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CyanogenMod Ports Android To HP TouchPad
yesakmac joins the teeming hordes of successful Slashdot submitters, with this excerpt from PC World that says the frenzied effort to port Android to HP's discontinued TouchPad has actually succeeded: "CyanogenMod also released a 'lower your expectations edition' release guide to let you know exactly what is working (or not) under the hood. Modders will be happy to know that basically all the TouchPad's guts are recognized. It supports dual-booting and fake SD cards in case you need to restore the TouchPad. What does not work, though, is the camera, which can only be used for video chat. Power efficiency is still an issue, too. As for the final build, CyanogenMod says they won't be giving a hard date, and that it will be ready when it is ready."
They still haven't ported to the iPhone.
Best of all they don't take donations, like some questionable-at-best teams that quickly assembled to port Android in the wake of the fire-sale frenzy. They urge donating to the EFF instead. CyanogenMod are a classy team.
Also, it should be noted that this build would qualify as being in the earliest of alpha stages.
I just don't get this socialist "business" model of not being paid for one's work.
I think I'd rather code for Apple and be paid for my work.
Now go ahead and mod me down "-1, I disagree with you, and you are therefore not classy."
Isn't CyanogenMod the name of the mod and not the auhtor's? It should be "Cyanogen has ported..."
Dammit. That's the wrong way!!! I have an HP Touchpad, and the hardware is mediocre, but WebOS is a work of art. Otoh, I also have multiple android 2.2 & honeycomb devices, and by and large they're fast and flexible, but the OS and app markets are buggy and malware-infested. Why port the middling-common-denominator OS to HP's crummy hardware? "Upgrading" the HP tablets by loading Android is like upgrading a Ford Fiesta with an Isuzu diesel. Sure it'll keep you on the road, but it ain't pretty and it ain't gonna be fun.
What's *really* worth someone's time and effort is a port of WebOS to better hardware. Ginmme an illicit port of WebOS to some of the nicer Samsung 5-10in tablets, the Lenovo K tablet, etc etc (anything with more ports and a faster proc) and I'd be all over it.
I think not...(*poof*)
But honestly, what's the point? There's a finite number of touchpads out there. Even if HP ever ships the rumored "final batch" to anyone except employees, there's still a finite number.
And of that finite number, now many will run C'Mod? A couple hundred perhaps? That's a lot of work for little what? There's not even a reward really.
Well, like the title says, it's an interesting exercise in bringing C'Mod up on a new device and someone learned something along the way. More power to them but if it were me doing it, I'd be doing it on something with a little more gas in the tank after takeoff.
What's wrong with choice? The real inescapable problem with the TouchPad is the anemic state of the market. There just aren't many apps built for the tablet; the ones that are aren't very good. I agree, webOS is fantastic--especially the multitasking--but beyond that, it's not capable of doing much more than browsing the web using an incredible rudimentary browser.
WebOS is really nice; got to love the multi-tasking.
But let's look at some of the bad parts.
A browser that is unusable if you have more than a few websites open. A complete lack of apps (even after installing preware).
Even after overclocking to 1.8Ghz, it takes a good 5 seconds after turning a PDF page for it to "unblur" and come into focus. Oh, and the browser does that same blurry, unfocused crap too. Often for more than 15 seconds.
Just to be clear, I'm a serious fan of Cyanogen's work from the Zaurus era (went thru several generations of SL & C using his and others' work), and appreciate the effort that has gone into this. But as others have pointed out, the HP is going to some effort to ensure the hardware is a dead end, while WebOS remains a high-end viable platform and the dev base is very much alive. Seems if you're going to work on a niche market ubergeek-OS-mod, you ought to have higher goals.
I think not...(*poof*)
It's great that they got this far with porting Android, but I'd rather stick with webOS with Ubuntu running in a card.
Dammit. That's the wrong way!!! I have an HP Touchpad, and the hardware is mediocre, but WebOS is a work of art. Otoh, I also have multiple android 2.2 & honeycomb devices, and by and large they're fast and flexible, but the OS and app markets are buggy and malware-infested. Why port the middling-common-denominator OS to HP's crummy hardware? "Upgrading" the HP tablets by loading Android is like upgrading a Ford Fiesta with an Isuzu diesel. Sure it'll keep you on the road, but it ain't pretty and it ain't gonna be fun.
What's *really* worth someone's time and effort is a port of WebOS to better hardware. Ginmme an illicit port of WebOS to some of the nicer Samsung 5-10in tablets, the Lenovo K tablet, etc etc (anything with more ports and a faster proc) and I'd be all over it.
The Touchpad's hardware isn't really a problem relative to other tablets. The Galaxy Tabs and iPads have similar guts; they're only significantly better in the GPU end of things. I think that you really want a redesign of WebOS to make it more efficient without ditching the UI.
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
It's an alpha build, but it works extremely well on my 32GB Touchpad. You also get the best of both worlds by being able to boot into either WebOS or Android.
