Jon Rubinstein Leaves HP

It’s been an incredibly bumpy ride for Jon Rubinstein since joining Palm and helped launch webOS. Today marks the end of the line, as it’s been announced the Jon Rubinstein has left HP. According to Ruby via AllThingsD, his plans to leave HP were apparently under way well before the launch the HP TouchPad. With HP’s roadmap for open sourcing webOS complete, he’s moved on. His destination is still yet unknown, but retirement is not something he’s considering just yet. AllThingsD and The Verge have exclusive interviews regarding his departure.

Phone he’s using while calling from Mexico? An HP Veer.

HP’s Todd Bradley and Palm’s Jon Rubinstein Talk webOS

HP’s Todd Bradley and Palm’s Jon Rubinstein took the stage at Fortune Magazine’s Brainstorm tech conference. As one would expect, the focus was on HP’s plans for the future of webOS. Bradley indicated the company’s thinking post-acquisition has been, “how do we proliferate webOS of a family of devices“. HP has plans to release a Windows based slate this fall.  They do have plans to bring webOS to printers, slates and of course smartphones. No dates or confirmation of new hardware was announced although Jon Rubinstein confirmed that Palm has “a great roadmap in place“.

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Rubinstein also indicated that webOS 2.0 is coming later this year. When questioned about whether a webOS slate would include support for Flash, Rubinstein indicated Palm is working with Adobe and testing Flash with webOS.

The event also had it’s Oprah moment, with Todd Bradley informing the crowd they would all receive a free AT&T Palm Pre Plus with 90 days of free service.

Rumor: Palm Shake-up, Rubinstein To Be Replaced?

RUMOR: We’ve tagged this heavily as rumor, but TechCrunch is reporting that “according to industry sources” a shakeup at Palm is imminent and CEO Jon Rubinstein might be replaced. TechCrunch has reached out to Palm for a comment. This comes on the heals of news that Caitlin Spaan, Palm’s vice president of carrier marketing will be leaving the company. Spaan has been with Palm for 14 years.  We wish her the best in her future endeavors.

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As soon as we get an update or clarification on this story, we’ll update this space. It seems late in the game to make such a major move and one would think it would have a detrimental affect on morale at Palm. Just yesterday, the Financial Times had a feature piece on Palm where Rubinstein was quoted as saying, ” I believe Palm can survive as an independent company. We have a plan that gets us to profitability.” That doesn’t sound to us like someone ready to walk out the door.

Let’s hope this gets sorted out sooner than later.

UPDATE: Palm issued a comment to Business Insider that they do not comment on rumors. Engadget adds “not to mention that entire marketing department we hear has been canned“. Palm’s Developer Conference is in full swing this weekend and Jon Rubinstein made an appearance. This tweet made it’s way out of the conference via  @Adora: RT @rboatright: Ruby says “I’m still here…”  Lots of laughs.  Rumor appears to be a rumor.  #palmdev

Palm Reports Q3 FY 2010 Results

Palm today announced results for Q3 FY 2010.

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“Our recent underperformance has been very disappointing, but the potential for Palm remains strong,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer. “The work we’re doing to improve sales is having an impact, we’re making great progress on future products, and we’re looking forward to upcoming launches with new carrier partners. Most importantly, we have built a unique and highly differentiated platform in webOS, which will provide us with a considerable – and growing – advantage as we move forward.”

CTIA is scheduled for next week. If a product announcement is imminent, that would be the appropriate venue for an announcement.

Former Apple Software Chief Avie Tevanian Joins Elevation Partners

Avadis “Avie” Tevanian, Apple’s former Chief Software Technology Officer, has joined Elevation Partners as a Managing Director. He joins former Apple CFO Fred Anderson who is managing director at Elevation Partners. Of course, Elevation Partners are heavily invested in Palm. Current Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein is yet another former Apple employee.

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[via TechCrunch]

Palm webOS Update 1.4 Coming in February, Brings Video and Flash Capabilities

Palm today announced that webOS 1.4 would be available as a free over-the-air update to all Palm webOS device owners sometime in February. webOS 1.4 will offer support for video recording, editing and sharing. Another highlight of webOS 1.4 will be support for Flash content. (Note: Confirmed for Palm Pre, we’re not sure about Palm Pixi).

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Palm Thanks Developers With $100 Gift Card

Palm is expected to open the Palm Developer Program to the public later this month, marking an end to the beta that’s helped shape the program. The developers who have taken part in the beta are being rewarded for their efforts in many ways. The company has sent out letters to developers thanking them for all their efforts and including a $100 Amazon gift certificate in time for the holiday season.

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While I’m sure developers will appreciate the gift certificate, receiving a letter from the CEO of Palm along with Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer provides no better indication of Palm’s dedication to the developer community. Well deserved and well done.

[via PreThinking]

Palm CEO John Rubinstein To Appear on Premier of The Engadget Show

On Sunday September 13th, the guys from Engadget will film their first ever live show and they’ve got one helluva first guest. Palm’s CEO Jon Rubinstein will join them for what should be a very interesting interview. Expect discussions about the Palm Pre, webOS, Palm Pixi and the cat & mouse game that is Palm Pre syncing in iTunes.

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The show is being taped before a live audience at the Tishman Auditorium at Parsons The New School for Design. The venue seats up to 450 and tickets are free. Be aware that tickets are first come, first-served, so arrive early. The show begins at 5pm EST.

For those who cannot be in attendance, the video will be available in iTunes, Zune Marketplace amongst others.

via Engadget

Steve Jobs Asked Palm Not To Hire Apple Employees

Two years ago, Apple had turned the collective smartphone market on it’s ear with the release of the Apple iPhone. At the time, Palm was struggling to get their next generation OS project on track and dealing with an aging product line. In June of 2007, Apple launched the iPhone. To help with this revolutionary new product, Apple had hired 2% of Palm’s employees, clearly to gain insight into years of working with smartphones. Palm had just hired Jon Rubinstein, who is well known for his contributions to the iPod”. It was at this juncture that Steve Jobs reportedly reached out to Palm and asked them to refrain from hiring each other’s staff.

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Palm’s CEO Ed Colligan, to his credit, refused and in so many words said,

“Your proposal that we agree that neither company will hire the other’s employees, regardless of the individual’s desires, is not only wrong, it is likely illegal.”

Bloomberg states that Jobs said, “We must do whatever we can to stop this.” He went on to say that Apple had more patents and money than Palm, if Palm were to consider a legal fight.

So why are these coming to light two years after the fact? Bloomberg apparently received the communications from a Palm spokesperson, in a move that many see as posturing as the US Department of Justice investigates collusion practices between Apple, Google and others. Clearly, there is no collusion between Palm and Apple. This latest volley won’t curry Palm any favor with Jobs, so we can expect the battle to rage on.

[via Engadget]