HP has made good on releasing a roadmap for their webOS open source initiative and, as part of it, have fully open sourced the Enyo 2.0 application framework. But what does all this mean for the iMore crowd? In the short term it means you’ll be seeing at least a few webOS apps made available in the App Store and in your browser. In the longer term it means you’re likely to see a day where webOS is compiled to run on other hardware, though if that’s possible with Apple’s locked-down designs is another question entirely.

We’ll tackle the apps thing first. At its core Enyo is based on web tech like everything webOS (whereas the iOS framework is based around Objective-C). Going open source means that developers who have written in Enyo can compile their apps to be loaded in a browser or on webapp-supporting operating systems like iOS and Android with little issue. In fact, it’s already happening – multiple webOS Enyo apps are available through WebKit-based web browsers — like Safari — and at least one, an Instapaper client called Paper Mache, is available now in the Android Market. Of course, there’s some tweaking that’ll have to be done to make things nice and smooth, but apps like Paper Mache look and behave (minus the lag and jitter) exactly as they do on webOS.

The second major announcement was that HP is dumping their custom kernel and coopting the standard Linux kernel for use in Open webOS. This is the basic principle behind Android’s kernel by making the switch webOS will gain support for a wide breadth of hardware. Where there’s Cyanogen for the Android Open Source Project we certainly expect the same to happen with webOS. The question is… will anybody want to install it?

HP CEO Meg Whitman admitted in a recent interview that if you count tablets, Apple may very well bust past them in PC sales after holiday sales are tallied up. A bunch of analyst estimates suggest Apple could break 20 million combined iPad and Mac unit sales over the holidays. That would put it over the   14.7 million that HP had churned out last quarter, and well ahead of other manufacturers like Acer, Dell, and Lenovo. Of course, if you don’t count the iPad, and only Mac sales, Apple falls well behind the whole lot.  Over the holidays, it’s estimated Apple cleared little over 5 million Mac units.

I’m still a little dubious about counting the current breed of tablets as full-blown PCs, despite being great computing devices. There’s no lack of Macbook Air owners that aren’t inclined to also carry around an iPad, and Windows 8 is showing that other big-boy laptops will soon be able to slim down to the size of tablets borne of smartphone operating systems.

These are interesting estimates to consider, but we won’t know for sure how well Apple’s Mac and iPad sales did until they announce their quarterly results on January 24. What do you guys think – is it fair to lump in the iPad with Mac sales when talking about the PC market?

Source: TechCrunch via Asymco

After reading the news Precentral.net broke about Palm once again being split into separate software (likely to wither) and hardware (likely to die) units, it made me wish we could get a new show on FOX this fall called “Jobs’ Business Nightmare”. Just like the Gordon Ramsay cooking show, Steve Jobs could tackle another bumbling, downward spiraling tech company each week, shake them up, reorganize their product matrixes, and turn them back towards the path to success. Just like he did with Apple. And he could miraculously do it all in 44 min. Just like Ramsway.

HP could be the pilot.

“Apotheker, come here. 2 seconds. Listen to me. You’re in denial. You’re ruining webOS. You’re ruining it. Donkey.”

I’d watch.

From the Forums is a great way to see what all of the current hot topics are on the TiPb forums. In order to create any new threads of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now!

• Are you an webOS user looking to jump ship for iOS?

• What will the next iPhone be called?

• If you are running an iOS 5 beta, how is your battery life?

• Top 5 anticipated features of the next generation iPad.

See you in the forums!

HP has just announced that they’re killing off webOS devices, namely the Pre, Veer, and TouchPad — or everything that competes with iPhone and iPad.

In addition, HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.

Derek Kessler, editor of our sibling site PreCentral.net pulls no punches:

So what does this mean? The statement was carefully worded to state that they’re “discontinuing operations for webOs devices,” not webOS as an operating system. If anything, this should add fuel to the second option we discussed earlier today when the shocking word of an HP breakup first surfaced: HP is more interested in webOS than devices. They tried to give it a go with hardware, but quickly realized that they weren’t going to be able to make it work without massive long-term investment and commitment. So less than a year after acquiring all of Palm for $1.2 billion, we’re looking at a hazy future for webOS.

