If you thought Google’s acquisition of Motorola was the biggest tech news this week, HP has taken the cake by announcing to discontinue webOS. The exact reason is unknown but HP will stop producing webOS devices, which includes all the webOS phones and TouchPad tablet. HP hasn’t mentioned anything about webOS except that they’ll ” continue to explore options to optimize the value,” which in other words could mean HP is looking for buyers.

In another surprising news, HP is trying to consider options for its hardware business like completely spinning off the unit or a part.

Press Release

In addition to Pre3 and Veer devices, HP also introduced a TouchPad tablet, powered by webOS. The TouchPad is HP’s answer to Apple’s iPad and although TouchPad resembles Apple’s offering, the HP tablet is spec’d superiorly.

The 9.7-inch TouchPad features a dual-core Snapdragon processor, 3G, touchscreen display supporting XGA resolution (1024×768), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, front-facing 1.3MP camera, 16 or 32GB internal storage, touchstone technology support for wireless charging, 3.5mm headphone jack, touch-to-share support and 6,300mAh battery.

TouchPad will go on sale in summer this year.

HP at an event yesterday unveiled new offerings powered by webOS. The two smartphones that made its way out are Pre3 and Veer. The HP Pre3 is similar in design like its predecessor but ups the ante with a 3.58-inch WVGA touchscreen display and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon (MSM8x55) 1.4GHz processor.

Pre3’s feature set includes 3G support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 8 or 16GB internal memory, vertical sliding QWERTY keyboard, Gesture Area, A-GPS, 5MP camera with 720p HD video recording support, front-facing camera, Adobe Flash 10.1 support, mobile hotspot support, 1230mAh battery and unique Touch-to-Share function that allows to share web addresses between your Pre3 and HP’s TouchPad tablet.

No details on exact pricing or availability but Pre3 will arrive in summer.

While most smartphones today are going bigger in size, HP has created Veer, touted as the smallest webOS smartphone. Veer is the size of a credit card and thick as a deck of card but packs in full smartphone functionality as well as a physical QWERTY keyboard.

Veer has a 800MHz CPU and features a 2.57-inch (320×400) display, 3G, Gesture Area, 8GB internal memory, Adobe Flash 10.1 support, 5MP camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and more.

Veer will be available in early spring at an undisclosed price.

Product Page [Pre3]
Product Page [Veer]

We know now what to expect at HP Palm’s event scheduled next month. Engadget has got their mitts on info and pics of HP Palm’s very first tablets – namely, Topaz and Opal. Topaz and Opal sport 9-inch and 7-inch screen respectively but are powered by Palm’s powerful webOS. The Opal will apparently be targeted as an e-reader and will also have something called as “premium audio,” which Engadget speculates to be three speakers for portrait and landscape modes.

Although, most of the intrinsic specs are under wraps, the tablets are expected to have a front-facing camera, microUSB port and a gesture area.

HP is eyeing to launch the Opal tablet in September 2011 with Wi-Fi, 3G and Verizon LTE variant going on sale in the same month whereas the AT&T LTE expected in July 2012.

HP has announced a significant update to Palm’s webOS operating system. The webOS now jumps to version 2.0 and brings a lot of new features. Some of the notable one found in webOS 2.0 are improved multitasking, Just Type, HP Synergy, Adobe Flash 10.1 support, Skype Mobile (Verizon users only), browser with HTML5 support, VPN, Bluetooth keyboard, Exhibition that automatically shows the pre-defined task when charged on a Touchstone Charging Dock and more.

Taking advantage of this new OS is Palm’s Pre 2. Pre 2 will be initially launched in France, US and Canada and boasts a 1GHz CPU, 3G, 3.1-inch multitouch screen (320×480), slide-out QWERTY, Wi-Fi with hotstpot support, 5MP camera with LED flash, GPS, geotagiing support, Bluetooth 2.1, 16GB internal memory and 3.5mm headphone jack.

Pre 2 will be available from Friday from SFR in France whereas US and Canada will get the phone in the coming months.

Product Page

Press Release

Australian court might have barred from selling the specialized USB dongle that enabled PS3 jailbreak but hackers have found a new way to get the same result with a phone. The new PS3 jailbreak currently works only with Nokia’s N900 and Palm Pre but we think it is just a matter of time when this code will be ported to other platforms as well, say Android.

Needless to say, this doesn’t go well with Sony but considering the source code available to all, Sony should rather think to patch the exploit instead of contemplating a lawsuit.

Nokia N900 PS3 Jailbreak
Palm Pre PS3 Jailbreak

[Via Engadget]

Well, it’s official. HP will indeed bring a tablet running webOS. At an earnings call HP’s executive explicitly confirmed about a “webOS-based product in early 2011” when asked about sales being affected by other tablets in the market.

Other details are still a mystery but we can expect the tablet to get official in CES next year.

[Via Precentral]

HP has announced that they’ve completed acquisition of Palm, which they had bought in April for $1.2 billion or $5.70 per share in cash.

HP plans to leverage Palm’s intellectual properties and its feature-rich webOS to smartphones and other mobile devices where Jon Rubenstein, former CEO of Palm will now oversee development of webOS platform and webOS-equipped products. HP wants to bring webOS smartphones, tablets and netbooks in the near future.

Press Release

While Palm was reported to find suitors in the east, US-based HP has announced to buy the ailing smartphone company. HP has bought Palm for $1.2 billion or $5.70 per share. A major reason for HP to buy the company was the webOS, which HP believes could help them bolster in the competitive smartphone market.

HP expects to integrate webOS in number of smartphones as well as tablet PCs in the near future.

“Palm’s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices.”

Palm’s current chairman and CEO, Jon Rubinstein will remain with the company.

Press Release

HTC and Lenovo were claimed as favorites to snag up Palm but the latest report from Reuters says that HTC has walked off and won’t bid for Palm. The exact reason wasn’t highlighted but the source said “there just weren’t enough synergies to take the deal forward.”

This makes Lenovo as the only Asian company left in the race to buy Palm. Lu Chialin, an analyst at Macquarie Securities believes that suitable buyers would be the mainland China companies who’re trying to establish their brand in US, which if we see, Lenovo fits the bill perfectly.

Late last year, Lenovo bought back its mobile phone unit in a bid to re-enter the mobile phone space and have also launched a phone in China.