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CyanogenMod Shows Off Android On the HP TouchPad

Posted by Soulskill on 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."

117 comments

  1. If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Lisandro · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...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!

    1. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by CaptainLard · · Score: 2

      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!

    2. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Squiddie · · Score: 1

      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.

    3. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Lisandro · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

    4. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cyanogen mod is good no doubt, however i prefer MIUI builds

    5. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by romanval · · Score: 1

      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.

    6. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      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.

    7. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by h4rr4r · · Score: 1

      Why is that?
      Works fine on the Nook.

    8. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Where can one be had for $99?

    9. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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 difference between WebOS+Debian apps and OS/2 + Windows apps is subtle, but real -- since you're actually bringing in a real Debian system, instead of your own compatible ABI implementation, you can keep the Debian side up-to-date with zero WebOS-specific development effort -- even if you're the last person with a WebOS machine, and can't program your way out of a bag, you still get all the latest apps with an apt-get upgrade.)

    10. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by CaptainLard · · Score: 1

      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 deal any way you slice it. (This coming from an android fanboy)

    11. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok, I'm going to sound like a complete dick at this, but what is it with people here on slashdot suddenly praising WebOS when it's on its way out? Why didn't you people bought a WebOS device before it was killed if you thought it was better than everything else? And don't talk to me about price, they were priced similarly to Android Tablets, so if you think WebOS is superior to Android, why didn't you get a Touchpad before?

    12. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm using a CM-derived rom on my Viewsonic g-tablet, and it's pleasant enough (not as nice as Honeycomb, naturally) -- even if CM itself's not great here, it's an excellent base for platform-specific roms.

    13. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WebOS seems to continue to have developer support despite not having a future hardware platform defined yet. For example, http://www.webosroundup.com/2011/08/picsel-smart-office-is-coming-to-webos-in-45-days/.

      HP continues to back WebOS as a software platform; the real question is if another company (or companies) will license (or acquire) it.

    14. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by thesh0ck · · Score: 0

      everywhere. The 16gb is $99 and the 32gb is $149.

    15. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Bo'Bob'O · · Score: 1

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

    16. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by bored_engineer · · Score: 2

      Too expensive, maybe? I bet that there are a bunch of people commenting, including me, who haven't previously bought either one. It was my intent to buy a tablet, at some future date, but when I found that I could get a Webos machine for $99, it seemed like a good time to stop waiting.

    17. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by daenris · · Score: 2

      You mean nowhere because since they got discounted they're out of stock everywhere and HP won't even say whether more will ever become available.

    18. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by StayFrosty · · Score: 2

      I *Really* wanted a webos tablet for the reasons outlined above. I didn't think it was worth $500 for the touchpad. I would have paid $250 for it. Maybe even $300 if the hardware was a little better.

      --
      "Frequently wrong, never in doubt."
    19. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      The real question is whether anything HP says or does is going to matter in two or three years.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    20. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (GP here)
      Honestly, because I didn't think (or say) it was better than everything else, just better than Android. I like MeeGo even better -- not just an X server available, but the entire system displays through X. Since Nokia was pushing both the ARM hardware & phone UX of MeeGo, and Intel was pushing the x86 hardware & tablet UX side, it seemed likely that we'd see a bunch of ARM tablets running MeeGo (basically the same Android-tablet hardware, just a different OS) by the end of 2011, and I was waiting for them to buy a high-quality tablet.

      Now with Nokia dropping MeeGo for WP7, it seems much less likely we'll be seeing many ARM tablets (and I just can't get excited about the Atom tablets Intel's pushing), so WebOS is looking like the best practical option, and I'd probably have got one within the next few months even if it had stayed at $500-600.

      And as for price, why in hell shouldn't I talk about it?
      I didn't buy those similarly-priced Android tablets either, because the price is too high for their benefit to me. (YMMV, of course, I don't say they're overpriced in general.) I did bag a Viewsonic g-tablet (Tegra 2, nice tablet except for crappy screen) at $280 to play with (exploring real-world use of N900+tablet combination: how often I actually bring the tablet, etc.) while I waited for the MeeGo tablets, and if the TouchPad was that cheap, I'd certainly have bought it instead, because I think WebOS is better than Android. But I wasn't about to pay $500-600 for a tablet running either OS when I was planning to spend another $700ish in a year for a high-end MeeGo tablet.

