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Android HP Handhelds Hardware Hacking Build

CyanogenMod Shows Off Android On the HP TouchPad 117

Posted by Soulskill from the that-was-fast dept.
adeelarshad82 writes "While a $99 TouchPad running webOS is a pretty good deal on its own, most of us got it hoping developers would eventually figure out how to run Android on it. And though we were warned against wandering off to the darker side, it seems the developers behind CyanogenMod wanted the device to boldly go where no TouchPad has gone before. In a video demonstration, they show off a very early version of its software running Android 2.3.5 on a TouchPad."
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CyanogenMod Shows Off Android On the HP TouchPad More

CyanogenMod Shows Off Android On the HP TouchPad

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  • If Cyanogen releases a stable build... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Lisandro ( 799651 ) on Monday August 29, 2011 @06:17PM (#37247338)

    ...the TouchPad will instantly become a superb value for the money. Cyanogen truly offers the best that Android has to offer - i've flashed my phone a while ago and never ever looked back. Screw you, HTC!

    • Its already a superb value for the money. There is a quite competent OS preloaded and it costs less than most monster cables, let alone any other tablet!

      • Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Lisandro ( 799651 ) on Monday August 29, 2011 @06:25PM (#37247472)

        At $99 is already a great value, but the issue with WebOS is the same we had with other great OSs like OS/2 and BeOS: apps. Android has a much wider selection of apps and, given that HP shelved WebOS only 6 months after paying a truckload for it, it will only continue to get worse.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Where can one be had for $99?

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by Anonymous Coward

          But the apps already available include chroot and an X server.

          You can run your choice of desktop environment and apps (including more and more touch friendly ones) from Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, or any other ARM distro alongside WebOS and its own apps -- without waiting for Android port to be finished, and without losing WebOS's real-computer style multitasking.

          Android certainly will add value -- another option is always a good thing -- but even without it, WebOS doesn't look very dismal to me. (And the diffe

          • would love to know how to run all these wonderful apps from Debian, Ubuntu etc, alongside WebOS. Please provide links
        • I think I'll survive without having access to 1000 fart apps or 1000 sudoku apps or 1000 poorly done versions of the 20 best ideas which this thing probably has already. Most everything you'd really need can be done in a browser (which this has). If its netflix or streaming media integration or home automation you want, then you have to pay for that value. That will be at least $400 (if I'm not mistaken) for a decent android tablet. But if you just want an e-reader or web/email browser, $99 is a smoking dea

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Anonymous Coward

            thats the thing, the browser on webos is terrible. Opening links in a new card is painfully slow. Coming to Slashdot, and going through the front page opening a new link in a new card like a tabbed browser is the worst ux ever.

            • thats the thing, the browser on webos is terrible. Opening links in a new card is painfully slow. Coming to Slashdot, and going through the front page opening a new link in a new card like a tabbed browser is the worst ux ever.

              It doesn't have to be that way. I added a replacement Kernel that lets me boost the CPU to 1.836 Ghz, added some patches that stop some logging services, a tweak here, a change there...Slashdot comes up in +/- 3 seconds. Opening a site in a new card 5-6 seconds. Not bad at all.

          • very well phrased sir.

            I am sick and tired of all this appCount fever.

            Also I would like to point out that:
            Android has no value atm. It is not a dependable distribution of software. Since you are not buying it, You don't have a contract of support and since it isn't open source ( you can't compile your own android spin atm ) You cannot depend on it being supported for your needs in the future. It is a nice bundle of binaries sure but you have no power over it so it's value to population is Null.

            And don't eve

      • Incorrect it's not 99$ at all.
        It was 99$ ONCE and has been flushed out of the system, it's now 180 to 300$ on ebay for a product which will NEVER BE SOLD AGAIN - with no ongoing support from the supplier and unlikely to get any improvements.

        With Android, these things might be ok - but as they are, people are taking a gamble. If it was still 99$ I might consider one but as they are over 200 to 250$ on ebay right now, no thank you - bit too pricey for an impulse purchase.

    • I would say it's already a great value for the money that I spent on it. It cost me $99 and it's great for doing lots of things. It's good now, it'll be great after it starts running Android.
    • That would only be a value if HP constantly produced them at $99, but since they're just selling out existing inventory, it's only a value to the lucky few that got them.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      That's true... but the CM experience won't be so pleasant on a tablet. With luck the "unified" Android 4.0 will come soon-ish w/ an AOSP update.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Bo'Bob'O ( 95398 )

      If you could still get one for that cheap. I'd like to know where you can get them now for those closeout prices.

