The last vestiges of Palm have left HP, as All Things D and multiple other sources have confirmed in the last hour that the former Palm CEO and technical mastermind behind webOS has officially left HP after serving his initial commitment of 12-24 months following the acquisition by HP in 2010 after struggles in the marketplace forced Palm to seek a buyer.

Jon Rubenstein became head of Palm in 2008 following years of losses and false starts for the hardware manufacturer as it struggled to maintain marketshare in a marketplace dominated by the iPhone and facing the threat of Android. Under Rubenstein, Palm set out to compete head on against the iPhone by completely killing any association with GarnetOS and starting from scratch with the Linux-based webOS operating system. At the time of the operating system’s debut during CES 2009, it was hailed as a remarkable alternative to both Android and iOS.

Released in June of that year, the Palm Pre was backed by an exclusivity agreement with Sprint along with an equally massive marketing campaign which ultimately stumbled in terms of showcasing both the Pre and operating system, as most of the coverage was focused on the commercials themselves, which featured a rendered model of a woman that confused and frightened more people than sold the phone.

While the Pre did well initially, sales quickly dwindled to the point that Sprint was forced to endure months of slow sales before Palm was forced to seek other carrier partners in order to shore up hardware sales. Following launches on AT&T and Verizon with Wi-Fi enabled Pre variants in 2010, Palm were still struggling to make webOS successful in an increasingly crowded marketplace despite the critical acclaim of the operating system, to the point that the company was increasingly seeking to sell itself.

After months of rumors and speculation, Palm was purchased by HP in the summer of 2010 for 1.2 billion with the goals of having the resources necessary to further refine and develop the operating system, with an eye to expanding its presence beyond mobile devices, such as HP computers and printers. By 2011, the operating system and hardware was near moribund, with the only new product being the stillborn Pre 2 on Verizon Wireless since the acquisition.

The company seemed to be on an upswing in March with the announcements of the Pre 3, Veer 4G and TouchPad, which were meant to anchor the operating system with new hardware, but the announcements did little more than excite dedicated enthusiasts while leaving others indifferent.

Jon did not specify what his future plans were at the time of departure.

HP today issued two updates on their new mobile open source initiatives.

The company made good on its commitment to open-source Enyo, its JavaScript framework that was announced alongside webOS 3.0 last year. In an effort to make Enyo more palatable for widespread use, Enyo 2.0 was released today, along with the source code for the previous Enyo 1.0.

Enyo, in addition to being updated to version 2.0, also got its own web site, enyojs.com. In addition, Enyo finally received a logo, pictured right.

What differentiates Enyo 2.0 from Enyo 1.0, is that it is now completely independent from webOS. It now embraces all modern HTML5 browsers, across mobile and desktop. This does come at a price, Enyo 2.0 has abandoned the webOS user interface elements that made Enyo attractive to developers who were looking for a robust user interface for their apps.

HP touted at the release that this is a known issue, but to offer Enyo quickly the company decided to release Enyo 2.0 without a UI library. A new UI library will be available for Enyo in the future from HP, which will likely facilitate development of apps across webOS and other platforms.

Future development for Enyo will also include drop-in plug-in support for Flash and Silverlight, allowing for quick embedding of YouTube, Hulu Plus, and other multimedia services.

For current webOS developers, HP pointed developers to continue using Enyo 1.0 in the mean time to embrace its UI library.

As to the roadmap for webOS, HP commented a bit more on its release schedule, providing more details, albeit less clarity. Read more for the details.

In a separate posting on the HP webOS Developer Blog, Sam Greenblatt provided some additional details on the webOS release schedule. Greenblatt serves as both CTO and head of technical strategy for the webOS project.

No discreet timeframes were given for the release of webOS source code, but Greenblatt did provide some notes of renovations to webOS that are ongoing. The company is switching to a Linux kernel that is “based on the Linux Foundation’s standard kernel”. Additionally, the company is replacing its Mojo database systems (mostly SQL and SQLite), to LevelDB, a database technology built and open-sourced by Google.