      At this point, even if I still expected MeeGo tablets, I'd have jumped at a $150 32GB TouchPad (didn't catch wind in time) -- IMO, it's a significant upgrade from my $280 G-tab, even though it's not worth the $320 more they were asking at the time. Since I didn't catch it, I'll be watching ebay in 2-3 weeks, when people start receiving them -- I expect a few folks will flip them for instant $50-75 profit. Given MeeGo's impending doom, I think they're easily worth the $250ish prices on eBay now (as I said, probably even full price), but no point hurrying to pay a fair price if I can patiently get it even cheaper. =)

    21. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Darkness404 · · Score: 1

      A lot of us really liked WebOS the problem was it came on the worst devices. The HP TouchPad was much too expensive. And the Pre had many design flaws. The Pixi was just too underpowered and the HP Veer was just far too small. If HP/Palm released decent devices for running WebOS on, I would have bought one in a heartbeat. But all the devices they released were flawed in hardware. When the choice was between the iPhone, a multitude of Android devices, both with better software support and the WebOS device, the answer was clear.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    22. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have to agree. At first I was anticipating an Android port, but when I actually used WebOS, I felt that the way things were organized was great (with a few cons like no desktop icons). There are certainly some issues with WebOS out of the box such as loading times, but the UI looks and feels very accessible. If WebOS had a more mature app market, I would think long and hard before deciding whether or not to put Android on the HP Touchpad.

    23. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      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.

    24. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by darkmeridian · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
    25. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 2

      On the bright side, you can still snatch a drawing of a Touchpad for as low as 1 cent (though it goes up to 1 dollar for higher-spec versions), with many supplier choices.

    26. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by oh_zoidberg · · Score: 1

      would love to know how to run all these wonderful apps from Debian, Ubuntu etc, alongside WebOS. Please provide links

    27. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's possible that Google will rush 4.0 to compete with iPhone5. Let's hope that Google learned from the KDE4.0 disaster -- err... the Honeycomb disaster -- that this is not a good strategy.

    28. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by flimflammer · · Score: 1

      Okay I clicked that link and noticed there's like 400 "drawings" of the touchpad for sale. Why is everyone doing this?

    29. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by CrackedButter · · Score: 1

      Look on eBay, some are only going for double the firesale prices. Worth a try bagging one IMO.

      --
      Jonathanjk.com
    30. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by nomadic · · Score: 1

      Yep, they were basically sold out the first day they were discounted. I doubt very much any more will become available.

    31. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by jittles · · Score: 1

      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.

    32. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      When Touchpad originally went on sale for $99, it sold out real quick, and a lot of that stock later popped up on eBay. It started with somewhat reasonable prices - like $150-200 - but then it become crazy; there were several cases where people ended up offering more for it than it cost in retail before the sale. This is just poking fun at that.

    33. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bestbuy had a fireball, but they are sold out pretty much everywhere now

    34. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by brentrad · · Score: 1

      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.

    35. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Try this one

    36. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by LurkerXXX · · Score: 1

      Palm Pre-/WebOS user here.

      Basically, until the Touchpad, the hardware has kinda sucked. The Pre had serious build quality issues. A few came out of the factory perfect, but man, a lot of us have gone through a lot of phone replacements.

      As far as the Touchpad, I didn't get one when it first came out because HP priced it horrendously. You simply can't price something slightly heavier, thicker and with only 1/300th of the number of available applications the same as an iPad. If they had priced it at $300 for the 16GB, it would have sold really well. The could have taken a tiny loss on each of the first generation of the tablet to get mindshare/marketshare, and made up on the loss in their app store sales, while getting more developers on board.

      Instead, they put it at a price point that's just silly, then acted shocked when no one bought it.

      It's a great OS, but driven to the brink of extinction by lousy management decisions.

    37. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Astronomerguy · · Score: 1

      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.

    38. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://forums.precentral.net/webos-internals/240926-x-server-pre.html

    39. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Greystripe · · Score: 1

      Their own fault for using it in a forest.

