We remind you that HP bought Palm last year for over $1 billion and the results are the products announced earlier this year: the Veer and Pre 3 handsets, plus the TouchPad tablet. Rubinstein, senior VP at HP claims that he wants special companies to use webOS on their products. HP could be going the Google way with this, although there’s a long way till reaching Android’s fame, that’s for sure.

However, things must be made clear: HP won’t be licensing their OS, so the partners have to add to the platform and push it forward. So, what does it take to be a webOS unit maker? Well, for one the new company must not have a large portofolio of devices based on other platforms or it must intend to focus on webOS as the main software platform is delivers.

Keyboard mapping was necessary to make this work, with volume standing for menu, E for Home and other such implementations. Keep in mind that people are reporting bricked devices after having tried this on unsupported hardware. There’s a downloadable shell script that will load on your Pre right here, followed by the installation of Android.

Backups are recommended, as usual…

Strangely enough Verizon offered the Pre 2 for free a while, but now it’s back to $150, so thank you HP for giving us an alternative. The thing is that both offers include Verizon contracts (new, 2 year). Palm Pre 2 has been available since October 2010, but it has recently reached the States on Verizon.

To accompany this unit, HP introduced in February the Veer tiny smartphone and the HP Pre 3. Will the Pre 3 and Pre 2 cannibalize each other’s sales?

The device is shown to us with its multitasking abilities (on webOS 2.2), as you can start playing NFS, resume it and leave the app open in a small thumbnail window, while you move on and do something else. Meanwhile, the game is open and the race can even continue in thumbnail mode. We also catch a glimpse of the QWERTY keyboard on the device, a sliding one that reveals a mirrored area above the camera, ideal for taking great quality pics.

The display on the HP veer is a 2.6 inch unit, with a 320 x 400 pixel resolution and we learn that its specs include 8GB storage, a 800MHz CPU and a 5MP camera at the back with geotagging.

We also have to mention that there’s a 5MP camera at the back of this device and a sliding QWERTY keyboard, that reveals a mirror surface, making the photographing experience more intuitive. The display on the HP Pre 3 is a 3.5 inch one, with 480 x 800 pixel resolution. As mentioned in the hands on clip, dual microphones will handle voice cancellation and as far as the apps are concerned, the same ones can run on the Pre 3, Veer and TouchPad with no problems.

This HP smartphone will hit the market in Q2 and it’ll also bring WiFi 802.11 b/g/n support, HSDPA and 720p video capture.

We can’t shake the feeling that the OS on this device is so similar to MeeGo, but hey webOS and Nokia’s former main platform have some developers in common, right? Moving on to the device, we find this business slate a decent alternative for the already appealing Honeycomb tablets. Its keyboard can be tweaked size-wise and even if this is a product for businessmen, HP found the time to include some smiley keys.

What you see here is the WiFi only version of the TouchPad, with 3G and 4G versions coming afterwards. On board, the device has a 9.7 inch display, a Snapdragon CPU (dual core, 1.2GHz), a 6300mAh battery, 1.3MP camera at the front and 32GB of internal memory.

Pre Central is claiming that Veer ships with a pair of such accessories, one providing a USB port for charging and the other the needed headphone jack. If you’re a Bluetooth boy or gal, you should ignore the latter and the former can also be skipped if you’re into Touchstone wireless charging. Of course, that means you’re tied up to the Touchstone charger…

HP TouchPad is expected on the market this summer and it sports a 9.7 inch 1024 x 768 pixel display and a dual core 1.2GHz Snapdragon CPU. The device measures 13.7mm in thickness and weighs 1.6 pounds, very much liked the iPad. Capable of “true multitasking”, this gadget will be available in a 16 and 32GB version, packed with WiFi support, A-GPS, Skype calling, wireless printing and VPN.

You’ll be able to take the calls coming to the HP Pre 3 smartphone on the TouchPad and you’ll also be able to switch messages, notes and URLs between the two devices, just by touching them. HP’s first large diagonal webOS unit will be accompanied by accessories like a case/stand, wireless keyboard and new TouchStone dock. A 4G version will also hit the market at some point.

The device adopts the sliding QWERTY design and comes with a 5MP camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, A-GPS and 8GB of internal memory. The battery on HP Veer provides 5 hours of talk time and 300 hours of standby, while under the hood you’ll find an 800MHz CPU, unlike the 1.4GHz one on the Pre 3.

One of HP’s first webOS products, this unit continues the legacy of Palm, in spite of not bearing its branding. Veer is a 15.1mm thick phone with HSDPA support and ready for a Spring launch. No price is known yet and extra design traits are found in the video below:

There’s also a 5MP camera with autofocus and LED flash on board, plus support for 720p HD video and a front facing videocall camera. The OS of choice is webOS 2.2, while under the hood you’ll find a 1.4GHz CPU (Qualcomm MSM8x55). On the connectivity side, you get WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, HSPA+ and EVDO Rev A.

512MB DRAM complete the specs list and we must mention that this device supports an interesting feature, that allows the user to take the calls of the Pre 3 using the TouchPad tablet. Also, touching the two gadgets will enable URL sharing via a function called touch-to-share. You’ll be able to purchase the phone starting this summer, in 8 and 16GB versions.

Don’t forget to have a look at the video below for extra details: