Android for HP TouchPad?

[GAMESHARQ]

Wait, so I would need a separate emulator in order to run Android apps on it?

 

[Amerie]

This is, of course, a great development. Also interested in Official: Palmdroid Development Thread (android app emulator for WebOS) - xda-developers

Would be great to be able to enjoy the benefits of WebOS and run android apps from within it - no?

Maxy

I think they are working on it with the aim of making it possible to dual boot, so we won't need to lose WebOS to get our android goodies.

Wait, so I would need a separate emulator in order to run Android apps on it?

It looks like that will be an option, but hopefully when they get android running properly you should be able to chose between running WebOS and using an android emulator, running just android, or dual booting both.

 

[colchiro]

Well, there's one less team now: Team CM | team-touchdroid

 

[Amerie]

Well, there's one less team now: Team CM | team-touchdroid

This probably sounds a bit harsh but I'm actually a bit glad that Team Touchdroid is no more. It just seemed to me like all the drama was overshadowing the main point which was to work together to port android for the benefit of everyone, not just to lie, steal and cheat to get the bounty before anyone else. In fact, the bounty is probably the worst thing that could have happened, as all it has done is cause fragmented teams instead of a community effort. Maybe now the real developers from Touchdroid will be able to work with other people and the glory seekers will drop back into obscurity.

 

[colchiro]

In the end there will only be team CM. In order to beat them to release, you'd have to rush something out that barely works. They did wonders with the Nook Color and I'm sure they'll come thru for the TP.

If they can get wireless to work and it's stable, I would think we could see our first release. Last I heard dual boot already worked.

 

[Amerie]

I must admit that when I first heard CM were on the case, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Cos if anyone could get android running smoothly on the TP, it's those guys. It'd still be nice to have other options (I'm a Sense junkie through and through), but at least CM7 actually WORKS, no problems. ROMs based on ports from other devices never feel quite right to me.

 

[NowVoyager]

Well, there's one less team now: Team CM | team-touchdroid

Rough translation: They got a "cease and desist" ? Or did they implode? LOL
There sure were smatterings of CYA legal sounding stuff. "We found it on a pastebin" "I was not involved..."

I guess (thankfully) the bottom line is that they've cleared the field for a clean Dev environment for TP sans the drama.

 

[GAMESHARQ]

Do you think it's safe to say that sooner or later, Android will be ported to the Touchpad and run smoothly? (including the ability to buy/download apps and games from the Android market)

 

[colchiro]

These guys brought CM7 to the Nook Color, an e-reader, even managed to get Bluetooth working when the chip was disabled. The CM tablet tweaks meant we had dedicated (HC) back and menu soft buttons, which I'm sure you'll see on the TP. These guys are good.

I'm confident they do even more with the TP. Some features may take awhile until they can find the proper driver source.

 

[GAMESHARQ]

I've never rooted anything before. Once they get Android figured out for the Touchpad, is it a relatively simple process to port over?

 

[colchiro]

The now-disbanded TouchDroid team released a version that's a lot of work to install, but the CM team said they won't release until they have a stable and easy to install build.

 

[GAMESHARQ]

That's good. I'm really not in any hurry to get it. I'd rather wait for a quality version that's easy to install.

 

[MongooseGA]

So I've been stalking the articles about porting Android on to this thing since I bought it the night before the sale started.


But seriously, what's the status on this project? There are too many downsides to WebOS compared to upsides and I'm ready to do the tablet thing the right way.

 

[colchiro]

CM team has wifi working, but it won't come back on if you put it to sleep. Sound, h/w accelerated video, and BT still needs work. Many apps work but ones that require sound are crashing. One guy is working on an easy installation method.

 

[A.Nonymous]

So I've been stalking the articles about porting Android on to this thing since I bought it the night before the sale started.


But seriously, what's the status on this project? There are too many downsides to WebOS compared to upsides and I'm ready to do the tablet thing the right way.

Only real downside I've found to WebOS is a lack of apps.

 

[MongooseGA]

Colchiro- thanks for the update. Any clue as to an ETA?


A.Nonymous- I'm glad you're content with it. I'm not.

 

[A.Nonymous]

A.Nonymous- I'm glad you're content with it. I'm not.

What other downsides does it have?

 

[MongooseGA]

What other downsides does it have?

Not really the thread to discuss it, but in a nutshell, since this is a device that is operated entirely by apps, it is sorely lacking in capabilities compared to its counterparts.

Because of a lack of apps, there is a very small enthusiast/user base.

Because of the small user base, there is very limited potential for development and growth, as well as the fact that the future of WebOS is still uncertain.

Now before any WebOS fanboys jump in to save the name of their OS for me, I'll going ahead and beat you to it: the only people who will defend WebOS against Android are the ones who haven't actually owned an Android device yet.

Despite the fact that WebOS is a great platform and is very intuitive (coming from someone who had one of the first Palm Pres in my state), Android is such a better OS, to me. Once I made the switch from my Pre to my EVO, I look back and think how silly I was to have considered the Pre to have been a contender.


So, to wrap up and bring this post back into subject, I only bought this device to port Android over to it, and I almost can't wait until I can do that.

 

[A.Nonymous]

Not really the thread to discuss it, but in a nutshell, since this is a device that is operated entirely by apps, it is sorely lacking in capabilities compared to its counterparts.

Because of a lack of apps, there is a very small enthusiast/user base.

Because of the small user base, there is very limited potential for development and growth, as well as the fact that the future of WebOS is still uncertain.

