HP has finally entered the Android tablet market with their new HP Slate 7 tablet. The specs leave a little to be desired in this day and age, but the price should entice a few potential buyers. It’s clearly aiming for the Nexus 7 here regarding design and price, and they’ll have to compete with the just announced Galaxy Note 8.0 as well.

You’ll be working with a 7-inch 1024×600 resolution multi-touch display. Then HP went with an unknown 1.6 GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 processor with 1GB of RAM, instead of the rumored Tegra 4 quad-core. Those two downfalls aside the tablet sounds decent. You’ll get 8GB of storage and micro-SD slot for expanded options, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is also on board with Google Now. They’ve added a 3 megapixel rear camera, and VGA front for Google+ Hangouts. Dimensions come in at 10.7 mm thin, 197mm x 116mm, 13.05 ounces, and HP promises 5 hours of video playback.

HP has a well rounded tablet here, but the low resolution could be the achilles heel. This will also be the first Android tablet with Beats Audio integration for superior sound. The build quality sounds top notch and the entire slate is made from stainless-steel. They’ll be offering the device in steel silver, black, as well as a red flavor. Today HP also announced their ePrint Android app for printing on the go, and we’ll be getting hands-on time with both as soon as possible.

Hopefully HP can complete in this market. They state this is the first step in offering their customers the Google experience, so we have a feeling that rumored top-tier Tegra 4 device could still be in the works. The new HP Slate 7 will be available in April for the low price of $169.

This processor is one of the world’s most powerful mobile SoCs, having been introduced at this year’s CES convention with 4 CPU cores and 72 GPU cores. This processor takes the place of NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor, also known as the world’s first quad-core mobile SoC. Though very few products have been announced with the NVIDIA Tegra 4 for the market thus far, it wouldn’t be out of the question for a group like HP to grab hold this soon after the initial reveal.

With HP’s last several years, it’s not unlikely that this Android rumor is just that – a figment of someone’s wild imagination. We’ve seen Android HP tablet rumors in the past, and we’re sure to see them in the future as well (if this one proves to be dust, that is). HP has also revealed their first Chromebook running the Google OS Chrome just this past month, so it’s not out of the question that HP is working closer with Google than they ever have before.

The same sources speaking with Read Write Web have also tipped that HP will release Android smartphones by the end of 2013 – though previous comments from HP’s Meg Whitman, we’re not expecting it to come any time soon. With the WebOS debacle still a stinging pain in HP’s past, the company wont be jamming out any devices in any quick fashion, that’s for certain.

This code is bringing (in beta) a set of 54 components making 450,000 lines of code, and all the elements you’ve seen of the desktop build released to Ubuntu are included of course as well. Developers will be glad to find a collection of 3rd party Enyo apps supported here on the packages System Manager as well as the ones you’d expect from the basic set of apps included on the mobile device build.

HP’s servers will be bursting at the seams with this lovely offering starting today – if you don’t see it, wait a bit longer. You’ll be grabbing such lovely bits as “build-desktop” and “core-apps” never before legally distributed to the public. Grab em all and report back to tell everyone how much awesome developing fun you’re having!

Also check the timeline below for more information on webOS as it’s made its path towards the open environment it’s about to be in now. HP is working with the community to keep webOS an operating system worth working with, and we’re excited to see it continue to expand. Also see our webOS tag portal and HP tag to keep up to date with both groups in the very near future too – exciting things are bubbling up!

The memo itself comes from Printing and Personal Systems Group boss Todd Bradley, who says that Torres will be starting on September 3. After tackling the consumer tablet space, HP Mobility GBU will then “expand to additional segments and categories where we believe we can offer differentiated value to our customers.” Torres will not be taking the reins on HP’s incoming commercial tablet, as that will be staying with HP’s PC Global Business Unit, overseen by James Mouton. The same goes for HP’s notebook teams, but Bradley seems to suggest that the Mobility and PC GBUs will be merging (or at least collaborating) at some point in the future.

According to the memo, Torres’ initial duties will be to “accelerate our tablet strategy and begin to execute products against our consumer/SMB target.” It sounds like HP wants to ramp up on this second shot quickly, but it has a tough road ahead. Most of us can still recall HP’s difficulties with the TouchPad after all, and it’s pretty clear that the company will be doing all it can to avoid another failure like that.

Torres has a couple weeks left to go before he begins at HP, but we’re thinking that once he’s there, HP will waste no time in putting him to work. Even though the TouchPad can’t be labeled a smashing success, it did have some redeeming features, so the idea of HP getting serious about tablet development does get us excited. Stay tuned to SlashGear for more information, as we imagine that HP will be making some announcements not long after Torres officially joins the team.

This particular Jelly Bean install on the TouchPad is an unofficial port of CyanogenMod 10 by Jcsullins, though it’s very early days and there are still plenty of gaps in functionality. Although things look reasonably smooth in Liliputing‘s video below, the to-do list is plenty long.

