Category Archives: HP

Android on TouchPad Gets Touchscreen Working Fine, Here’s Proof (Video)

Posted by on September 8, 2011 No comments

HP TouchPad may not be in the news as often as it used to be when everyone learned that it has reached a price tag of $100, but at least there are some guys out there working tirelessly to bring Android to it. Lots of progress has happened and finally we can say that the touchscreeen works, that being the biggest problem faced by the TouchPad till now.

Up until now, the tablet ran Android 2.3.5 and the efforts have been attributed to Team TouchDroid, whose multitouch drivers work perfectly. The TouchPad now detects up to 10 input points at the same time, which is too much for most apps, but still good to see. There’s proof in the video below, if you want it and an Android TouchPad is as close to reality as it gets.

It’s nice to see that HP didn’t make any statement on this, neither pro or con as far as Android porting goes. Working WiFi and audio are not certain yet for this build, but the guys are still working on it, so worry not. The final result will be a dual boot TouchPad, most likely with webOS and Honeycomb.


Second Wave Of HP TouchPads May Be Taken By Existing Orders

Posted by on September 8, 2011 No comments

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If you were hoping to get another chance at snagging the ridiculously cheap HP TouchPad during their second wave of production — you may not want to get your hopes up. In an email sent out by HP’s Small and Medium Business division, HP’s motivation for the second wave of production is mainly to fulfill orders from existing customers who had placed orders for the TouchPads before HP realized they were out of stock. Seems these folks will have first dibs on the second wave with the leftovers hopefully trickling down to the rest of us. HP will fulfill these existing orders at the (ridiculously low) discounted price and plans to begin production in 6-8 weeks. Check out the full email below.[Electronista via Pre-Central]

 

CyanogenMod 7 Progressing Nicely for the HP TouchPad

Posted by on September 7, 2011 No comments

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Yesterday came word that Team-Touchpad had delivered 10-point multitouch to their under-development Gingerbread ROM for the HP TouchPad, but we get the feeling the CyanogenMod 7 build currently in the works might steal its thunder. Ironically, the CyanogenMod team is claiming that the drivers used by the TouchDroid group were actually stolen from from an earlier build of CM7. Appropriately, multitouch is fully enabled in the latest TouchPad CM7 ROM along with hardware graphics acceleration. Still missing, however, is one rather important element: functional WiFi. The eventual plan is to work the hacked version of Android into an easily dual-bootable format along with the TouchPad’s native webOS. But don’t get too excited just yet, there is still much work to be done. A public build is not available at this time, but you can check out the above video to see how things are progressing.

[via BriefMobile]

HP TouchPad Dual Boots Into Android 2.3.5 and webOS (Video)

Posted by on September 4, 2011 No comments

After HP took the price of the TouchPad tablet down to $100, many saw this as an opportunity to get the cheapest Honeycomb tablet of the moment. How? By paying the price for the TouchPad and porting Android 3.x on it. Well, this has been taking place for days, with results being unstable builds so far.

An example of a pretty successful port is the dual boot into Android 2.3.5 and webOS from the video below. This shows the operating systems working on the TouchPad and there’s already a team fully dedicated to this purpose: Team Touch DROID. For the dual boot to take place, the device must be connected to a PC in order to receive the commands you enter manually.

Team Touch DROID wants to enable touchscreen and hardware acceleration for Android, to enhance the experience provided on this model. The development has been going smoothly, considering they started a week or so ago and a version for the general public is expected soon enough. The question is: do you prefer dual boot or straight Android 2.3.5? And what about Honeycomb?


Samsung Insists They Would NEVER Look to Purchase WebOS

Posted by on September 2, 2011 No comments

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You hear that? That’s the sound of a nail being violently driven into a coffin. Samsung has once again addressed rumors that they’ll be buying WebOS. Reporters and analysts suggested it was a logical route from Samsung who reportedly felt slighted by Google’s purchase of Motorola.

Well, a Samsung rep was on hand at IFA to address the rumor once and for all. They mentioned that they’d “never” pursue a purchase of operating system for HP, reiterating that they believe they have a strong platform in Bada and have no reason to purchase WebOS.

