HP Senior Vice President and General Manager of the newly merged Palm Global Business group Jon Rubenstein has confirmed that the long promised update to webOS 2.0 for the first generation of webOS products in the Pre, Pre Plus, Pixi and Pixi Plus will not be released, essentially freezing those devices at version 1.4.5 of the operating system and relegating versions 2.0 and higher to the Pre 2 as well as the forthcoming Pre 3 and Veer.
When asked to elaborate further, Rubenstein commented that the purchase of Palm by HP put the group behind by an entire product cycle, along with the fact that the hardware in the Pre and Pixi couldn’t run the new webOS 2.0 build once it was finished.
Rubenstein did mention that those that still have the old hardware will be looked after by HP when the Pre 3, Veer and Touch Pad are released with no further details confirmed as of yet. With the freezing out of the first generation of webOS hardware from further updates, the loyalty of current owners will surely be put to the test as the earliest availability timeframe for the new generation of hardware will be this Spring with the Veer, while the Pre 3 will be launched later in the Summer.
The forthcoming release of the Verizon Pre 2 is also another factor to consider, as the webOS 2.0 device will become available for pre-order tomorrow morning with its launch slated for later this month on the 17th. With the Verizon Pre 2 being released not long after the announcement of the Pre 3 running an even newer version of webOS in 2.2, it remains to be seen whether the Pre 2 will continue to be supported by the company and carrier after the launch of the Veer and Pre 3.