Hardware video and graphics acceleration aren’t functional, and neither is audio. The front-facing camera doesn’t work, and neither does the microphone. In short, if you’re hoping for some (silent) web browsing and email from your Jelly Bean slate, the TouchPad port should suit; everyone else might want to wait until that list gets pared back.

Installation is reasonably straightforward, with instructions here and here, though it’s worth noting that some TouchPad owners are reporting issues with recharging while running the new ROM. That’s not universal, however, so you may find you get on fine.

Although the webOS team worked closely alongside the WebOS Internals to release webOS Community Edition, it’s not the same as Open webOS. The release of Open webOS 1.0 is expected to be released in September and will offer developers the ability to port webOS to their own devices and make use of open source technology integration.

Available online for download, the source code may be used by developers under the Apache License, Version 2.0 so they can combine open source code with their own stuff and sell it as desired. In addition to the release of the Community Edition, some other parts of the webOS have already been made available by the Open webOS team, including the Isis Browser project and the DB8 database service provider.

[via Verge]

In a perfect world they’d be selling new models, but even the refurbished price is a good deal. Taking a look at eBay, models seem to sell from around $300, so the Woot offer is worth a look. The tablet may be running webOS, but you can quickly put Android on there thanks to the efforts of those on xda-developers.

You may not be getting a Retina display, but the hardware is still pretty decent by today’s standards: a 9.7-inch 1024×768 IPS display, dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera. Head on over to Woot to secure the deal, and then mull over what you’ll do with the tablet while you’re waiting for it to ship.

[via Phandroid]

Yes, Android already supports multitasking, but normally you’ll be jumping in and out of different apps, only being able to see and interact with one at a time. A user on xda-developers has created his own build of CM9 that adds a new modification called Cornerstone. Cornerstone allows a user to have three applications running at once on your display, with the main app taking up the left side of the screen, and two other apps stacked on top of each other to the right hand side of the screen.

It’s not perfect right now, though, with some bugs that still need to be squashed. Meanwhile, CM9 itself has seen further progress on the TouchPad, and now includes full hardware acceleration for video, something that has been sorely missing for a while. Graphical issues have also been corrected in the most recent build.

As for when Cornerstone will come to other devices? The project is open source, so there’s nothing stopping developers from including it in other Android builds. Until then, check out Cornerstone in action in the embedded video below.

What they’re making available should allow independent developers to further play and develop software for legacy webOS devices, such as the Pre 3 and TouchPad. It’s a seperate release from the main, open webOS project, however. All the necessary components will be available by June.

CTO of webOS, Sam Greenblatt, said on the webOS developer blog that the team “value[s] the contributions the webOS community has made over the past few years”, and that he hopes the release will help developers “better understand the platform and create a constructive environment for moving forward as Open webOS itself is released.”

There are no exact details on what’s being released yet, or an official timeline, but it seems like this is a little “thank you” to the community for supporting webOS when the market wouldn’t. At the end of the blog post, Greenblatt lays out the March committments to the open webOS project, saying that the latest version of the Linux kernel, 3.3, will be ready for release towards the end of the month. It brings improvements in several areas, including drivers, networking, and memory.

[via liliputing]

Hewlett Packard announced plans to make WebOS a completely open-source operating system back in December, months after completely abandoning its tablet and smartphone plans. While HP is retaining its ownership of WebOS after purchasing original creator Palm last year, it’s allowing the open source community free reign to modify and distribute the code – not unlike Google’s strategy with Android. The company hopes that OEMs will take advantage of a competing free and open source mobile OS and produce new hardware on their own, though no one has taken up the offer at present.

Unfortunately, a lack of hardware plans means a smaller team is need to stay profitable. “As WebOS continues the transition from making mobile devices to open-source software, it no longer needs many of the engineering and other related positions that it required before,” said HP spokeswoman Mylene Mangalindan. HP will continue to over see and publish WebOS in its open source format, but new devices – at least from the computer giant itself – are out of the question for the time being.

[via Bloomberg]

Whitman made the announcement today during a Wall Street Journal conference, revealing that the new Windows 8 tablet by HP will be primarily based on Intel technology. The decision to go Intel instead of ARM had to do with the still unconfirmed schedule for the ARM edition of Windows 8.

As to how the HP tablet would stack up against competitors such as the iPad, Whitman insisted that she isn’t worried. She doesn’t believe that the two tablets would compete, saying that she uses the iPad for reading books and watching TV, but not for getting any work done. This suggests that HP’s workhorse Windows 8 tablet could be more enterprise-oriented, although surveys show enterprise adopting the iPad just fine.

During the conference, Whitman also revealed that HP is currently busy developing talented execs from within and plans to find its next CEO from within. The company had been hiring from within since 1999 until it recruited Carly Fiorina as CEO, followed by three other CEOs, all outside hires. “I will not feel like I’ve done a good job if my successor is not an internal choice,” said Whitman.

[via BusinessWeek]

“What Apple is doing with iOS is great, but it’s a closed platform,” said Whitman, after highlighting the company’s decision in December to open source WebOS. “What Google is doing with Android is great, but with their acquisition of Motorola, I fear that it may soon be closed, and in the global market it’s incredibly fragmented… there’s room for another OS here.”