    40. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      The same reason that people were selling Xbox boxes on eBay. It's not technically fraud if you provide what's advertised, and a lot of people won't read the details too carefully if they see a low price.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    41. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
      Most of the reviews of WebOS I read were positive. I considered getting a Pre, but the lack of a SIP client put me off. My current 'smart' phone is a Nokia N80 and I use four features on it:
      1. The ability to store, access, and sync addresses.
      2. The ability to make and receive calls to POTS phones over the mobile network.
      3. The ability to make and receive calls to POTS phones using my SIP provider via WiFi.
      4. The ability to send and receive text messages over the mobile network.

      Oh, and occasionally I use the alarm feature. If I get a new phone, it must have a superset of these features. The Pre lacks the SIP capability (or, did last time I looked). If it had a SIP client[1], I'd have bought one last year.

      I got to play with a TouchPad last week. The JTalk guys have a Smalltalk VM running inside V8 on WebOS, so it's a really nice machine for running Smalltalk code. They also showed off the rest of the system - it's really beautiful to work with. I don't really have a use for a tablet, but at £100 I'd have bought one anyway - they're really nice machines.

      [1] And I don't mean some command-line thing that you can just about use, I mean something that integrates with the address book properly and lets you select whether to make a call over SIP or the mobile network.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    42. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Let's see, I want to make a tablet, which OS shall I use?

      iOS? Seems to be selling well, but the company that makes it won't license it to third parties, so that's out.

      Windows 8 / Windows Phone 7? Adds a few dollars to the cost of each unit, but it comes backed by a company that will do a lot of the customisation for me and is pushing the developer tools at everyone with a Windows machine. Sounds possible.

      Android? Costs nothing, seems to be doing pretty well in the market, backed by a company that's throwing money at it. Sounds possible.

      WebOS? Been on half a dozen devices, neither of which did well in the market. Backed by a company that ditches entire product lines a few weeks after launch. Tiny established ecosystem, no guaranteed of long-term support, and on top of that, the manufacturer wants to charge a license fee for it. No thanks.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    43. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      ...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?

      --
      == Jez ==
      Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
    44. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by justforgetme · · Score: 1

      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 even get me started on the JAVA idiocy...
      So please guys stop calling cyanogenmod for the touchpad an increase in value because it isn't. The device has an already much better OS, don't destroy it by frankendroiding it. The cm dev's time could have been better spent streamlining the TouchPad's own OS or working on the compatibility layer for native linux apps instead of trying to remove it.

      Oh and btw: I think the correct spelling is fanboi :P

      and before anyone starts yelling: I am the proud owner of a samsung galaxy s2 and a 1st gen iPad. They are tools, I don't like them nor do I value them greatly.

      --
      -- no sig today
    45. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by gmack · · Score: 1

      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.

    46. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

      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.

    47. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by rynoski · · Score: 1

      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. it's ASOP from here.

      The point? It's hard to quantify why ASOP can be better, you need to try it for yourself and see.

      It's really hard to brick your phone, even if you mess up the ROM, it's like re-installing a distro.
      However, flashing low level things like radios... be very careful

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: 1) those that can extrapolate from incomplete data.
    48. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Lisandro · · Score: 1

      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.

    49. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by flimflammer · · Score: 1

      That's hilarious. I actually saw a drawing going for $132 at the time of close (with bids mind you). I wonder if someone actually thought it was a real TouchPad?

    50. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Android? Costs nothing, seems to be doing pretty well in the market, backed by a company that's throwing money at it. Sounds possible.

      Costs an OHA membership if you want Honeycomb on your tablet, as well as whatever terms and conditions Google imposes on your licensing of Honeycomb. Such terms include minimum hardware, compatibility requirements, and support requirements (you must promise to be able to run Ice Cream Sandwich and whatever the next revision that comes out is - 18 months of support minimum).

      Of course, you can always go AOSP and release a 2.3 device (costs nothing), but we've seen how the original Galaxy Tab did. The benefit on this is well, you can release-and-forget. Just dump the source code somewhere, and if it's half-decent, the CM guys will support your tablet "for free". Maybe kick a few tablets their way and some hardware info, so for the price of a few thousand dollars, you have a community support system while you work on the next generation of tablets.