The company has provided a roadmap with the full timetable for webOS. “Open webOS 1.0″ will be released in phases, with a full release by September of this year:

January:
Enyo 2.0 and Enyo source code
Apache License, Version 2.0

February:
Intended project governance model
QT WebKit extensions
JavaScript core
UI Enyo widgets

March:
Linux standard kernel
Graphics extensions EGL
LevelDB
USB extensions

April:
Ares 2.0
Enyo 2.1
Node services

July:
System manager (“Luna”)
System manager bus
Core applications
Enyo 2.2

August:
Build release model
Open webOS Beta

September:
Open webOS 1.0

Article was revised with timeframe provided by HP in a subsequent press release.

Despite HP not delivering on a promised webOS 2.0 upgrade for all first-generation webOS devices, the webOS community is still at it.

While unofficially upgrading the Pre and Pre Plus to webOS 2.0 (via the webOS Internals’ meta-doctor project) is nothing new, progress stalled out at webOS version 2.1. Since then, webOS 2.2 has provided significant security and stability patches, which the Pre and Pre Plus have not matched.

Within the past few weeks, the webOS Internals community has taken apart the latest webOS 2.2.4 releases for newer devices, and backported it to the Palm Pre Plus and original Palm Pre.

webOS 2.2.4 was recently released for the HP Pre 3 and GSM unlocked versions of the Palm Pre 2. It has not been officially released for the AT&T Veer 4G or Verizon Wireless version of the Palm Pre 2. Many believe it may never be; both would require testing and approval from AT&T and Verizon, respectively. Both carriers appear to have abandoned webOS, in terms of software support. AT&T actually went as far as to force thousands of finish (and AT&T branded) Pre 3 units onto the grey market, rather than allow them to be sold as part of HP’s webOS device fire sale. Pre 3 units in Europe were sold by HP at $75 each, sans contract.

The notes for this unsupported upgrade clearly caution (and we can’t emphasize enough) that this is not only unsupported firmware, but unfinished unsupported firmware. You should not update your phone to this unless you are okay with frequent device issues, including a bricked phone, that may not be able to place or receive calls.

The good news is that testing does show significant stability, and continues the notion that HP had zero legitimate basis for not offering webOS 2 for, at the very least, all Pre Plus devices. Patches to the 2.2.4 build already have taken into account bugs with preloaded apps, even the Amazon MP3 Store now works properly on a Pre Plus running 2.2.4.

Upgrading to webOS 2 is almost essential for continued use of the Palm Pre or Pre Plus, at this point. webOS 1.4.5.1, the last official build for all first-generation webOS devices in the United States (including Pre and Pre Plus), has several known security issues. HP has only supported it by offering up an updated Maps application, which the company may have been contractually obligated to offer, as part of its migration from Google Maps to Bing Maps.

Ironically, AT&T still sells the Palm Pixi Plus, a device HP acknowledges has serious and critical security issues that it has no intention of fixing. The Pixi and Pixi Plus cannot be updated to webOS 2 at this time, due to HP not providing/leaking necessary enabler files. HP claims the Pixi and Pixi Plus are not powerful enough to run webOS 2, a statement many in the hacking community dispute. HP made the same statement about Pre and Pre Plus, only to have to later admit it was false. HP ultimately blamed carriers in the United States for not “requesting” the webOS 2 firmware update on Pre and Pre Plus.

AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint have all declined previous opportunities to comment from PhoneNews.com on the webOS 2 upgrade situation regarding their devices. HP did recently affirm that Verizon Wireless Palm Pre 2 units would continue to receive webOS updates, a topic Verizon did not return an answer on when we asked them directly.

