Palm was expected to deliver webOS 2.0 to its handsets by the end of 2010, but it looks like that date may have slipped. A tweet from O2 Germany suggests the update may land on current devices in early 2011. Unfortunately, early 2011 extends from January to March and the tweet does not reveal whether the update will land on the early or late side of this timeframe. The possibility of a roll out as late as March may be disappointing to webOS fans who were hoping to rock the latest version of webOS as soon as possible.
Some consolation may be found in a rumor from webOS en Castellano that suggests the current generation Pre and Pixi devices will skip right over version 2.0 and land on version 2.1. Details, unfortunately, are sparse as the source did not have a changelog for the release, nor a timeline for its release. Interestingly enough, the folks at webOS en Castellano also claim that the Palm logo will be removed and replaced by the HP logo in upcoming versions of the mobile operating system.
Let’s hope Palm continues to work on webOS 2.0 in light of its ambitious 2011 launch schedule. Palm and HP are rumored to be working on up to six new mobile devices, including a tablet, in the upcoming year. Not much is known about the handsets, but a recent rumor suggests HP has contracted with Inventec to manufacture 6-7 million of these “PalmPad” tablet devices for launch in 2011.
If all these rumors pan out, Palm, HP, and webOS may have a big year in 2011. Whether it will be big enough to rescue Palm remains to be seen, but Jon Rubinstein remains optimisitic. Rubinstein confirmed at the recent D: Dive Into Mobile conference that Palm is aiming for third place behind iOS and Android. Anyone still holding out hope for a comeback or is it game over for the struggling company?
[Via PreCentral]