Now ringing in at version 1.5, the latest Facebook for WebOS client is now available in the Palm App Catalog. The primary improvement is Facebook Places check-in awareness, though Facebook Chat support is pending for a future update.

Spec-wise, this Pre 2 is identical to the existing SFR and unlocked GSM versions, with pricing for the Rogers Pre 2 Rogers at $99.99 Canadian on a 3-year contract, $349.99 on a 2-year contract and $399 on a one-year contract. Interestingly, device is also $399.99 on a contract-free, month-to-month plan as well.

Also, the original version of Angry Birds for WebOS has been updated to version 1.4.2 and has received a slew of additional performance improvements and bug fixes along with an assortment of new levels of pig-squashing fun. As always, separate apps of both versions of Angry Birds are available for the differing resolutions of the Pixi/Pixi Plus and the Pre/Pre Plus/Pre 2.

You may also remember Rizwan as the winner of Palm's January 2009 Celebrate with Palm blog contest to win a trip to Las Vegas to see the Pre and WebOS unveiling.

This move may come as a surprise to some, considering the company's long and glorious history with Palm OS devices, as evidenced bythis PIC feature on Palm OS handhelds in the medical field back in 2001. Even in the lean recent years of Palm, the company supported their Palm OS app on WebOS through Motion Apps' Classic (another recently-departed app) before launching the native WebOS version in February of this year.

The final date to install or update the product will be February 1st. On that date, the app will be removed from Palm's App Catalog. Afterwards, the app will continue to function until an unspecified time in May, upon which the app will be remotely terminated and cease to function entirely.

While no solid specs have been confirmed about the device, both the original Pixi and slightly spec-bumped Pixi Plus are desperately due for a refresh, with a standard WebOS 2.0 an absolute certainty at this point. Last month, another report suggested that the Pixi 2 would also hit Verizon alongside the Pre 2, though in August's Verizon roadmap leak we discussed the prospects of the Verizon Pixi Plus living on until March of 2011.

The very same Forbes article indicates that Sprint is looking to target corporate and business users with their 4G tablet offerings, with 70% to 80% of CIOs revealing to Sprint that they plan to deploy tablets within their organizations. These kinds of statistics can come as very welcome news to HP's traditional strengths in the business, enterprise, government, and education sectors.

Even more chilling, according to Precentral.net, is Nielsen's classification of "Palm OS" in its data—this includes both WebOS devices and classic Palm OS Garnet devices such as Treos and the Centro. According to Nielsen, Palm's WebOS, presumably falling into the catch-all category of "other", did not even make a dent in the "next desired smartphone operating system" figures.

Note that this does not mean a WebOS-powered compact server; rather, the MediaSmart Server team is being reassigned to work on the presumed bevy of WebOS devices in a variety of form factors promised by HP and Palm throughout 2010. HP's Personal Systems group, headed by Todd Bradley oversees the company's WebOS and mobility products as well as PC-related product lines including MediaSmart servers.

Additionally, a prior Tweet disclosed that Rovio and Palm had worked out a lingering issue regarding the updated version of Angry Birds that we mentioned previously, with an update imminent pending Palm's App Store approval.

Janam Technologies LLC, one of only a handful of Access' major Palm OS licensees remaining active, announced that they are extending their licensing agreement for the Garnet OS. Under the terms of Janam's agreement with Access Systems Americas, Inc., Janam will continue its XP line of ruggedized Garnet-based handhelds through 2017, five years longer than originally planned. The full text of the press release is here.

First launched in 2007, Janam currently fields two ruggedized Garnet 5.4.9-based models for industrial applications, the monochrome 160x160 XP20 and the color 240x320 XP30. Both have integrated barcode scanners, numeric keypads, and 802.11b/g wireless connectivity. We initially covered these devices during a sneak preview in 2006.