Early version webOS port for Nexus 4 comes out under the name LuneOS

An early version of LuneOS, the new name for a fork of Open webOS for smartphones and tablets created by WebOS Ports, has appeared online. In the near future, the developers will only support the HP Touchpad tablet and Nexus 4 from Google and LG.

LuneOS is a fork of Open webOS port; created by WebOS Ports. The fork is possible because then-owner HP made webOS open source at the end of 2011. The name is derived from an element from the original webOS for smartphones and tablets, the system administrator called LunaSysMgr.

Although the developers’ previous ports also supported the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 (2012), they are discontinuing that and focusing on making stable firmware for the Nexus 4 and HP Touchpad tablet. The latter came out in 2011 with webOS. The firmware is still far from complete: Bluetooth and the tilt sensor, for example, do not yet work.

HP sold webOS a year and a half ago to LG, who uses it for its smart TVs. WebOS was originally created by Palm, who tried to make a comeback with the operating system in 2009 and 2010. Many of webOS’s interface ideas, such as displaying open apps as cards that users can swipe to exit, are now in use across all mobile operating systems.