Hewlett-Packard has announced its new webOS 2.0 today, bringing a major update to the platform since launching in 2009.  This is HP’s latest move into the mobile market, which has been dominated by Apple iOS and Android OS for the past year.  That means HP will need to take major strides with its webOS in order to play catchup.

It’s necessary for HP, as the acquisition of Palm is how the company got hold of the webOS in the first place. The computer maker has been working towards its mobile device infiltration for quite some time, with recent moves indicating a dedicated focus on these efforts. Earlier this month we heard word of HP’s plans for webOS devices, slotted for early next year.

And HP will be the first to tell you how great the new webOS 2.0 (minus the Palm branding) is going to be, saying “we’ve made tremendous strides since the platform launched, and now we’re taking our biggest leap forward with powerful new features that make it easier to get more things done with your webOS device.”

While the Palm branding has been dropped from webOS 2.0, the Palm Pre 2 smartphone will be the first device to run the new mobile operating system.  It’s launching first in France, this Friday, available from SFR.  Expect the Palm Pre 2 in the U.S. and Canada in the coming months.

Some key features:

* True Multitasking – Pause a game, tap an email notification, check your calendar, read a restaurant review, send an email reply, then switch back to the game without closing anything. webOS lets you easily manage multiple open applications and notifications using natural touch gestures. New in webOS 2.0, Stacks logically groups together your open apps so they work the way you do. Whether you’re reading email or planning a night on the town, Stacks keeps related items together so managing multiple tasks is even easier.

* Just Type – Start an email, create a message, update your status, search your favorite websites – all before you’ve even opened an app. With webOS 2.0, whenever you want to do something on your phone – whether it’s emailing, texting, searching or almost anything – just type. And Just Type is open to developers, so they can integrate with the search function and add their own user-customizable shortcuts, called Quick Actions.

* HP Synergy – webOS was the first mobile OS to connect you seamlessly to multiple web services. With the Synergy feature, you just have to sign in to your Facebook, Google, Microsoft® Exchange, LinkedIn and Yahoo! accounts and your information automatically populates your phone. webOS 2.0 will extend the support for Synergy so developers can easily plug new Messaging, Contacts and Calendar application sources directly into the core webOS experiences.

* Exhibition – A new way to use your webOS phone, Exhibition lets you run apps designed specifically for the Palm Touchstone Charging Dock, turning charge time into useful time. Set your phone on the dock and Exhibition launches automatically, showing you anything from today’s agenda to a slideshow of your Facebook photos. Exhibition will enable developers to display aspects of their existing app experience or create specialized apps for use when users have their webOS device in charge mode on the charging dock.

* Adobe® Flash Player 10.1 Beta – With version 2.0, webOS now supports a beta of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 in the browser, which provides access to rich, Flash-based web content.

“With webOS 2.0, we’re advancing the innovations we introduced 16 months ago, expanding the features that make webOS great for consumers, enterprises and developers,” said Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president and general manager, Palm Global Business Unit, HP. “We’ve made tremendous strides since the platform launched, and now we’re taking our biggest leap forward with powerful new features that make it easier to get more things done with your webOS device.”

Leading up to today’s launch, HP managed to nab two Nokia executives during a time when Nokia itself needed all the help it could get towards building up its mobile offerings. After this year’s saga, losing a CEO and winning the bidding war for storage service 3PAR, HP’s mobile niche is only one portion of a much larger picture, with plans to keep pushing forward.