On slide # 10 of the multi-page spread, Whitman firmly states that HP "(has) to have a tablet offering. We will be back in that business. We're coming back into the market with a Windows 8 tablet, first on an x86 chip and then maybe on an ARM chip. We'll see."

Slide #13 and #14 discuss HP's message to the remaining people on the WebOS team and the rest of high-profile departures, some of which we have recently covered. Whitman says that "This has been a very rocky period for the former Palm team/WebOS team that we built. And this was not a happy set of occurrences over the last six to eight months. So we have lost some people." She surprisingly even states that "Between August and November, there was no plan."

Maybe we’d have a better shot at keeping those resolutions if they weren’t all buried in the busy holiday season. So feel free to join me in a new tradition of making your New Year’s resolutions on Groundhog Day. My resolution? Stay more on top of what’s going on the world. I’ve started by downloading Zite, the very smart (and very free) personalized news app (now owned by CNN).

Having Zite on my TouchPad is like having an editorial staff constantly updating my own personal magazine, based on my interests and customized based on my ongoing feedback about what stories I liked (or didn’t). And, as it turns out, the folks at Zite are also fans of new holiday traditions (although Zite’s CEO Mark Johnson did admit to me that “we never put up a Festivus pole in the office, though we do have several Seinfeld fans here”).

Looking for a different resolution? Check out Health and Fitness Month at webOS Nation (where they'll not only help you lose a few pounds, but they'll also help you gain a 32 GB TouchPad bundle).

Jon Zilber

*Oops, there’s that pesky phrase again.

Long-time PIC readers may recall the story of former Palm CEO Ed Colligan plucking Rubinstein out of his semi-retirement poolside in Mexico (illustrated in this article from 2007) and it's to this tranquil destination that Ruby has returned for "some time off". The "Podfather" is still using his HP Veer and expressed no desire to head north and try to rectify the problems at RIM.

The All Things D article goes on to state that Rubinstein has "no immediate plans" and the departure comes on the heels of his fulfillment of a 12-24 month commitment to stay onboard with HP in the aftermath of the Palm acquisition in 2010.

The article concludes with report that Rubinstein's departure is no great surprise, as he had not been seen on HP grounds after last summer's groundbreaking decision by ex-CEO Leo Apotheker to discontinue HP's WebOS hardware products.

In addition, the company has released version 2.0 of the Enyo developer tool. Enyo 2.0 enables developers to write a single application that works across mobile devices and desktop web browsers, from the webOS, iOS and Android platforms to the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers – and more. The source code for Enyo is available today, giving the open source community immediate access to the application framework for webOS.

Enyo 1.0, the framework underlying the applications that run exclusively on the HP TouchPad and other HP webOS devices (including both our own core applications and thousands of third-party apps), has now also been open-sourced. One of the key enhancements in the Enyo 2.0 Core is support for other browsers (such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, as well as other browsers built on the same webkit foundation, such as Chrome and Safari). This compatibility will give apps built in the Enyo 2.0 framework more flexibility to run within other mobile platforms.

You can find more technical details about the various components of the overall Enyo framework as well as details on our open source licensing here. 

Jon Zilber

webOS v3.0.5
TouchPad users will be receiving webOS 3.0.5. This TouchPad update offers users faster switching in Calendar views, IM presence indicators and faster scrolling in Email, support for HTTP Live Streaming, the ability to easily toggle auto-correction on or off, and an option you can set so that a period will be inserted when you press the space bar twice. Further details can be found here.

webOS v2.2.4
Unlocked Pre 2 and AT&T, Verizon, and unlocked Pre 3 phones will receive an update to. For Pre 2, this update brings improvements in Skype voice calling and messaging, and MAP for Bluetooth. For all devices, you'll find Messaging, Calendar, and Contacts enhancements.

• faster switching in Calendar views; 
• IM presence indicators and faster scrolling in Email; 
• support for HTTP Live Streaming; 
• the ability to easily toggle auto-correction on or off; 
• an option you can set so that a period will be inserted when you press the space bar twice.

For more details, click here.

An update to webOS 2.2.4 was also recently made available for unlocked Pre 2 and AT&T, Verizon, and unlocked Pre 3 phones. For Pre 2, this update brings improvements in Skype voice calling and messaging, and MAP for Bluetooth. For all devices, you’ll find Messaging, Calendar, and Contacts enhancements. 

Jon Zilber

The Verge conducted a sit-down interview in with Whitman and Andreessen earlier today about the future of WebOS, both as an ongoing open-sourced project and as the possible basis for future HP Tablet hardware.

For the time being, only a few excerpts from the full interview have been posted. In short, Whitman stated that yes, HP would indeed be revisiting WebOS tablet hardware but stopped short of committing to it in 2012 or later. She went on to state that the team is going to be reorganized in "a quite different direction than we've been taking it in the past". Presumably this will be a much sleeker, highly-competitive piece of hardware compared to HP's mediocre TouchPad that was seemingly launched as a barely-updated response to the 18 month-old first-generation iPad.

As HP President and CEO Meg Whitman noted, "webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable. By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices." 

HP will remain an active participant and investor in the project. More details will become available as the project ramps up, but interested developers can start sharing their input immediately at the webOS developer blog. 

Jon Zilber