HP to keep running webOS App Catalog despite no hardware
updated 10:30 pm EDT, Fri August 19, 2011
HP webOS app store to carry on
HP's webOS developer relations VP Chuq von Rospach posted a letter Friday pledging support for the webOS App Catalog even in the face of the endof HP webOS hardware. The company would not only continue to support the app store but refine it as well. The company would "enhance [its] merchandising and presentation" of apps and build the ecosystem further, he wrote.
Developer events were also still on track, but their focus would change given that the hardware was less of a focus. Details of how they would change would come within the week.
Von Rospach promised more details in future weeks and gave "sincere appreciation" for continued support.
The efforts promise that webOS will still have active development support for at least the near future. It may still face trouble mustering support as HP now has just a few months at most of webOS hardware sales before its user base levels off and begins to shrink. Microsoft has been trying to exploit this doubt and has been actively luring webOS developers with promises of free phones and resources to back Windows Phone instead.
