It’s always nice when rumors actually hold up: HP just officially introduced the arena to webOS 2.0 and confirmed its flagship handset, the Palm Pre 2 . So this is because HP spent all that cash . Let’s take a snappy spin.
Much of what we saw in those leaked webOS 2.0 screen shots has been confirmed: Stacks and JustType, baked in Skype and Facebook support. HP’s also promising ” true multitasking,” which suggests you never must close an app to discover your email, and Flash 10.1 beta support inside the browser.
Less is legendary concerning the Palm Pre 2 -the only real confirmed details are a 5MP camera and a 1GHz processor, both of which can be table stakes at this point for a significant smartphone. It’ll arrive in France this Friday, but US and Canadian Palmists are going to must wait until sometime ” within the coming months” to get their hands on one. More importantly, it looks as though those leaked images were legit:
It’ll be available here through Verizon, although in the event you’re a developer you’ll have the ability to purchase an unlocked UMTS device, price TBD.
HP Introduces webOS 2.0, a higher Generation of Mobile Innovation
Coming first on new Palm Pre 2 in France, america and Canada
PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 19, 2010
HP today announced HP webOS 2.0, probably the most significant update to the platform since its launch in 2009 and a substantial step in HP’s vision to remodel how people think, feel and fix.
The first device to run webOS 2.0, HP’s new Palm Pre 2 smartphone, can be available Friday in France from SFR and is scheduled to be available inside the coming months within the United states of america from Verizon Wireless and in Canada.
” 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, senior vice chairman and general manager, Palm Global Business Unit, HP. ” We’ve made tremendous strides since the platform launched, and now we’re taking our biggest breakthrough with powerful new features that assist you get more things done along with your webOS device.”
webOS 2.0 offers consumers compelling application experiences not available on any other platform, while providing developers an unparalleled level of openness to integrate their applications and services. The subsequent generation of webOS makes it easier to get more done:
* True Multitasking – Pause a game, tap an email notification, check your calendar, read a cafe review, send an email reply, then switch back to the game without closing anything.(1,2) webOS permits you to easily manage multiple open applications and notifications using natural touch gestures. New in webOS 2.0, Stacks logically groups together your open apps so that they work the way in which you do. Whether you’re reading email or planning a night on town, Stacks keeps related items together so managing multiple tasks is even easier.
* Just Type – Start an email, create a message, update your status, search your favorite websites – all before you’ve even opened an app.(1) With webOS 2.0, once you would like to do something for your phone – whether it’s emailing, texting, searching or almost anything – just type. And Just Type is open to developers, on the way to integrate with the hunt function and add their own user-customizable shortcuts, called Quick Actions.
* HP Synergy – webOS was the first mobile OS to attach you seamlessly to multiple web services. With the Synergy feature, you simply should register for your Facebook, Google, Microsoft® Exchange, LinkedIn and Yahoo! accounts and your information automatically populates your phone.(3) webOS 2.0 will extend the support for Synergy so developers can easily plug new Messaging, Contacts and Calendar application sources directly into the core webOS experiences.(4)
* Exhibition – A new method to use your webOS phone, Exhibition allows you to run apps designed specifically for the Palm Touchstone Charging Dock, turning charge time into useful time.(4,5) Set your phone on the dock and Exhibition launches automatically, showing you anything from today’s agenda to a slideshow of your Facebook photos. Exhibition will enable developers to display aspects of their existing app experience or create specialized apps for use when users have their webOS device accountable mode on the charging dock.
* Adobe® Flash Player 10.1 Beta – With version 2.0, webOS now supports a beta of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 inside the browser, which supplies access to rich, Flash-based web page.(6)
webOS 2.0 also includes many more new features, including the subsequent:
* Favorites – With webOS 2.0, you could tag your favorite contacts in order that they appear as favorites in Phone and Contacts views. Once you lookup them by name, they instantly take place at the tip of the Contacts, Email, Messaging and speak to apps. Favorites make it simple to get in contact fast.
* Skype Mobile™ (Verizon Wireless only) – For Verizon Wireless customers, webOS 2.0 supports Skype-to-Skype calls and messaging while inside the Us of a to anywhere on the earth, and occasional-rate calls to international landlines and cellphones.
* Text Assist – webOS 2.0 offers greatly expanded capabilities to spell check, auto correct, mounted macros and customize the dictionary.
* Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite – An all-new document viewer from the leading provider of mobile document viewers offers support for Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents and gives integration with more than a few services, including Google Docs and Dropbox.
* Facebook 2.0 – Available via the Palm App Catalog, Facebook 2.0 will support Facebook IM via Synergy inside the Messaging application,(4) in addition as Stacks, status updates via Quick Action and the Exhibition feature.
* Browser – The browser adds support for more HTML5 features, including geolocation support. OpenSearch plug-in support makes it easy to add your favorite websites to Just Type web search.
* Messaging – The unified Messaging app in webOS 2.0 adds Yahoo! IM and buddy management. Customers can now hook up with their buddies through SMS, MMS, Google Talk, AIM and Yahoo! IM.
* VPN – webOS 2.0 supports the hottest tips on how to connect with a corporate network, including IPsec and Cisco AnyConnect mobile-optimized VPN, which supports SSL (TLS and DTLS).
* App Catalog – The redesigned Palm App Catalog makes finding and discovering great apps even easier.(7) And the recent Software Manager helps you keep your apps up-to-date.
* Launcher – A redesigned app launcher allows you to add, label and reorder launcher pages.
* Phone – The webOS 2.0 Phone app means that you can easily dial your favorites and provides reverse area code lookup and Skype Mobile integration (Skype Mobile for Verizon Wireless only). Accounts – The brand new Accounts app provides a single place to regulate your whole Synergy accounts.
* Bluetooth® keyboards – webOS now supports Bluetooth keyboards and Bluetooth SPP peripherals, enabling applications similar to barcode readers and realty lock boxes.
* a number of developer features – Besides Exhibition, Just Type and Synergy APIs, webOS 2.0 adds Node.JS, enabling developers to create services in JavaScript. In addition they can now use the webOS Plug-In Development Kit (PDK) to combine C/C++ with web technologies in a single app.
More information concerning the features of webOS 2.0 is offered at www.palm.com/softwareupdate.
Introducing Palm Pre 2
HP also introduced the Palm Pre 2 smartphone, the most recent evolution to the Palm Pre lineup. Pre 2 is the first Palm phone with a gigahertz processor and contours a 5-megapixel camera, a pitcher screen and a sleeker, streamlined design that still gives users the proper combination of a vivid touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard.
More information about Palm Pre 2, including features and specifications, is out there at www.palm.com/Pre2.
Availability
Palm Pre 2 featuring webOS 2.0 shall be available Friday in France from SFR and is scheduled to be available inside the coming months within the Usa from Verizon Wireless and in Canada. The webOS 2.0 update will probably be brought to existing customers inside the coming months, with exact timing to be announced at a later date.
unlocked UMTS versions of Pre 2 inside the America to take advantage of as a canvas to build a higher generation of webOS applications and services. Additional info concerning the purchase program can be available at http://developer.palm.com/devdevices.html.
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