webOSroundup: HP announces Isis Project; WebOS Internals looking into “Tech Preview”

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Feeling like spreading some open-source love to the webOS community, HP posted information regarding the Isis Project on February 14th. This project includes the open-source release of the Isis browser. Additionally, this is the announcement of HP’s progress in incorporating the latest web technologies such as QtWebKit and JavaScriptCore into webOS.

Info on the Isis Browser and features, along with the source code can be found on the project’s site isis-project.org and github. What this means is that HP is holding true to continuing development on driving webOS towards their commitment to the open-source community. Additionally, QtWebKit promises to bring cutting edge support for the latest web features and standards, something that the current web browser has certainly been a bit behind on. QtWebKit was originally developed and has since been open-sourced by Nokia, and has been powering other mobile browsers on various platforms. This also marks the first release of any open-source components from the webOS platform itself after originally announcing the plans and releasing the EnyoJS open source dev framework. Furthermore HP goes on to clarify that UI Enyo widgets will be released by the end of February.

In related news, we have also heard that WebOS Internals are in discussions to incorporate a “tech preview” release for the TouchPad via Preware. This package is said to include the new QtWebKit package and allow it to run along side the current stock browser. Once released, this preview should allow anyone to easily download it via Preware to test out some of the improvements and features of this new framework. If you are like us and love all the work WebOS Internals has put into the community, feel free to donate to their cause.

Source: HP webOS Developer Blog

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