      • I picked one up on Saturday the 27th at Best Buy, but I am pretty sure they will not be receiving any more units. The manager at the Office Depot across from that Best Buy told me that they may get a few more in stock, but he said not to hold your breath on that one.
      • Look around at your local office supply store (Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, etc.) I was surprised to see them still in stock, and still selling at $499, at my local Office Depot - the day after I was at Best Buy and the checkout girl told me they were selling all their stock at $99 and they were flying off the shelves.

    • I kind of agree with this. I believe that it will not be worth as much until Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, is working. That's the unified version for both tablets and phones, and with the unified API, that's probably what devs will be coding towards for the foreseeable future.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jez9999 ( 618189 )

      ...the TouchPad will instantly become a superb value for the money. Cyanogen truly offers the best that Android has to offer - i've flashed my phone a while ago and never ever looked back. Screw you, HTC!

      For someone who's still running the default HTC Android build and is not overly keen on bricking his phone (it's an HTC Desire S) and/or voiding his warranty, could you give me a summary of the compelling reasons for me to switch to Cyanogen?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gmack ( 197796 )

        It is a good way to get rid of the HTC sense UI but really the only reason to upgrade is to gain software updates that the phone companies didn't bother with. I have an HTC desire Z that came with android 2.2 so the upgrade was worth it just for the ~30% improvement in battery life.

        I see your phone comes with android 2.3 already so you may find it's not worth it until the next version of Android for phones is released.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by rynoski ( 682205 )

        I was a massive Sense fan and only rooted my phone (Desire [Bravo]) to try and hack Sense 3 onto it.
        While doing that I stopped my phone from booting.

        So then I was forced to try a light ROM to get it back and running before having another go at what I wanted.
        When I went back to Sense it felt... slow, bloated, full of crap I didn't want or need.
        I decided I could live without the eye candy of the weather.

        Next thing I installed Oxygen, Zeam Launcher and Swype keyboard.
        I will play with other ROMs, but not Sense.

      • In addition to what already been stated here, my phone in particular (HTC Tattoo) is an older, low-end Android phone which was basically abandoned by HTC, stuck with Android 1.6. Cyanogen 7 (sporting Android 2.3) really transformed it into a brand new phone.

        My brother recently brought an HTC Evo, which is fairly well supported by HTC as well. He flashed it to Cyanogen and never looked back after complaining about the Sense UI and uninstallable applications.

  • BRB, buying up TouchPads enmasse.

  • This might be a good reason for me to buy a TouchPad. Good hardware , great price and it's an Android Tablet now.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by arnott ( 789715 )

      This might be a good reason for me to buy a TouchPad. Good hardware , great price and it's an Android Tablet now.

      Good luck. This page [slickdeals.net] may help you.

    • Android fanboy here...If you read the story you'll find its an android tablet without touch screen support. CM also said they intend to take their time once they get the necessary hardware (which they don't have yet). Then you have to load android without bricking it. However, the touchpad is also a WebOS tablet with touch, web, email, etc... which is a good enough reason to buy it for $99. Who cares if it doesn't have 5000 fart apps and 10000 justin bieber wallpapers in the app store? As for future support

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by thule ( 9041 )
        +1 I've had my TouchPad for a week now and I find that the WebOS meet my needs for what I want a tablet to do. The only thing that I think would be nice is Netflix support.
        • Really? Been playing with one for two days and I think it's very buggy and slow compared to my Asus Transformer. Especially dislike the failure of copy/paste into WiFi passphrases. 53 character random strings SUCK when typing them into a mobile device. Not to mention my displeasure of not being able to do anything on the device until you hook it up to the internet. But it does surf the web quite well, and seems to play movies okay.
          • Posting from mine right now. For $99 this sure beats the hell out of the nook I got my dad for fathers day. The touchpad isn't perfect, but for books, browsing, movies, PDFs and angry birds it rocks. Its slow as he'll trying to post this on Slashdot and the autocomplete/spellchecker blow compared to my droid.
            • Actually, Someone mentioned an app called Preware that you can install. It's basically an open source community for the Palm Pre and HP Touchpad. I put that on last night and overclocked mine to 1.5GHz and the thing runs like a champ now. That has done a lot to ease my frustrations!

          • There's no reason to use a 53 character random string when a memorable 3 word combination is just as effectively impossible to brute force with current technology.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by daid303 ( 843777 )

              A dictionary attack does wonders for your 3 word combination.