It is widely believed that HP kickstarted the webOS 2 unofficial upgrade effort internally. Recent reports have shown constant feuding and disarray within the webOS Global Business Unit at HP, which ultimately led to the initial downfall of the platform. webOS 2 was leaked for the Pre Plus via an update to the European GSM version of the Pre Plus, providing the enabler files necessary to compile a version of webOS 2 for the Pre and Pre Plus in the United States. The webOS Internals group was able to combine the CDMA files from webOS 1.4.5, and transpose them onto the European GSM’s firmware. Additional evidence for this stems from HP pulling back on offering the update shortly after release, and even going as far as to confirm that they would not even issue bug fix releases for the upgrade.

Since then webOS Internals has turned much of its attention to the HP Touchpad, creating firmware builds that even support unreleased devices, such as the seven-inch TouchPad Go. Firmware have also been released for the never-launched TouchPad 4G, a version of the 10.1-inch TouchPad that featured an AT&T HSPA+ radio.

The development of webOS 2.2.4 for the Pre and Pre Plus does show one thing quite clearly; there remains an active and vibrant webOS community that is anxiously awaiting the release of the webOS source code from HP… as well as a strategic development path from HP going forward, for the platform. We’ve chimed in on that recently with our two cents.

HP has released the latest maintenance update for the HP TouchPad following last month’s conformation that it would open source webOS and subsequent confirmation of the update and adds the following features and fixes:

• Faster switching between Day, Week, and Month views, and faster event display in Calendar.
• Faster scrolling when reading an email message.
• Email attachments are now saved with draft messages.
• Added sender photos and IM presence indicators in Email.
• Improved stability when watching video in the Web app.
• Improved handling of MP3s that are transferred from a computer using USB Drive mode.
• Added a dedicated view of contacts available for a video call, for quicker setup of a video call.
• New alert when video quality might be lower because of network issues.
• When typing, pressing the space bar twice inserts a period. This can be toggled on and off.
• Auto-correction can be turned off directly from the onscreen keyboard.
• Added support for HTTP Live Streaming.

HP also mentioned in the companion blogpost that webOS 2.2.4 has also been rolled out for the unlocked Pre 2 and AT&T/Verizon versions, as well as unlocked Pre 3s. For Pre 2, this  improves Skype voice calling and messaging and MAP support for Bluetooth while all devices get improvements to the Messaging, Calendar, and Contacts apps. With the latest update, HP is making a solid effort to maintain existing hardware updated while the platform slowly transitions to an open source project.

In the wake of HP re-committing to webOS (as an open source project), we go in-depth with ten things HP could do to bring the platform back into competition with Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

Also as an added bonus, something yours truly blew thousands of dollars on.

#10 – Bring all webOS devices to the latest version of webOS

When Jon Rubinstein said the Palm Pre, Pixi, Pre Plus, and Pixi Plus were getting webOS 2, we hailed it as important in the firmware wars. It meant that HP was going to compete with Apple, not just on features, but on customer service.

When Palm (and Jon) later said they were going to backtrack on it, and only offer a $50 rebate on new devices as an apology… we saw the cracks forming in webOS.

HP could easily offer people an update to webOS 2.2.4 on all current webOS devices. The past excuses of a broke Palm are no longer valid. The notion that carriers would refuse to offer the update is as bogus as when Palm was trying to shovel the excuse down our throats last year.

This is a no-brainer, there is a team sitting on their rear ends in Sunnyvale that could get on this tomorrow. And there are hackers out there that have done most of the work for them already.

#9 – Get a reliable, free turn-by-turn GPS app out there

One thing Windows Phone learned the hard way is that a device ecosystem now demands at least one, viable, working turn-by-turn GPS app… that’s free. iOS has mostly gotten a pass on the free part, but their ecosystem has turn-by-turn apps that are nearly free at as low as a buck. Google Maps Navigation gives Android the top-tier status, and Windows Phone 7.5 finally answered the call with Bing turn-by-turn, a feature that used to be gratis on Windows Mobile 6.

HP has just signed a deal with Bing (prior to the webOS fallout) to move all maps away from Google. Bing offers turn-by-turn GPS on Windows Phones (and has since Windows Mobile 6).