My wish: Google buying Motorola to prevent against manufacturers turning away from Android leads at least one manufacturer with more savvy and stomach than HP to turn away from Android and towards webOS. An HTC ThunderBolt II or Samsung Galaxy S III with Cards and Synergy would be very, very interesting.

Keep your browsers locked to PreCentral.net for continuing coverage.

[PreCentral.net]

Clayton Miller’s Interuserface takes a look at the iconic shapes behind today’s biggest mobile companies, and while Apple, iPhone, and iPad are obviously roundrects (rounded rectangles), their competition is just as geometrically aligned:

Microsoft’s Metro UI owns the square. Apple has a corner on the roundrect, from the Springboard launcher to the iPhone hardware itself. Nokia, despite its late entry with MeeGo’s Harmattan UI, found the squircle unclaimed and ran with it beautifully. Palm has used the circle from the early days of PalmOS, and in WebOS, HP continues the tradition with care (one might even note that both Palm and HP structure their wordmarks around the circle).

Zune, obviously, couldn’t hold the squircle, and neither Bada nor RIM could take the square or roundrect as their own. Interestingly, Google’s Android has no iconic hold on any simple shape (nor do Facebook or Amazon for that matter, who have elected to stick with letters).

[Interuserface via WPCentral]

HP has put out a firmware update for 8 models of LaserJet printers, adding support for iOS’s AirPrint feature for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. The newly empowered models are:

• HP LaserJet P1102w Printer
• HP LaserJet P1606dn Printer
• HP LaserJet Pro CP1025nw Color Printer
• HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf MFP
• HP LaserJet Pro M1213nf MFP
• HP LaserJet Pro M1214nfh MFP
• HP LaserJet Pro M1216nfh MFP
• HP LaserJet Pro M1217nfw MFP

Previously supported models:

• HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fn Color MFP
• HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw Color MFP
• HP LaserJet Pro CP1525n Color Printer
• HP LaserJet Pro CP1525nw Color Printer
• HP Color LaserJet Pro M1536dnf MFP

If you have one of those models, get on over to HP’s support site and download your update. If you’re considering a new, AirPrint supported printer, you can add those above to the 5 previously supported models, for a grand total of 13 to choose from.

Now we’re just waiting on Apple to fix up that AirPrint to networked printers feature that didn’t make it into iOS 4.2 or 4.3 but we’d really like to see in iOS 5!

[HP via TUAW]

Our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn, writing for sibling site PreCentral.net lands an exclusive first look at an HP/Palm webOS slab device, potentially code-named Stingray.

While we are quite confident that the image is legit, unfortunately we don’t have a lot of confidence in any further information. Is the device coming or is it simply a prototype that has been canned? Our tipster described it as “an EVO with webOS” and suggests it simply has yet to be announced.

If real and if HP goes ahead and releases it, it will be their first phone without a keyboard, leaving webOS itself as their key differentiators. With more an more emerging about the tablet-specific webOS 3.0 (similar to how iOS 3.2 was iPad specific), it’ll be interesting to see what ultimately launches on the phone.

[PreCentral.net]

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Rene and Georgia talk Verizon iPhone launch, battling TV commercials, iPhone 5 rumors, HPs new phones and Nokia’s burning platform, the greenpois0n Jailbreak, Angrier Birds, and we give away an iPhone! The is iPhone Live!

Show notes and the week in iPhone after the break!

Verizon iPhone

• Verizon iPhone 4 most successful first day sales in Verizon history
• Verizon iPhone now available for order online
• Walmart will carry Verizon iPhone 4 starting Feb. 10
• Poll: Are you ordering a Verizon iPhone today?
• New Verizon iPhone commercial hammers home the network
• AT&T fires back at Verizon with simultaneous voice and data commercial
• TiPb Answers: Verizon iPhone, antennagate, and death-touch vs. death-grip
• Verizon iPhone tear-down — could have been a world phone!

iPhone 5

• WWDC 2011, iPhone 5, iOS 5 GM to be announced June 5-9?

The competition

• HP (not Palm!) announces Veer, Pre3, webOS 3.0 TouchPad
• New Nokia CEO offers brutally honest assessment of their post-iPhone future

Jailbreak

• How to jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 iPhone, iPad untethered via greenpois0n [Mac users only]
• Updated: Verizon iPhone iOS 4.2.6 Jailbreak via greenpois0n RC 5?
• TiPb asks: Are you going to Jailbreak your iOS 4.2.1 iPhone or iPad with greenpois0n?

