hewlett-Packard wants to cash in a lot of mobile patents, as part of Meg Whitman's restructuring, according to reports. HP acquired the WebOS operating system, as seen on phones and tablets, when it bought Palm, but failed to build a business on it. It's since sold its WebOS business to LG for use in TVs and cars but hung onto the patents which are licensed to LG. Now, Bloomberg reports the patents themselves may be for sale — possibly to whoever fails to buy BlackBerry's tempting bundle of mobile technology."

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All I can say is... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 03:18 · Score: 0

who??
1. Re:All I can say is... by RenderSeven · 2013-10-24 03:23 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  You know, Palm. The remnants of which will be sold to Facebook. So they can call it FacePalm.
Patents, want to be free. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 03:19 · Score: 1

Kickstarter, then release to the public.
1. Re:Patents, want to be free. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 03:32 · Score: 0
  
  Yes, this is so incredibly wrong it's sad. HP did a risky investment. They failed. The money is gone. What the fuck is this about?
2. Re:Patents, want to be free. by davester666 · 2013-10-24 17:33 · Score: 1
  
  I believe the more accurate statement would be:
  HP did a risky investment. They completely fucked it up. The money is gone. What the fuck is this about?
  
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Come on, google! by SCHecklerX · 2013-10-24 03:20 · Score: 4, Interesting

If Android could inherit much of what makes WebOS great, I would be ecstatic!
1. Re:Come on, google! by Aryden · 2013-10-24 03:21 · Score: 2
  
  Same here. The major issue I had with WebOS was quite simply the lack of software/apps and the general unavailability of any free apps. Beyond that, it really works wonderfully on my touchpad, though it spends 99% of it's time booted into Android...
2. Re:Come on, google! by ArhcAngel · 2013-10-24 04:09 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  If Android could inherit much of what makes WebOS great, I would be ecstatic!
  So...BB 10 is what you are asking for. BlackBerry took the best design elements from WebOS and put them on the rock solid QNX kernel and then made it possible to run ~90% of all Android apps.
  
  --
  "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
3. Re:Come on, google! by Merk42 · 2013-10-24 06:17 · Score: 2
  
  Like that card UI? They should totally get the designer that did that...
4. Re:Come on, google! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 10:15 · Score: 0
  
  What? The stuff that you could get via PreWare wasn't good enough for you?
5. Re:Come on, google! by H0p313ss · 2013-10-24 10:39 · Score: 1
  
  And then flew the entire company into the ground.
  
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  XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
6. Re:Come on, google! by bill_mcgonigle · 2013-10-24 12:33 · Score: 1
  
  QNX is rock solid - no doubt. But people want devices with lots of features and lots of hardware support, and hardware developers want to develop on an open source OS with royalty free licensing. So, Android runs on linux.
  
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7. Re:Come on, google! by davester666 · 2013-10-24 17:35 · Score: 1
  
  You forgot to mention the buggy UI layer and buggy apps and year+ old hardware.
  
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A LOT more than WebOS by afidel · 2013-10-24 03:28 · Score: 4, Interesting

Remember, these are the patent assets of the former Palm Inc. so there could be a LOT of basic smartphone patents in there..

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1. Re:A LOT more than WebOS by wbr1 · 2013-10-24 03:31 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  This. And there is a good possibility that some rich law firm or other entity will purchase them off to troll with them. I would like to see Google pick them up, or perhaps even MS, as long as they don't go to a troll that will stifle further growth and innovation in the mobile market.
  
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  Silence is a state of mime.
2. Re:A LOT more than WebOS by wbr1 · 2013-10-24 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  Wow.. modded flamebait? There was no trolling involved here, just a reasonable assertion. Prenda, IV. do you have shill mods here?
  