Now before any WebOS fanboys jump in to save the name of their OS for me, I'll going ahead and beat you to it: the only people who will defend WebOS against Android are the ones who haven't actually owned an Android device yet.

Despite the fact that WebOS is a great platform and is very intuitive (coming from someone who had one of the first Palm Pres in my state), Android is such a better OS, to me. Once I made the switch from my Pre to my EVO, I look back and think how silly I was to have considered the Pre to have been a contender.


So, to wrap up and bring this post back into subject, I only bought this device to port Android over to it, and I almost can't wait until I can do that.

I'm not sure I follow you completely. I mentioned the lack of apps where I'm in complete agreement with you. You implied (or perhaps I inferred incorrectly) that you were of the opinion that there were more issues with the OS than that. I was curious what those issues were, that's all. The hardware is heavy, clunky and plasticky which I think is a drawback of the Touchpad, but that's not a WebOS thing.

 

[MongooseGA]

I'm not sure I follow you completely. I mentioned the lack of apps where I'm in complete agreement with you. You implied (or perhaps I inferred incorrectly) that you were of the opinion that there were more issues with the OS than that. I was curious what those issues were, that's all. The hardware is heavy, clunky and plasticky which I think is a drawback of the Touchpad, but that's not a WebOS thing.

Lack of apps is one thing, like "oh man, I can't play Angry Birds" but it's the rest that follows the lack of apps. I guess you were pretty much saying the same thing as me, I just had more grief with WebOS than the app store.

As far as the hardware, I don't mind the size. I bought it as a laptop alternative so anything less than 6 lbs is fine. Sound is good, yadda yadda.

 

[nyssa]

I was curious - since Beats audio is apparently a software thing (based off of the fact that there's an on/off switch for it), will we lose the awesome sound quality once we load Android? Or is there some way CM might be able to preserve the Beats thing?

CM team has wifi working, but it won't come back on if you put it to sleep. Sound, h/w accelerated video, and BT still needs work. Many apps work but ones that require sound are crashing. One guy is working on an easy installation method.

This is awesome to hear. Is there some place that CM posts status updates? Because I haven't found one yet... I'm not even worried about the specifics, just general updates like this.

 

[colchiro]

If don't mind sifting thru the cat fights, newbies (are we there yet) and kudos, these are threads I follow:

[Discussion] CyanogenMod team Touchpad port (started by Dalingrin)

[ANDROID] Android on the TouchPad? - xda-developers

The KRYPTONITE project--Touchpad Hardware Subsystems and a kernel to match

ETA is something people are warned to not ask, but I'm guessing there possibly could be something in the month, BUT CM does not want to release anything until it's ready.

If wireless, sound, screen work, apps are stable, and it has a solid, easy dual boot installation method, they could release w/o hardware acceleration and Bluetooth (for example). The key is it has to be useable. They don't want to find working drivers from compatible hardware, they want the source code to make working drivers so they are ready for ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich). HoneyComb will not be coming unless source is released, which we've been told won't happen until after ICS.

 

[nyssa]

If don't mind sifting thru the cat fights, newbies (are we there yet) and kudos, these are threads I follow:

[Discussion] CyanogenMod team Touchpad port (started by Dalingrin)

[ANDROID] Android on the TouchPad? - xda-developers

The KRYPTONITE project--Touchpad Hardware Subsystems and a kernel to match

ETA is something people are warned to not ask, but I'm guessing there possibly could be something in the month, BUT CM does not want to release anything until it's ready.

If wireless, sound, screen work, apps are stable, and it has a solid, easy dual boot installation method, they could release w/o hardware acceleration and Bluetooth (for example). The key is it has to be useable. They don't want to find working drivers from compatible hardware, they want the source code to make working drivers so they are ready for ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich). HoneyComb will not be coming unless source is released, which we've been told won't happen until after ICS.

Thanks for the links! I'll definitely keep an eye on those.

And honestly, I'd rather have Ice Cream Sandwich anyway...that way I can flash my phone and my Touchpad to the same version, rather than having to "get used to" a whole different look and feel all the time - using Honeycomb is really disorienting to me...

 

[A.Nonymous]

Lack of apps is one thing, like "oh man, I can't play Angry Birds" but it's the rest that follows the lack of apps. I guess you were pretty much saying the same thing as me, I just had more grief with WebOS than the app store.

As far as the hardware, I don't mind the size. I bought it as a laptop alternative so anything less than 6 lbs is fine. Sound is good, yadda yadda.

I was just curious what issues you'd had besides the app store. Personally, after getting all the logging and other crap turned off, I like the OS and how it runs. It doesn't seem any laggier than Android does at times and some of that I think is all in how the particular app is written. I've found some apps don't have the lag at all.

 

[nyssa]

I was just curious what issues you'd had besides the app store. Personally, after getting all the logging and other crap turned off, I like the OS and how it runs. It doesn't seem any laggier than Android does at times and some of that I think is all in how the particular app is written. I've found some apps don't have the lag at all.

Even if they got an Android app emulator to work, I'd still want full Android. Beyond lack of apps, my biggest complaint is lack of customization. I don't want my apps to be stuck in boring little rows within app tabs. I don't want to have to open an app to get specific information, like weather. I don't want to have an empty home screen, with nothing but one little row of icons at the bottom. I am constantly tweaking and customizing the look and feel of my phone, why shouldn't I be able to do the same with my tablet?