LG Electronics has acquired the webOS operating system technology from HP, the companies said Feb. 25.

To support its next-generation Smart TV technology, LG has entered into a definitive agreement with HP to acquire the source code, associated documentation, engineering talent and related websites associated with webOS.

As part of the transaction, LG also will receive licenses under HP's intellectual property (IP) for use with its webOS products, including patents acquired from Palm covering fundamental operating system and user-interface technologies.

Skott Ahn, president and CTO, LG Electronics, said the company’s investment in webOS technology and its acquisition of the innovation team's R&D capabilities are expected to extend LG's leadership in bringing Internet services directly to consumer- electronics devices.

The agreement also calls for LG to assume stewardship of the Open webOS and Enyo open-source projects. HP will retain ownership of all of Palm’s cloud computing assets and will continue to support Palm users.