This one may not have an instant coding solution, but there are options here. TeleNav has also rolled out an HTML5 turn-by-turn app, it wouldn’t be hard to cut a check to integrate Enyo into that, and make it a full-fledged webOS app.

#8 – Get Enyo out the door immediately

It is understandable that open-sourcing an entire operating system can take time. Code audits, testing, internal planning has to be done to get that right. HP isn’t going to do that in a month, or in a few months probably.

Enyo however is a different case. It’s purely an HTML5-and-JavaScript framework that enables web apps to act like real apps.

The nice thing about Enyo is its potential to be disruptive to frameworks such as Sencha Touch. The problem, since day one, has been HP’s restrictive and confusing licensing.

From a developer’s standpoint, there may be some need to make Enyo platform-independent (it is heavily tied to webOS for a few UI calls), but the viability of Enyo gets lower with each passing day. Getting it out there with a vibrant developer community ready to go is key… and the clock is ticking on this one, more than webOS itself.

The importance to webOS is that Enyo is fine-tuned for webOS. Apps written for iPhone, Android, and even desktop that are based on Enyo will fly on webOS… whenever the platform emerges.

#7 – Be a bit like Google in the device ecosystem

Google waited until Android was ubiquitous before issuing their own Android hardware. And long before the notion of purchasing Motorola Mobility.

HP is in a bad position, strategically. HP is primarily a hardware company. If some other device manufacturer picks up webOS and runs with it… there’s nothing stopping HP from shipping a device within six months that tries to capitalize on the newfound success in webOS. Whoever decides to pick up where webOS left off (other than HP) runs the risk of losing their return on investment.

There are ways to ensure this kind of success, without sacrificing the ability to be competitive. For example, HP could offer free licensing to some of the Palm patents, in exchange for supporting webOS. A device maker like HTC could offer webOS devices that support Touchstone technology, and deliver unique qualities that drive people to purchasing that gear.

#6 – Offer patents for embracing webOS

HTC, Samsung, and Motorola are locked in a bitter patent war with Apple. HP has enough patents to knock Apple back in line by offering them up to these device manufacturers.

That said, HP is playing pretty smart by not offering them up. Companies like HTC have offered hundreds of millions in M&A for companies like S3 Graphics, simply on the hope that they would strike a blow at Apple.

HP is one of the few companies that this trio can turn to in a last-ditch effort to get out from under Apple’s patent control. And that allows HP to ask for monumental amounts of cash for access to those patents. This is why many believed the acquisition of Palm would pay off just in the cost of the patents alone… webOS being left to rot.

All we’re saying is that HP can sweeten the pot on these kind of patent deals by offering rebates in exchange for fostering webOS device support. With Android facing similar turmoil from Microsoft, nothing is really stopping HP here from making the terms very favorable regardless.

#5 – Unify webOS 2 & 3 with a consistent roadmap

Currently webOS 2.0 and 3.0 co-exist, much like Android 2.0 and 3.0 coexisted for smartphones and tablets, respectively.

The problem is this evolving strategy, which didn’t work very well for either HP or Google, is over with in the industry. Android 4 unified smartphone and tablet branches. There performance delta of a smartphone is now getting close enough to tablets that, whenever webOS re-emerges, there will need to be one unified branch.

The challenge here, however, is that webOS apps will be built on today’s webOS devices, not devices that ship a year or two from now. The next version of webOS will have to transcend more hardware than Android or iOS to operate effectively. From a technical standpoint, it may be one of the most difficult challenges facing the future of webOS from a design standpoint.

Equally important for HP will be communicating a roadmap that outlines how this evolution will take place. This is one key area that MeeGo faltered on left and right.

#4 – Fund webOS app development by third-parties

Palm spent VC money like a drunken sailor. I’ve met people that got five-figure checks from Palm without even a deliverable in sight.

HP eventually watered that down to offering cheap devices and unlocked phones.