Tie in the fact that Google Android runs on their flagship smartphones year-in and year-out and you begin to understand why Samsung doesn’t want to fix what isn’t broken. Now, the question remains – will they ever license WebOS? Stay tuned. [Bloomberg]

HP TouchPad Is… Back?! Coming in Limited New Batch of Units Soon

Posted by on September 2, 2011 No comments

HP has been going back on forth about the TouchPad tablet so much, that it’s getting confusing and even annoying for someone trying to make a purchase these days. After killing the entire project and then offering refunds for the buyers, the creators of the TouchPad are now preparing a fresh and limited batch of the product.

Is this a sign that Best Buy’s 200k units are sold? Or should we get that HP is accepting failure and the likely Android port that everyone will want on the $100 slate? What’s sure is that HP promised that within the current fiscal year, ending on October 31st we’ll see a fresh batch of products being delivered.

I’m curious if they’ll sell the product for $99 once more, considering recently I saw some units priced for a couple of hundred quid, available by mistake in the UK. One good way to make a buch these days is buy a cheap TouchPad and upgrade it with Android, then sell if for profit. What do you say? It appears that HP wants to make good with its component suppliers, that’s why it’s ordering more units, considering the leftover parts.


HP’s Last TouchPad Rodeo Only Includes North America

Posted by on August 31, 2011 No comments

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When HP decided to discontinue the HP TouchPad and WebOS after they failed to do anything meaningful with it, they decided to sell out the rest of their stock in a fire sale clearance. This saw the device offered as low as $100 at most retailers and consumers snatched them up like hotcakes on a Sunday morning.

Unfortunately, so many people purchased them that stock quickly depleted, but HP decided to do one last production run of the TouchPad to meet lingering demand for the tablet (pending price, of course). If what Mobot.net reports is true, however, no regions outside of North America will be included.

"We are pleased by the response to webOS and look forward to customer feedback so we can further enhance the platform. A limited quantity of TouchPads will be available in the coming weeks  in North America only. In EMEA we are discontinuing the webOS hardware operations and will not offer any additional products beyond what might be currently available in selective outlets."

That’s sad news for our friends in Europe and other regions, if true. With hope that Android will eventually be ported to the tablet thanks to the very dedicated development community, this was one of the hotter items to get at its price point. Perhaps eBay will treat one of you well in the near future, though we’d expect a bit of markup as it’s now become a bit rare.

For the TouchPad Hungry, HP to Produce One More Run

Posted by on August 30, 2011 No comments

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Who would have known that discontinuing a product would be just the ticket to spur on stock-clearing sales? Well, HP experienced the phenomenon first hand after announcing they would cease production of hardware related to webOS, dropping the price of platform’s first tablet to just $99. Due to unprecedented demand, HP has decided to produce one final run of TouchPad’s to fulfill the desires of the tablet hungry. While the manufacturer can’t comment on exactly how many more will be produced, it says they will become available in the next few weeks.

[via HP]

HP TouchPad Now Runs Android Thanks to CyanogenMod (Video)

Posted by on August 29, 2011 20 comments

With HP TouchPad selling like hot cakes for the very sexy $100 amount, now the webOS slate is being purchased by some people simply for customization potential. I’m talking here about the ability to run Android with a few tweaks. There’s a video demo below of Android booting on the TouchPad and the OS in the CyanogenMod flavor seems to be running on the device right now.

Other platforms are expected via ports soon, but right now Cyanogen is all about Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread on the tablet, not Honeycomb. That will be the deal sealer, in case it gets installed, since that’s what everyone wants: a $100 Android 3.x tablet with dual core CPU and great touchscreen. I’m wondering what Samsung thinks about Cyanogen working on HP’s gear, but then again the company is thinking about buying part of HP or the entire webOS, so they won’t mind…

The developers are now focused on the touchscreen driver issue, trying to make the device as responsive as possible. For now, it’s best to keep your TouchPad away from such tweaks, till the people who are familiar with software development finish their work… and don’t forget the video below:


Very Early Build of CM7 Makes its Way to the HP TouchPad

Posted by on August 29, 2011 No comments

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Don’t get too excited, but CyanogenMod 7 has been roughly ported over to the HP TouchPad. Very few elements (aside from the initial boot) are in functional order as of now, with a lack touchscreen support and other basic necessities. If the idea of Android on the TouchPad is enticing, then CM7 on HP’s slate will surely make you swoon.

[via Engadget]