Tips and How to

• Daily tips

Apps

• Angry Birds update brings 15 new levels, Super Bowl commercial will bring special level
• Angry Birds Seasons for iPhone, iPad gets a Valentine’s Day update
• Google launches native Google Translate app for iPhone
• Top 5 iPhone apps for Droid/Android switchers
• Top 5 iPhone apps for BlackBerry switchers

Hosts

• @reneritchie
• @GeorgiaTiPb

Credits

Thanks to the TiPb iPhone accessory store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

Dieter’s been killing it today over on sibling-site PreCentral.net, digging up tons of details on HP/Palm’s upcoming “Topaz” tablet, their big iPad competitor. Not surprisingly it lines up almost identically to the current iPad and rumored iPad 2 specs, including a 9-inch 1024×768 screen, gyroscope, and front-facing camera. Given how successful Palm was at attracting developers to the Pre given its iPhone 3GS spec-matching, maintaining the strategy and getting iPad games via an updated PDK is a no brainer.

The hardware is the least interesting part of the leak, however. Of course it will be running webOS, one of the most elegant mobile operating systems on the planet, but as always there some amazing Palm innovation along for the ride:

The Topaz will support Touchstone inductive charging – but obviously it won’t work with the current Touchstone. Instead, HP is developing something they were calling “Touchstone v2″ that supports additional functionality. That functionality looks to include both Bluetooth for wireless streaming of content and speakers for music.

That last is intriguing. The idea is that you can start watching a movie on the dock, but when you lift the Topaz out of the dock it switches into a wireless remote to control the video that it’s wirelessly streaming to the controller for play on your television.

It’ll also have Flash, which the iPad won’t, and it should include some nifty cloud integration into the rest of HP’s webOS and Windows-powered ecosystem.

While Apple COO Tim Cook recently took Google’s Android tablets to task for bizarre fragmentation, Palm uses the same integrated approach Apple does and that could make for some pretty compelling competition.

Check out the full leaks via the link below and then come back here and tell us what you think. iPad 2 need to worry?

[PreCentral.net]

Since a couple videos have started floating around on YouTube I figured it was about time I spoke up a little about my brief experience with the HP Slate. I had an opportunity to play with one about 3 months ago. HP apparently has a couple of these prototype devices they ship off to customers to tinker with and get feedback.

Now, my impressions have to be taken with a grain of salt since I am comparing a prototype, non-production device to the iPad, but I think certain truths will remain. For starters, the device is rather bulky, about 2-3 times thicker than the iPad. Once you get past the difference in physical thickness, your hands start to hurt, not because of the weight, but because the thing runs so hot your hands are burning after holding it for a few minutes.

Let’s talk features. I was curious to get the camera working. So, I looked for a physical hardware button to take a picture (because just about everyone other than Apple does that). Well, no photo button to be found. I was in the Windows 7 interface and could not find an camera app to launch. So I had to hunt for an alternative. HP has apparently built a custom skin for Windows 7 that gives the device a much more mobile feel with big buttons to launch apps and services. So, I launched that skin and found the camera app. The camera seemed to work well based on the fluorescently lite cubical environment, but hey, what can ya do. I now know why spy cam shots are always blurry and video is shaky.

I did not see the physical keyboard button when I had my time with the device, though I am sure it works fine. I did have the same difficult time scrolling (actually in this video, I don’t think he actually got it to scroll, but kept saying how fast it was. No comment there). Overall it was very lethargic and a challenge to use. Speaking of which, when in Windows 7 mode, it is impossible to do anything on screen as it is still using the mouse metaphor and there is a cursor on the screen; you don’t get the ease of use or speediness you get with iOS on iPad.

Again, these are my impressions of the prototype from a few months ago. Hardware changes, software changes and who knows what the final product will look like if it ever ships, but HP sure doesn’t appear like they are going to let this one go…

Here’s one of those videos from the ‘net, after the break.

Get your apps ready for iOS 4.2, developers! That’s what Apple’s new information page says:

iOS 4.2 is coming this November. With iOS SDK 4.2 beta, you can add exciting, new features to your apps including the capability to print directly from iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. iPad apps can now take advantage of multitasking, Game Center, iAd, and more.

