PreCentral: HP releases Open webOS' new browser Isis, JavaScript core, and Enyo UI widgets

[News Reporter]

Today HP is delivering on

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and releasing all at once their February commitment. On the docket are the UI widgets needed for Enyo 2.0 app development, how webOS will integrate JavaScript core, and the new QtWebKit-derived Isis web browser.

JavaScript core isn't exactly something we can illustrate (though we were previously told to expect a significant performance boost as a result of trading it in place of the current V8 JavaScript implementation). The UI widgets for Enyo 2.0 are also up for a release, following last month's release of the .

What's interesting is the new implementation of WebKit taken by the webOS team. Under the lead of , HP has adopted QtWebKit (developer and open sourced by Nokia) as the new engine behind webOS. Seeing as webOS is based around web technologies, this change will affect the entire OS. It is said to "offer unrivaled speed and standard compliance" for both the browser and Enyo apps, which is a change from the partial standards implementation we've had to deal with for the past few years of webOS.

QtWebKit will back up the new webOS browser, which just so happens to be named Isis. Yes, another Greek gods reference, this time to "the ideal mother" and matron on nature and magic. HP's internal benchmarks have fount Isis to be "extremely responsive" in comparison to other popular browsers, with extensive support for HTML5 and CSS3. Said HP: "Standards-compliance is important to developers because they can use technologies like Enyo to develop cross-platform web applications that already work well on webOS." We couldn't agree more.

In a surprising move, given the industry move away from such things, Isis will also provide "enhanced support" for "legacy products" such as and other plug-ins, even though this won't be an X11 environment. We're glad in a way to see Flash support provided, but still uncertain about the future of mobile Flash given Adobe's abandonment of the project.

HP's delivering on their commitments for the Open webOS roadmap, and just so happens to do so on Valentine's Day. Are we in love? Not sure, but you might be able to describe us as slightly smitten today.

Press release after the break.

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