    51. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Spiflicator · · Score: 1

      I wasn't planning on purchasing a tablet of any flavor until this opportunity presented itself. Like a lot of others my first thought was buy it now and wait for an Android port. However, I'm really enjoying WebOS so far. Its a much more enjoyable experience than Android 2.2 on my (relatively old) Motorolla Droid. I may still install Android 3+ at some point in the future, but it would take convincing now, rather than seeming like the obvious thing to do.

    52. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      If you poke around the lots, some of them actually promise to ship a real Touchpad with the drawing if the bids go high enough. That might explain that.

    53. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      webOS has SIP courtesy of webos-internals http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Application:Linphone

    54. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      According to that site, it's alpha quality and doesn't integrate with the address book - you can't just find a person and say 'call via SIP', as per my requirements, you have to copy their number using its own dialler.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    55. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      cool story bro.

    56. Re:If Cyanogen releases a stable build... by IHateEverybody · · Score: 1

      You really only need one link. But here's another. And here is a place where you can pop over to ask for help if you need it.

      --
      Does this .sig make my butt look big?
  2. Posting on an hd7 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    God wp7 is shitty

    1. Re:Posting on an hd7 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Posting on an HD2 running WP7. I think it's really pretty damn nice, especially since I'll soon be able to use my TouchPad as my main Android device.

    2. Re:Posting on an hd7 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      How's that no text reflow working out for you? Or having to constantly change between horizontal and vertical orientation just to use your phone? How's the shitty little app collection? How's the shitty keyboard auto punctuation? Haha, that's what I thought. Windows phone, the mobile os for people who hate themselves.

    3. Re:Posting on an hd7 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How's that no text reflow working out for you? Or having to constantly change between horizontal and vertical orientation just to use your phone? How's the shitty little app collection? How's the shitty keyboard auto punctuation? Haha, that's what I thought. Windows phone, the mobile os for people who hate themselves.

      Steve, is that you? You know the doctors told you not to get overexcited. Let the chemo do it's job and you might buy another year. Just relax and sit back and let the computing world do it's thing. You've already done more than your share.

    4. Re:Posting on an hd7 by bemymonkey · · Score: 1

      Thanks for making me feel better about my crappy Android devices. :) :P

      Text reflow works, but the keyboards are just as shitty ;)

    5. Re:Posting on an hd7 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Steve, is that you? You know the doctors told you not to get overexcited. Let the chemo do it's job and you might buy another year. Just relax and sit back and let the computing world do it's thing. You've already done more than your share.

      Cancer joke, how classy.

  3. cost/benefit analysis complete by spazdor · · Score: 0

    BRB, buying up TouchPads enmasse.

    --
    DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
    1. Re:cost/benefit analysis complete by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TOO LATE... You can still find them for $200-300 though.

  4. Wow.. should buy one! by monzie · · Score: 1

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

    1. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by arnott · · Score: 1

      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 may help you.

    2. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by CaptainLard · · Score: 1

      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/upgrades, there will be something new out in 2 years that you'll get anyway. This is a plenty great value even without android.

    3. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by thule · · Score: 1

      +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.

    4. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1 I just got mine a couple 2 days ago and find the only thing I really miss from my iPad is Netflix. But I'm loving having Flash support. Take that iPad.

    5. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by jittles · · Score: 1

      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.

    6. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by eharvill · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me
    7. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its slow as he'll trying to post this on Slashdot...

      So what's the problem?

    8. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by eharvill · · Score: 1

      The problem is it is slow as hell.

      --
      At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me
    9. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    10. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by daid303 · · Score: 1

      A dictionary attack does wonders for your 3 word combination.

    11. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. Adjust the keyboard. You can do this by pressing and holding the keyboard icon when the on-screen keyboard pops up. Select a size that works for you.
      2. I've composed entire multi-paragraph emails on mine. Having both an iPad 1 and a touchpad, I can honestly say, it's just as hard/easy either way. Doesn't matter about the platform, screen size, etc. it only matters that on-screen keyboards are a poor substitute for a real keyboard.
      3. I really don't give a shit about autocomplete or spellcheck. Frankly, both were an afterthought and the original 1.x series webOS didn't have it, and I got along on my Pre Plus just fine without it.
      4. If you do that much typing, you might want to look into a bluetooth keyboard. The HP version of it is preferable but nothing should stop you from using others.
      5. I really don't care that it's perfect, I only care that it's functional, i.e. it gets the job done the first time. I can live with the "laggies" when I have 10+ apps open, as long as Synergy continues to beat the ever loving shit out of all other mobile OS platforms/organizers. When it comes to organizing contacts and vital info, the Droid blows just as hard as webOS hardware does.

