Groundhog Day is the day when weatherhog-in-chief Punxsutawney Phil casts some light (or shadows) on what kind of weather we can expect in the coming weeks*. But did you know Groundhog Day also marks the date when fully two-thirds of all New Year’s resolutions have been abandoned? 

Maybe we’d have a better shot at keeping those resolutions if they weren’t all buried in the busy holiday season. So feel free to join me in a new tradition of making your New Year’s resolutions on Groundhog Day. My resolution? Stay more on top of what’s going on the world. I’ve started by downloading Zite, the very smart (and very free) personalized news app (now owned by CNN).

Having Zite on my TouchPad is like having an editorial staff constantly updating my own personal magazine, based on my interests and customized based on my ongoing feedback about what stories I liked (or didn’t). And, as it turns out, the folks at Zite are also fans of new holiday traditions (although Zite’s CEO Mark Johnson did admit to me that “we never put up a Festivus pole in the office, though we do have several Seinfeld fans here”).

Looking for a different resolution? Check out Health and Fitness Month at webOS Nation (where they'll not only help you lose a few pounds, but they'll also help you gain a 32 GB TouchPad bundle).

Jon Zilber

*Oops, there’s that pesky phrase again.

Today we’re excited to announce that we’ve kicked off the open sourcing of the webOS platform by releasing the first piece of the Enyo application framework. Today’s release is the cross-platofrm Enyo 2.0 Core.

Enyo 1.0, the framework underlying the applications that run exclusively on the HP TouchPad and other HP webOS devices (including both our own core applications and thousands of third-party apps), has now also been open-sourced. One of the key enhancements in the Enyo 2.0 Core is support for other browsers (such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, as well as other browsers built on the same webkit foundation, such as Chrome and Safari). This compatibility will give apps built in the Enyo 2.0 framework more flexibility to run within other mobile platforms.

You can find more technical details about the various components of the overall Enyo framework as well as details on our open source licensing here. 

Jon Zilber

A new update for your TouchPad is now available via a free over-the-air system update. (For information about how over-the-air updates work, click here). Here are some of the new goodies you'll find in webOS 3.0.5:

• faster switching in Calendar views; 
• IM presence indicators and faster scrolling in Email; 
• support for HTTP Live Streaming; 
• the ability to easily toggle auto-correction on or off; 
• an option you can set so that a period will be inserted when you press the space bar twice.

For more details, click here.

An update to webOS 2.2.4 was also recently made available for unlocked Pre 2 and AT&T, Verizon, and unlocked Pre 3 phones. For Pre 2, this update brings improvements in Skype voice calling and messaging, and MAP for Bluetooth. For all devices, you’ll find Messaging, Calendar, and Contacts enhancements. 

Jon Zilber