              • Choose between a thousand words or so for each word, and you have a password you can actually remember, with just as much entropy as the standard 8-digit random nonsense. Something like "original horse tuesday" or "memorable yacht Tasmania" is also much easier to remember than "r3!xp20.".

                If you want more strength, then increase the number of words. Four words aren't much harder to remember than three.

                • Re: (Score:1)

                  by rynoski ( 682205 )

                  Or maybe correct horse battery staple.

                  If only someone like XKCD would promote something like this!

            • The thing about the 53 character string is that I only have to do it once per device. I have it on a USB stick that i use to setup new devices. So what does it matter if its impossible to remember? I pull that thing out once in a blue moon. Copy and Paste has worked on Android, i**** devices, and any laptop/desktop/etc I have ever connected. It was never a problem until the touchpad.
    • Hp has announced they are going to do one more production run of the HP Touchpad: http://h20435.www2.hp.com/t5/The-Next-Bench-Blog/More-TouchPads-on-the-Way/ba-p/68749 [hp.com]

  • Cool (Score:2)

    by DrXym ( 126579 )
    I knew this would happen so it's a shame I couldn't snag a Touchpad for want of trying. I expect CM will get very popular especially when Android 4.x rolls around.

  • Meh to Android. (Score:3)

    by CrackedButter ( 646746 ) on Monday August 29, 2011 @08:40PM (#37248650) Homepage Journal

    I bought a cheap TouchPad (trying to bag a Pre 3), installed Preware on it (so simple to do), over clocked it (again simple and now I have a dual core 1.5Ghz with 1GB of RAM) and gained access to all the lovely open source software available as well as a curated App Store by HP who have stated they are fully behind (receiving new apps and updates everyday), I've no reason to take WebOS off it thanks. I feel I'm only missing the Amazon Kindle App (US only atm), and Viber (which is still coming so they said in an email to me).

    The community also seems a lot tighter for it as well. I think people are being too quick in their efforts to port Android to it.

    I think the worse part of this is HP's impatience towards this, even as an existing iPad owner, I believe the HP failed on pricing and not on the technicals. They should stick with the hardware not just the software.

    • Correction, too quick in their efforts to want to swap WebOS out for Android.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by c41rn ( 880778 )

      For what it's worth, the Cyanogen guys said they plan to make it a dual-boot option, allowing TouchPad owners to continue to use WebOS alongside Android. I was lucky enough to pick up a TouchPad, and I've been pleasantly surprised by WebOS. Out of the box, it was extremely disappointing (the WiFi wouldn't work for more than 30 sec at a time), but it's been outstanding after upgrading to 3.0.2.

      Is Preware to WebOS what Cyanogen Mod is to Android? I'll have to check that out, thanks!

      • preware is basically cydia on iOS but with HP's blessing, I'm still new to this but that's how I understand it. If you're a Mac User I have some dead simple instructions to pass on if you want them, otherwise head on over to precentral.com.

    • You can install kindle by following the instructions here:

      http://forums.precentral.net/hp-touchpad-apps/288730-no-kindle-app-uk-3.html#post3099814 [precentral.net]

      Works fine on my uk touchpad :)

  • I have many portable devices. ipads, ipod touches, various Android tablets and phones. I like them all and use them as a user and a developer. I had never used a WebOS device before. I went ahead and splurged for the $99 tablet and I was blown away. The card interface is beyond awesome. I had seen videos of it before, but that didn't do much for me. Using it in person was a different matter. The control and the visual feedback this interface provides is unbelievably good in my opinion as an advanced

    • I agree, WebOS is really nice. I picked up a TouchPad last week and so far I'm really impressed. I have used Android since the original release date of the T-Mobile G1 and I have a ASUS Transformer that is nice but I don't pick it up over my Macbook. I've found myself using the Touchpad quite a bit. I don't know how to explain it other than it's very comfortable to use.

    • As a happy WebOS user my self (Palm Pre since it's available in europe), I really, really hope that the type of "card-stack interface" that WebOS pioneered somehow finds its way into future versions of Android.

  • I really want a Rom that get a true Linux desktop on the Touchpad maybe Debian Xfce if somebody working on that I can see myself grabbing one if I can't find it. (doubtful)

    • There is a port of Ubuntu that can be run on the TouchPad. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet but it seems like it might be worth a shot. Actually I haven't even had an opportunity to check out PreWare.

      At the moment I'm not overwhelmed by the TP. It has a great looking display and seems pretty responsive even w/out the PreWare speedups, but the S/W is a bit flaky. The built in browser has trouble with gmail and I can't log into facebook. I'm stuck using the built in apps for that. OTOH I haven't explo

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