Both of these are two extremes for an emerging platform. Nobody should write blank checks for apps that haven’t materialized, unless you’re getting some major equity in the deal. Likewise, a device in a box is not going to build an app, it’s a support ecosystem that matters. That support was flocking right out the doors of HP amid the webOS Decision Turmoil.

Funding isn’t just in dollars and cents. For a startup, flying your lead coders out to webOS headquarters in Sunnyvale, and lending webOS internal devs for a day can be a huge win for both parties. Having open pathways for developers to ask for that kind of support need to be built out.

Developers now have devices, but no support ecosystem. Funding is a major part of helping there, but it needs to be targeted, managed, and have outreach. This goes hand-in-hand with a stable roadmap, something we touched on above.

#3 – Embrace webOS on device types that smartphone platforms struggle with

Right before MeeGo got its knees cut out from under it, the platform had a burgeoning future with in-vehicle entertainment, in-flight entertainment, TV, and many other platforms. I should know, I had invested thousands personally in MeeGo R&D, in these areas.

Today there are no monolithic platforms that run on an open-source kernel, and perform well in these kinds of emerging areas. Google TV has not performed well in the marketplace. Other pre-built Linux products offer little support and lots of lip service.

If HP can internally design working proof-of-concepts, backed with SDKs and APIs, this will be a winner for webOS. Even if webOS isn’t successful in smartphones, it will certainly make those people in Sunnyvale not seem like they’re on a road to nowhere… and instead make webOS feel like a valiant effort.

#2 – Rehire, rehire, rehire

webOS lacks so much right now in terms of team members. There isn’t even a public relations person (which we can locate) at HP who oversees webOS at the moment.

HP has two choices with webOS; make it a skunkworks-style project that rots in the heads of engineers after-hours… or embrace it and provide the support staff that can make it a success today.

We sincerely hope HP chooses the latter, and not the former.

#1: Get source code out there… quickly!

This one shouldn’t require explanation. If webOS 3 sits on the shelves for six months, with no new code, it’s going to be a tough sell to anyone.

After months of doubt surrounding webOS after the disastrous attempt to spin off the Personal Systems Group earlier this year, HP has confirmed in a press release that it will open source webOS and make it available under a yet to be determined open source license. In addition, HP will also continue investment into and invest development resources into webOS, as well as plans to open source the Enyo application framework under the same conditions.

HP’s foray into webOS was not without its faults, as not long after HP purchased Palm, it lost a year of product development time as the integration of Palm into HP led to products in the Palm Pre 2, Palm Veer 4G, and the stillborn Palm Pre 3. The TouchPad was released to great fanfare earlier this year with pricing inline with the iPad, but not without criticism as the tablet was seen as overpriced compared to its closest competitors with below average performance and a dearth of application support in comparison.

With the lifeline of open source being thrown to webOS, it remains to be seen what the immediate future holds in terms of support as the TouchPad is expected to receive its latest update in webOS 3.0.5 soon, though any major milestone updates are yet to be confirmed, if in development at all.

The same situation exists with hardware, as the team responsible for webOS hardware development was disbanded in the wake of July’s shock announcement that webOS hardware would be discontinued immediately, which led to the August TouchPad firesale and will end with this weekend’s refurb firesale on HP’s ebay store. Continue reading for HP’s plan for webOS going forward.

HP will engage the open source community to help define the charter of the open source project under a set of operating principles:

• The goal of the project is to accelerate the open development of the webOS platform
• HP will be an active participant and investor in the project
• Good, transparent and inclusive governance to avoid fragmentation
• Software will be provided as a pure open source project

Amazon sellers are offering the Palm Pixi Plus, in its unlocked GSM/UMTS form, for $57.99. Two-day shipping is free with Amazon Prime membership.

The Palm Pixi Plus features 16GB of memory, webOS 1.4.5, and mobile hotspot functionality. It also features quad-band GSM and UMTS 850/1900 for compatibility with AT&T and its affiliates.