There some additional information about AirPrint as well:

Adding printing support to your app is easy. Simply provide a button for the user to initiate printing, prepare your content in an appropriate format, and then create and send a print job to the iOS print system when the user requests it.

Test with a printer that supports AirPrint

HP ePrint printers are the first to support AirPrint. You can test printing from your app to one of these printers:

• HP Photosmart Premium Fax e-All-in-One Printer series – C410
• HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One Printer series – C310
• HP Photosmart Plus e-All-in-One Printer series- B210

Or, test printing with one of these options:

• Print to a Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.5 beta
• Print to the Printer Simulator from iOS 4.2 beta

Getting excited for iOS 4.2 yet? Apple, you tease!

[Apple.com]

HP is applying for a trademark on the term PALMPAD which shows they not only intend to compete with Apple in the tablet space, but perhaps to compete with iPad in almost the same branding terms.

No surprise there. Back when iSlate was thought to be the name for Apple’s tablet, Steve Ballmer bounded up onto the CES stage flourishing an HP Slate.

Letting Apple do the hard work of establishing consumer awareness for new product categories and then glomming onto their naming conventions — that’s smart.

webOS on a large screen device — that could be brilliant.

Of course, Apple got more than their fair share of “pad” related jokes to go with that name. Can’t imagine what HP will get with PalmPad…

Update: Now there are also rumors to suggest that PalmPad will differentiate itself from iPad with… a stylus. webOS phones have keyboards, webOS tablets have pens.

[USPTO via myHPmini via PreCentral.net]

HP is buying Palm for $5.70 a share, or roughly $1.2 billion. Does this mean we can expect HP netbooks and tablets running webOS sooner rather than later? Sure would beat Windows 7 starter, wouldn’t it?

Says Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP:

“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. And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market.”

Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein was also quoted:

“We’re thrilled by HP’s vote of confidence in Palm’s technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP’s longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS. We look forward to working with HP to continue to deliver industry-leading mobile experiences to our customers and business partners.”

The question remains, webOS or no, can HP fix the hardware and carrier issues that have plagued Palm since their re-invention, and can they do it fast enough for it to matter?

PreCentral.net is covering the Palm/HP merger story as it develops and will be following the conference call starting at 5pm. Head on over there for more…

The HP MediaSmart Server iStream app [Free - iTunes link] allows iPhone and iPod touch users to stream media from an EX485 or EX487 HP MediaSmart Home Server.

Supported media includes photos, music, and video (though HP says DRM’d video might not stream properly). Part of a much more impressive server package, Engadget has the details:

Dual Core processor, 2GB of RAM and up to four 2TB drives [...] The new EX490 and EX495 can handle up to 7TB of internal storage and up to 17TB pairing up internal drives with external hanger-ons. More interesting, however, are the new software capabilities built on top of Windows Home Server. Mac users now get admin features, media collection and bare metal recovery over Time Machine, and the servers have a built-in video converter for collecting and converting videos for a specific device.

They function as iTunes servers, with the Celeron bound EX490 starting at $549 for 1TB, the dual-core EX495 starting at $699 for 1.5TB.

By contrast, while Apple’s own Time Capsule has been rumored to be getting iPhone streaming functionality, nothing has thus far appeared.

If you try out HP’s streaming app, let us know how it works for you!

Macworld formulates word of HP’s foray into iPhone application development, and it’s both nostalgic for calculator enthusiasts, and interesting from a premium price point:

When run in landscape mode, each app uses the original ROM code and provides an exact visual replica of the actual horizontal-format calculator, making it familiar to users of the originals. The $15 HP 12c and $20 HP 12c Platinum provide the same business-focused functions and formulas as the hardware models, and the $30 HP 15c includes all of the original’s scientific algorithms and calculation sequences, including matrix, root, and complex-number functions. All three apps are also, like their hardware counterparts, programmable.

Here’s the rundown again:

• HP 12C Financial Calculator [$14.99 - iTunes link]
• HP 12C Platinum Calculator [$19.99 - pending]
• HP 15C Scientific Calculator [$29.99 - iTunes link]

Anyone compelled to pick up one of those heavy crunchers, and if so, which one, what makes it compelling, and does it feel enough like the hardware version for you?