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  Silence is a state of mime.
3. Re:A LOT more than WebOS by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 04:26 · Score: 0
  
  . . .or perhaps even MS, as long as they don't go to a troll that will stifle further growth and innovation in the mobile market.
  Why wouldn't MS troll? They are the biggest troll out there with Android handset makers. Why would they all of a sudden stop?
4. Re:A LOT more than WebOS by RocRizzo · 2013-10-24 05:00 · Score: 0
  
  How does one use soap in defense of liberty?
5. Re:A LOT more than WebOS by master_kaos · 2013-10-24 05:25 · Score: 1
  
  in a RESTful way
6. Re:A LOT more than WebOS by JazzLad · 2013-10-24 06:14 · Score: 1
  
  Seriously?
  
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  "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." - Every fascist, ever
7. Re:A LOT more than WebOS by davester666 · 2013-10-24 17:40 · Score: 1
  
  If these patents were at all relevant to current smartphones, everybody and their dog would have already have licenses for them [because everybody who has "owned" these patents have been in varying need for money].
  So, the value for patent trolls is relatively low, because they only get to go after small startup companies trying to make a new smartphone.
  
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  Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
I'd buy that for a dollar! by xianzombie · 2013-10-24 03:32 · Score: 1

But wouldn't know what to do with it afterwords....
1. Re:I'd buy that for a dollar! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 04:27 · Score: 0
  
  I can raise it to $25.
The two best phones combined by frog_strat · 2013-10-24 03:37 · Score: 2

IMHO the WebOS Palm Pre, and the new Blackberry Z10 are the two best phones as far as gestures and interface go. Blackberry OS 10 is already getting closer to WebOS with release 10.2, It would interesting to see the best features of the two combined.
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2013-10-24 03:52 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion
Is this related to the Patent Trolling bill? by Vlad_the_Inhaler · 2013-10-24 04:08 · Score: 1

First we have a Slashdot article on a bill to combat patent trolling and then 90 minutes later HP announce they are looking to offload some patents. There is an obvious connection there, not that HP were necessarily thinking of trolling.

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1. Re:Is this related to the Patent Trolling bill? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 05:01 · Score: 0
  
  Wrong link.
  But good try.
sell 'em to Blackberry! by swschrad · 2013-10-24 04:23 · Score: 1

put all the kerosene-powered fails in one place.

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if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
I have about 5 bucks.. by 3.5+stripes · 2013-10-24 04:24 · Score: 1

That should be enough for most of em

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He tried to kill me with a forklift!
How about release them? by darkNeko · 2013-10-24 04:25 · Score: 1

How about the EFF or some other open source friendly entity organizes a Kickstarter to buy them and make them royalty free for everyone?
Beat me to it! :P by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 04:43 · Score: 0

But wouldn't know what to do with it afterwords....
Um, release them as public domain?
Apple already using them in IOS7 by sl4shd0rk · 2013-10-24 04:55 · Score: 1

The WebOS "scrolling mini-window list" and "flick off-screen to terminate" are direct ripoffs done by Apple in IOS7.

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1. Re:Apple already using them in IOS7 by sootman · 2013-10-24 06:29 · Score: 1
  
  And 95% of everything else in webOS was a direct ripoff of what Apple had done in (as it was known then) iPhone OS. Fans tend to overlook that little detail. Seriously, it was embarrassing watching this the first time -- watching Matias Duarte act like what he was showing was new. (19:30: "To scroll through my contact list, I just give it a flick...") Between that, and watching Jon Rubinstein wishing he could be Steve Jobs (I'm going to swoop in and save this company!) it was downright painful to watch.
  
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2. Re:Apple already using them in IOS7 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 10:19 · Score: 0
  
  IMHO, webOS is still easier to use than any version of iOS. That is why I'm keeping my Pre3.
Microsoft does a flick off-screen to terminate. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 08:47 · Score: 0

It's how you kill apps in Windows RT. As for Apple's implementation, they should have kept it to newer devices. My iPhone 4 is too fucking slow switching between or killing apps since updating to iOS 7.
Are they? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-24 11:27 · Score: 0

Is the patent portfolio available to read?
If this is WebOS, it doesn't extend to Palm hardware.