    12. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by jonathan_ingram · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      -- Help Digitise the Public Domain at DP.
    13. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See: http://xkcd.com/936/

    14. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by CrackedButter · · Score: 1

      Overclocking it is your friend. Mine runs almost as fast as iOS after upping the clock speed and minimising all the logging that goes on inside.

      --
      Jonathanjk.com
    15. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by rynoski · · Score: 1

      Or maybe correct horse battery staple.

      If only someone like XKCD would promote something like this!

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: 1) those that can extrapolate from incomplete data.
    16. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by eharvill · · Score: 1

      I should have clarified; it's only slow on Slashdot. I guess it's something to do with the code on this site. I've done most of the speed tweaks except for overclocking and I am very satisfied with the Touchpad so far.

      --
      At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me
    17. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by jittles · · Score: 1

      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!

    18. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by jittles · · Score: 1

      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.

    19. Re:Wow.. should buy one! by jittles · · Score: 1

      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

  5. i'm sorry, this is really freakin old news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    my friend pointed out that 120 years ago we got news via the pony express, "hey everybody's dead, there was a war." - hilarious example, but seriously, everyone that was interested in this knew 8 hours ago, I got really excited when I was under the impression that this was a development since the story this morning. but it wasn't, and this was a letdown.

    1. Re:i'm sorry, this is really freakin old news. by fotbr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your friend is an idiot. The Pony Express only operated from 1860 to 1861, which if you consult your calendar was more like 150 years ago, not 120. Also, unless you were dealing with extremely quick wars, it's a stupid example, not a hilarious one; it only took about 10 days for mail to travel from one end of the Pony Express route to the other.

      Besides that, not everyone that was interested knew 8+ hours ago. Then again, some of us have productive things to do besides read tech news every waking minute of the day.

    2. Re:i'm sorry, this is really freakin old news. by Osgeld · · Score: 0

      your more than welcome to submit it 8 hours ago if it makes you feel better

    3. Re:i'm sorry, this is really freakin old news. by exomondo · · Score: 1

      your post is really freakin old news, i knew that 2 minutes before you posted.

    4. Re:i'm sorry, this is really freakin old news. by Insightfill · · Score: 1

      when I was under the impression that this was a development since the story this morning. but it wasn't, and this was a letdown.

      You must be new here.

    5. Re:i'm sorry, this is really freakin old news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      very interesting to know the facts, but i'm sure that not everyone is aware that the pony express only ran for one year. or the exact year that it did run. and it was hilarious, you just need a sense of humor. (can't look that up on wikipedia.)

  6. Love these guys by trunicated · · Score: 0

    CyanogenMod is hands down the best ROM for Android. Great to hear that it's coming to the cheapest tablet available :-)

    --
    There's a reason there is no "Disagree" mod...
    1. Re:Love these guys by exomondo · · Score: 1

      available

      really?

    2. Re:Love these guys by trunicated · · Score: 0

      available-ish

      --
      There's a reason there is no "Disagree" mod...
  7. once we stop allowing deception to propagate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    we'll all feel & behave better.

    from another time; atmostfear inc. enacts oxygen rationing mandate

    just in time? by 2025 anyway. the system will be tested on the totally
    submerged population living down under southern hillary, in the 3X6
    citizen bunkers. the oxygen supply will not be wasted on the southern
    hillarians, as they are used to a lot of hot air, & have consented to
    breath the untested synthetic oxygen, developed in an unproven manner, at
    a secret location. no problems are expected.

    the hillarians still must (they have the new pay-per-flush toilets)
    believe that the crown royals will be victorious, & that they will be
    unsubmerged, to join us all, in the former state of utah, come hell or
    even higher water.

  8. I guess I was wrong that it would take a week by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe two or three.

  9. Cool by DrXym · · Score: 1

    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.

  10. she was just a glimmer in the zeus weapons' eye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the fruition, while not a gargoyle buster like the earthquake, made yet another unnatural mess to clean up.

    disarm. read the teepeeleaks etchings, or watch the movie (unrepentant), which is a real life history horror drama, still being perpetrated today around the wwworld. thanks again.