I got one of the TouchPads on the firesale and while I have been pleasantly surprised by how excellent the user interface is in WebOS I must say that the quality of apps available is not good enough. My demands for a tablet are quite modest in terms of available software but, too take an example, since it is a tablet I expect at least a good pdf reading experience. The pdf reader on the TouchPad has no features beyond the definition of a pdf reader. I can't annotate pdfs and I can't invert the colors to make it easier on the eyes. While those are just some arbitrary features that I happen to want they will probably never be available for the TouchPad because nothing at all is happening in terms of development. I still think the deal was good because the price was so low but getting access to current and future choices from the Android platform will be totally different. I haven't actually checked which pdf readers are available for Android but I have no doubt that there are some choices and more will be developed in the future. While $150 (for the 32 GB version) was a steal for a basic tablet experience and despite the generally nice user interface design of WebOS I think I will get more out of Android in the long run. I plan to give this a try.
What's the preferred term for "Cyanogen and those who work with Cyanogen on making CyanogenMod"?
You overclocked a tablet? Really? Why do you hate your battery?
Have you tried some tweaks to fix the source of some of the problems first?
yeah, they're a start, but still not enough...
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I picked up a Touchpad in the sale and I agree that the WebOS interface is lovely. Easiest the nicest of any tablet OS I've tried (Android 3.2 & IOS). But it's just too damn laggy even when overclocked and hacked to bits. What some of the early (disclaimers apply) Andoird-on-Touchpad benchmarks are showing is that the hardware is actually pretty good, significantly faster than the Tegra 2 tablets. If you put WebOS on the hardware you suggested it would run even slower. The physical build quality of the Touchpad is poor, I grant you. Big, heavy and plastic. Worst of all worlds.
I've been following this project since they first announced it and got a Touchpad through the firesale. I got it installed today and here's what I can say about it:
Cyanogen calling it pre alpha is kind of underselling it. It's quite usable. The only nasty problem for my purposes is that the wifi is kind of flakey. I've heard power management isn't so great yet but I've had it plugged in the entire day. I've loaded Tunein, Netflix, Pandora, all the different emulators and they all seem to work.
So nice work Cyanogen, looking forward to future updates.
Really? A platform that's how many years old now and doesn't have a usable web browser (most browsers figured out that opening tabs in the background was good years ago and I've not seen a browser that didn't remember how far down in the previous page you were when you click back since the mid 90s) or (non-Kindle) e-reader application is what you think is a high-end platform with a alive dev base?
Yup. I picked up a Touchpad during the fire sale too. I /just/ received it yesterday. First impression was "oh hey, it's got a nice gouge in it, it's probably a refurb." Second was "yup, this is beta quality software." And the third was "yup, it's really slow to respond." It's got a 1.2 gigahertz dual core Snapdragon. It should be more than fast enough for tablet use.
Yes, webOS 3.0.2 is beta quality software at best. It's pretty, but it's got lots of rough edges. For instance, DHCP is disabled by default. On first boot I connected to my WiFi access point, and then was prompted to enter in IP address and gateway manually. Uh? Really HP? Really? Once I got past that I started playing with the apps. Wouldn't you know it, built-in apps and apps you download are listed in separate areas. The "App Catalog" is listed with the downloads, not the built-in apps. Pivot looked really neat. I flipped through it quickly, downloaded a few apps. Installed a few updates. Now that initial (July) issue of Pivot has disappeared and was replaced by a "Coming Soon" notice. Nice. I started playing with the instant messaging app. Well, tried to. For each IM I send the tablet vibrates ones and makes two distinct noises. Upon receipt of an IM it does the same thing. If the IM app is in the background, same thing... when you bring the app into the foreground, it goes through the same rigamarole all over again. And, of course, on occasion the foreground app just stops responding, but the system otherwise seems to respond to touch input.
Oh... and the web browser. Why do they have to make it so difficult to scroll vertically? For pages that don't expand beyond the screen's horizontal borders it would be real nice to... you know... disable horizontal scrolling. There's a native YouTube app, but the browser will still open youtube videos using flash. C'mon guys, even Android got that one right (it prompts the user which app to use).
If Apotheker hadn't been so keen on starving Hurd's baby, HP could have turned out a really nice tablet. For $150, the TouchPad IS a really nice tablet (with buttons that feel cheaper than my $150 no-contract Android phone, however). For $500 it's a piece of crap. What I'd like to see HP do is this: resume production of the Touchpad and sell it at cost for the time being; put some effort into optimizing webOS and fixing some of the niggling problems.
The revolution will be mocked
Okey dokey...
The HP Touchpad has the same high quality IPS screen as the iPad, most android tablets don't have. The K tablet also has an IPS screen, but it only has a 1GHz dual core Tegra 2 processor while the HP Touchpad has a 1.5GHz dual core processor (underclocked to 1.2GHz) of the same ARM architecture generation. The graphics part of the Tegra 2 chip is considered superior to the Snapdragon's though. I'd say that the HP Touchpad's hardware is actually better than most Android tablets. However, I'd definitely say that the HP Touchpad's build quality isn't so hot.
hahaha...
I'm writing this on my touchpad, which is soon to be upgraded with their port.
webOS isn't too bad, but there's so much more that can be done on an android device.
