HP readies Palm revival with Pre 2 and webOS 2.0

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) is finally going public with its next plans for Palm and the webOS operating system after acquiring the company last April.
HP said webOS 2.0 will be commercially available on Friday when it launches the new Palm Pre 2 smart phone on SFR in France. The new device and OS will also be available on Verizon Wireless in the United States and in Canada on a yet-to-be-named carrier in the coming months, HP added.
Most industry analysts will be watching closely to see if HP can help revive Palm after so many months of idling while the rest of its competitors launched a series of new devices and consistently updated their operating systems.
“With webOS 2.0, we’re advancing the innovations we introduced 16 months ago, expanding the features that make webOS great for consumers, enterprises and developers,” said Jon Rubinstein, SVP and GM of the Palm global business unit at HP. “We’ve made tremendous strides since the platform launched, and now we’re taking our biggest leap forward with powerful new features that make it easier to get more things done with your webOS device.”
The OS refresh will also have to play catch up with the likes of Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG). Multitasking, Flash Player support and a revamped version of Synergy will all be included in webOS 2.0, which HP first opened up to developers in the form of a software development kit last month.
HP will also be pushing the webOS 2.0 update to existing customers in the coming months, but the company declined to offer a specific timeline.