  11. Yawn. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Why does ANYONE care? No, seriously? Failed products should be allowed to die (well unless it's the Commodore Amiga - then they should be brought back!)

  12. But doesn't Android suck? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Choice is always nice I guess, but I have a Cyanogenmod HTC HD2, and the user experience is nowhere near as nice as it is on my WebOS Touchpad. I guess if you really need some Android app, then it's good that the option exists, but for most of my uses (browsing the net, watching flash, reading pdfs, writing simple things) Android doesn't offer more functionality than WebOS, and WebOS is way neater. Plus it's much closer to upstream linux, so if you want to play with it, it's much easier on WebOS.

  13. Almost bought a WebOS tablet... by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I was planning to buy a WebOS tablet this fall to start looking into developing on (currently I do mostly iOS development). I always liked the platform, but just didn't have time to start looking at it until then... I figured HP would give the platform at least a year and wanted to help them out for Christmas sales.

    Oh well!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  14. mod 0p by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    FreeBSD at 4bout 80 members' creative fueling internal Infinitesimally GNAA on slashdot,

  15. Meh to Android. by CrackedButter · · Score: 2

    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.

    --
    Jonathanjk.com
    1. Re:Meh to Android. by CrackedButter · · Score: 1

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

      --
      Jonathanjk.com
    2. Re:Meh to Android. by c41rn · · Score: 1

      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!

    3. Re:Meh to Android. by gecko19scl · · Score: 2

      You can install kindle by following the instructions here:

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

      Works fine on my uk touchpad :)

    4. Re:Meh to Android. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Kindle app can be installed if you've Preware installed. Install Internalz from Preware and find the Kindle ipk online. I presume its legal to do so. App is still in beta (and probably gonna stay that way) but works fine as an eBook reader. I think you can even buy books from the online store but I've only tried it with a free book so far

    5. Re:Meh to Android. by CrackedButter · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      Jonathanjk.com
    6. Re:Meh to Android. by CrackedButter · · Score: 1

      Thanks guys, this is what is also so great about WebOS as well. The community.

      --
      Jonathanjk.com
  16. WebOS is quite good by linuxguy · · Score: 1

    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 user of these devices.

    Apple dumbs down their interfaces to appeal to an average user. Android provided a more advanced but somewhat complex UI. They have been attempting to dumb it down too with their honeycomb tablets, with horrible results (my opinion). WebOS managed to provide a more capable and advanced user interface while keeping it simple. Google should, nay, must, beg, borrow or steal some of these ideas.

    Now that I have seen a superior interface, as primarily an Android user, I am quite bummed out that I have to put up with mediocrity that is Android UI.

    1. Re:WebOS is quite good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what we webos users have been trying to tell the world for 2 years!

    2. Re:WebOS is quite good by zoid.com · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      Zoid.com
  17. Already got an Android tablet. by madhi19 · · Score: 1

    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)

    1. Re:Already got an Android tablet. by Walter+White · · Score: 1

      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 explored third party apps much yet and there is Angry Birds!

      According to the H/W breakdown, there is supposed to be 8 GB RAM (and mine has 32 GB Flash) so it should be a pretty capable machine.

      The slippery housing does make it a pain to hold after a while.

  18. Nook Color FTW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Flashed my NC to Cynogen7 within 1 hour of picking it up. Currently i am running Phiremod w/ ad-hoc tether capabilities & external GPS connected via bluetooth.
    Xivds are playable
    It will play music for 1.5 days straight on 1 charge.
    It is used as a remote control for VLC on TV over LAN
    Overclocked to 1.3ghz adaptive down to 300mhz for battery life
    Has the highest pixel density for its screen size

    -oh yeah i hear it makes a decent e-reader too

    thanks to the Cyanogen community & Nookdevs for a fun device
    I'm sure this HP

  19. WebOS interface by DrYak · · Score: 1

    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.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  20. eat THAT, Joneses! by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    On the bright side, you can still snatch a drawing of a Touchpad for as low as 1 cent (though it goes up to 1 dollar for higher-spec versions), with many supplier choices.

    Still waiting for the 64TB w/7G version...

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff