$99 HP TouchPad to Get Android Makeover?
HP’s $99 TouchPad might turn out to be a smart investment after all, especially now that a group of coders are working on an Android OS for the tablet.
It’s hard to say no to the super-cheap TouchPad, but it’s just as hard to accept its webOS, especially since HP announced that they plan to kill it off imminently.
That means no updates, no apps. However, with the development of Android OS, the bulky tablet (compared with the lighter iPad) will make it more desirable.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
According to CNET, a group, who call themselves “TouchDroid” are working on porting Android to the TouchPad.
The nascent project’s goal is to first build it with Gingerbread and be AOSP based, RootzWiki posted on their website. Once the Gingerbread build is bug-free they will begin working on a full Honeycomb port. If an ICS is released before the Honeycomb port they will stop and begin working with ICS. They hope this will be no later than October.
For anyone looking to follow the progress of the Android development they can go to TouchDroid team’s Facebook page for updates.
HacknMod.com is also taking a bite on the high demand of the tablet, after all, it is estimated that HP ordered between 500,000 and one million units from its Taiwanese manufactures, Compal.
The website is currently offering $1,500 for the first HP TouchPad Android port. They also offer smaller rewards to anyone who can offer a basic android port, WiFi, Audio, Camera and MiltiTouch.
Although the HP’s TouchPad sold out online on BestBuy and all other main retailer websites, anyone hoping to purchase one still has a chance to get it. BestBuy reported this morning that new inventory is on its way to stores and will be arriving throughout the week. The store also announced that they will no longer be selling the tablet online.
