The engineers behind a key component of Hewlett-Packard's WebOS platform will be leaving the company in favor of Internet giant Google Inc., a tech site reported last week.
A report on The Verge said Android, Google's platform for mobile devices, could be one option for the team behind Enyo, WebOS' HTML5-based app framework.
"What the Enyo team will do at Google is unknown at this point, but there are several logical landing spots. Android would obviously be an option — regardless of its commercial success (or lack thereof), few would argue that webOS is an innovative platform that Android could learn from, and Android's design chief Matias Duarte had previously led Palm's efforts in the run-up to the Pre launch," it said.
It cited sources close to HP who said that while not the entire team will move over to Google, Matt McNulty, who is in charge of the project, "will be among the departing crew."
Another option for the team would be Google's Chrome group, as web apps factor prominently in the Chrome story.
If the team is absorbed into the Chrome Group, The Verge said Enyo "would do well as part of a future Chrome Web Store developer framework."
On the other hand, The Verge said the implications of the departure for Open WebOS remain unclear at this time.
"Enyo and the developers supporting it are central to HP's open source strategy for the operating system going forward, and it's hard to say whether this move will have any effect on the planned late 2012 release for version 1.0," it said.
Meanwhile, The Verge quoted HP as saying it is pleased with the traction Enyo has gained to date and plan to continue its development along with the open source community.
It quoted HP as saying the Open webOS project "is on schedule and we remain committed to the roadmap announced in January."
Enyo: majority of team remaining
But Enyo, in a blog post, maintained the majority of the engineering and leadership team remains.
"We want to reassure you that we’re thrilled with the traction Enyo has gained to date and are redoubling our efforts to continue development, working closely with the community," it said.
It added the core of Enyo 2 is solid, and that it is hearing "great things from developers about the performance improvements in the last release."
Enyo said another release is on the way, after which it will focus on expanding the Onyx widget set.
"That’s right, we’re growing. As we said earlier this month, we’re hiring — not just to replace the engineers who have left, but to increase the size of the team going forward," it added. — TJD, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