Cool. I just went through the process of importing a self-signed certificate. Annoying because you don't get any clue from the mail app what the problem was (nice touch, HP). More annoying because you can't save "inline" text files to disk from the browser. Comical because once you add the certificate, the first one in the list is inaccessible (it's hidden by the header). And just downright painful because it took about 45 seconds to actually import it after tapping "Done". It's kinda like they didn't even use it before releasing it.
The revolution will be mocked
Actually, I have an Android and HP Touchpad tablet. I used to prefer the Android Tablet as it was faster and more reliable. Battery life was also better. Then I found an article online talking about improving the Touchpad's speed by disabling all the logging they do on the blasted device. Now my HP Touchpad is faster and more responsive than my Transformer, or an iPad 2
WTF? Are you seriously trolling? The hardware is crap. Everyone who's been using WebOS for some time - years in some cases - has said so, and knows so.
The problem isn't webOS, the problem is that the former CEO was a dickhead and killed the baby in the crib. WebOS 3.0.2 is not exactly what I call 100% baked.
(assuming $ stands for value) ... 2 ... 1 ...
Gift economy : $100 Tragedy of the commons : $0
3
Gift economy : $0 Tragedy of the commons : $100
Try again next time
The Touchpad isn't set to static IP by default. It sounds like you really did get a refurb.
Whooooosh.......
Now if only you could FIND one of those cheap Touchpads....
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
Why port the middling-common-denominator OS to HP's crummy hardware? "Upgrading" the HP tablets by loading Android is like upgrading a Ford Fiesta with an Isuzu diesel. Sure it'll keep you on the road, but it ain't pretty and it ain't gonna be fun.
The problem with WebOS is it's future existence. When the future of an OS is questioned so is the future of its apps. Android and iOS have been getting better with every release. Their application pool is continuously growing. The usefulness of a device running these OSes is continuously growing.
The same can not be said for a WebOS.
A car analogy would be upgrading your home made cooking fat powered car by putting in a diesel engine from a commercial vehicle which doesn't quite fit. It may not look pretty but at least you know that a) you can get parts for it, and b) it's usable and refillable anywhere, c) more people are invested in keeping diesel engines running than just you.
...you could continue to run webOS on the damn thing. Since, you know... it's better and all. I still cannot find the appeal of Android. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, but something tells me I shouldn't have to.
Writing this from my touchpad. Only had a bit of time to play with it last night. I agree with anyone who says calling this an alpha is "underselling" No problems yet at all. Things are more responsive than webos has been for me,e specially, the web. Looking forward to trying pdfs ... and finding a replacement for the default keyboard.
How is it worth someone's time when 5 pople would use it? That's probably being generous too...
In the time spent using webOS I really don't get why it is so awesome. I'll take your grossly exaggerated buggy apps and malware over having angry birds and a browser. A browser that goes to the card view every time I fat finger scrolling from the bottom.
A complete lack of apps (even after installing preware).
Really, it's this. I'll probably use my Touchpad alot more now that I have CM/Android market on it but I already miss flicking stuff off of the screen.
In a perfect world WebOS developement carries on as FOSS.
We really need your help
http://www.gofundme.com/help-sherry
Info available several places, including here -- http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/how-to-improve-the-performance-of-your-new-hp-touchpad/3866
I installed the CM7 uh.. mod into my Touchpad and so far it works great. There are two bugs I've noticed, one of them very minor, the other somewhat major.
Firstly, when installing the mod into the tablet, I noticed that it deleted all of my comics on the webOS portion. I had a small stash of comics to read using the comicHD app, and they were deleted. Not a problem, I have backups, so that's a tiny issue that is easily resolved.
The other thing I noticed is that if the tablet is allowed to sit idle for a while and go to sleep, it will lock up after an unspecified amount of time. I noticed i left mine alone for a few hours to charge up, and it was locked. I had to hold the pwr/home buttons for 20 seconds to reboot it. But it came up just fine after the fact.
I really like Android so far. I'm an iPhone user so I'm more familiar with iOS but I wasn't a huge fan of webOS with the small amount of time I spent with it. It works ok, I suppose, but I dont like the browser, and the App Catalog is -as previously mentioned by others- very slim pickings.
It is really tiresome to hear from WebOS fanboys.
WebOS on touchpad is really a beta quality software. Consider the most important application web browser, when you click a link you get (in order of occurence)
1. Popup menu
2. Nothing happen with or without visual feedback
3. Actually take you to the link
And when you returns, you get back to the very top of the page.
This is not a big deal if WebOS is being actively supported but that is not the case.
Hmm, no. Please stop spreading this myth. webOS sucks, the applications suck, the default browser is so horrible it won't even properly open Google sites like gmail and reader (it defaults to the non-mobile version which do not work on webkit browsers - if you accidentally open those on an iPad they don't work either), the design decisions are so horrible that OUT OF THE BOX it is unusable - and I'd say even after those tweaks it is still barely usable, since you can't access Reader and Gmail.
I just installed the Cyanogen Android port and whoa, is it so unbelievably better, feels so much faster, the browser is so incredibly better...
So no, stop spreading this lie. Whoever says "webOS is fantastic" is a fanboy and must be treated accordingly.