Readers we do caution that webOS 1.4.5 has known security issues that HP has stated they have no plans to fix. The device cannot be updated to webOS 2.0, even with unofficial firmware, at this time. While HP leadership did commit to updating the Palm Pixi Plus (and all other first-generation devices) to webOS 2.0, they later backtracked from that commitment, despite mistakenly updating the Palm Pre Plus later.

The Pixi Plus has a slower CPU than the Pre Plus, and due to that limitation (as well as no available firmware to hack from) there is no known way to update the device to webOS 2.0.

Due to the aforementioned security issues, we suggest this as a good GSM backup device, but not for daily use when connected to a network or Wi-Fi.

Palm Pixi Plus @ Amazon.com

Best Buy has announced that starting tomorrow both in-store and online, the retailer will once again sell 32GB HP TouchPad tablets for $149.99, with the catch being that an HP/Compaq desktop or laptop must be purchased at the same time. The bundling is ostensibly to avoid overselling the unexpectedly popular tablets following the firesale this past Summer as a result of the elimination of the webOS hardware division, with the fate of the software division to be decided within the next two months.

HP previously confirmed that it would manufacture and sell one last run of tablets in order to mend relationships with suppliers, as the sudden discontinuation of webOS hardware came as a shock to parts manufacturers which threatened to leave them with millions of dollars in useless inventory. This was also done to satisfy the hundreds of people that were left out of the initial fire sale as a consequence of the overestimation of stock, which led to oversold inventory and angry customers, mostly those that ordered through HP’s own site or through third-party authorized resellers such as Barnes & Noble.

The last wave of tablets is currently being sold through third-parties, though those sellers are typically marking up the tablets by $100 to $249.99 in order to take advantage of the pent-up demand for the tablet and is also acting as the new de facto MSRP for the TouchPad, should webOS be spared and left within HP.

HP has decided to gift the new wave of TouchPad owners with a free 6-pack of apps designed to best take advantage of the tablet and is offering a selection of different apps, from interactive storybooks, games and a camera app to a birdwatching app to assist birdwatchers in their pursuit. The following apps are being offered with direct links to the App Catalog and promo codes. This offer is limited to the US and will expire next week on the 31st, but HP has promised another offering for international users later on in the year.

• Glimpse (Inglorious Apps, $5, injoj55410gavxv) Twin pane multitasking app
• Kung Fu Panda 2 Storybook (zuuka, $2.99, eotss76676jjzqr) Interactive storybook based on feature film with full voice and images from the film
• Big Boss (Fair Play Labs, $1.99, vfimk09918lngoz)
• Sparkle HD (10tons Ltd., $4.99, pweuq32135vrbhx)
• Camera for TouchPad (Keen Studios, $0.99, rijon62171nhvtu)Photo management app with photosharing capabilities across apps.
• Audubon Birds (Green Mountain Digital, $14.99, jjiox66488ddnik): Digital field guide to North American birds for birdwatching enthusiasts

Not even a full 24 hours after confirmation that HP would be discontinuing development of webOS hardware, memos sent to HP dealers have confirmed that the manufacturer of the TouchPad has authorized a massive discount on the TouchPad from its first price cut just one week ago.

Beginning tomorrow, all dealers and resellers have been authorized to cut pricing on the HP TouchPad 16 and 32GB models from their $399.99 and $499.99 pricepoints all the way down to $99.99 and $149.99 respectively, earning the deserved ire of those that purchased their hardware at launch last month, and no immediate recourse seems to be available for them at this time.

The TouchPad features a 1.2GHz processor with 512MB of DDR2 memory, 9.7-inch capacitive display at XGA (1024 x 768) resolution with an oleophobic (germ resistant) Gorilla Glass front, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera and dual-band 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi radio.

It is not clear if all retailers will honor the price match, but we encourage people to purchase a device now (if stores are still open in your area), and try to price-match tomorrow. Even if your price match is not honored tomorrow, we suggest holding onto the device and see if stores will honor price matches in the near future.