Whitman wasn’t shy about the failings of WebOs previously, but seemed bullish on its possibilities in its new open source form. She noted that it may take three to four years to fully explore its possibilities. Notably, Whitman gave no indication that new hardware is being developed or even that WebOS development is going on in any meaningful way – not surprising, since so many developers and managers from the WebOS team have disappeared.

Even so, this is the first WebOS-related statement we’ve heard from HP in months that was anything but conciliatory. While Whitman’s statements are a little hollow (particularly the implication that Android is closing its source – it’s not) they indicate that HP is hoping that both OEMs and the open source community will take the software and do something  that they couldn’t.

If other OEMs manage to make more out of WebOS than HP has, it might even be possible for them to return to the mobile hardware market. There’s been no indication that any major hardware manufacturers are doing so, but a stable and relatively robust OS for free is a compelling proposition. If that should happen, expect development to resume, in a way similar to Google’s limited open source approach to Android. At the moment it seems that the company is taking a wait and see approach – not abandoning WebOS as previously indicated, but not fully invested, either.

“We are well on our way in terms of progress” the team says, and “hope to give you something to play with soon.” Right now there are only two main outstanding issues to overcome: the camera doesn’t work, and video playback isn’t supported. Work on the latter is apparently ongoing.

That still means there’s plenty to see today, including Angry Birds and some smooth animated fish rendering. Connectivity – WiFi and Bluetooth – are both supported and functional, but the CM team still isn’t giving a fixed estimate on when TouchPad owners might be able to actually download the new ROM.

[via Engadget]

The webOS 3.0.5 update will bring a few additional features and some bug fixes, including new support for HTTP live streaming, faster calendar switching, and improved stability when handling videos and MP3s. The full list is shown below:

– Faster switching between Day, Week, and Month views, and faster event display in Calendar.
– Faster scrolling when reading an email message.
– Email attachments are now saved with draft messages.
– Added sender photos and IM presence indicators in Email.
– Improved stability when watching video in the Web app.
– Improved handling of MP3s that are transferred from a computer using USB Drive mode.
– Added a dedicated view of contacts available for a video call, for quicker setup of a video call.
– New alert when video quality might be lower because of network issues.
– When typing, pressing the space bar twice inserts a period. This can be toggled on and off.
– Auto-correction can be turned off directly from the onscreen keyboard.
– Added support for HTTP Live Streaming.

Additionally, HP has rolled out an update to webOS 2.2.4 for the unlocked Pre 2 on AT&T and Verizon, and unlocked Pre 3 phones. For the Pre 2 expect improvements in Skype voice calling and messaging and overall messaging, calendar and contacts enhancements.

[via PhoneNews]

WebKit’s shortcomings, and an accelerated development timescale that forced each app to be initially built from scratch, then subsequently rebuilt by Palm and again for the second time by HP as the webOS framework took shape, resulted in significant returns. Palm saw “extremely high return rates” of the original Pre, a former apps employee claims, as early-adopters discovered it was sluggish and unstable.

webOS also suffered significantly from the loss of Matias Duarte, who jumped ship to Google in May 2010. Known as the architect of the webOS user experience, Duarte’s departure opened the door to in-fighting and power grabbing as HP got to grips with the newly-acquired platform.

“[Matias Duarte] was WebOS … When he left, the vacuum was just palpable. What you’re seeing is frankly a bunch of fourth- and fifth-stringers jumping onto WebOS in the wake of Duarte’s leaving” Unnamed former webOS team member

Since then, HP has been through a number of CEOs and has decided to make webOS open-source. HP has left the door open for potential future hardware running the platform, though that is believed to be heavily dependent on whether webOS finds favor among third-party hardware and software producers. That, Mercer suggests, is still unlikely, as the root performance issues of WebKit remain.

It’s no surprise then that HP had a hard time finding any takers. The value of Palm had dropped significantly since HP’s purchase and the WebOS platform flopped with HP’s TouchPad fiasco and smartphone fumbles with the Pre 3 and Veer. HP was rumored to be in talks with Amazon, Samsung, Intel, Facebook and several others.

The initial asking price of $1.2 billion was likely lowered, but the source suggests that the value would have to be lower than $500 million for any serious considerations. It probably didn’t help that HP also demanded continued access to WebOS for use in its printers.

[via VentureBeat]

You’ll get a full hands-on treatment with this device courtesy of the Nation right below this paragraph, including no less than benchmarks, Ken Burns effects sliding in and out, and Asphalt 6 running quite nicely for superior racing action. As they say, webOS 3.0 works “without compromise” on this smaller device, and it’s a pretty big bummer that the device will never see the light of day because it’s certainly not the least impressive tablet in the history of mobile. On the other hand, the cameras aren’t fantastic, the tablet is thick, and again, this tablet will never be sold to the public.

For a much more interesting and relevant vision for you the consumer, if that’s who you are, head to our timeline below to see how the released version of the TouchPad worked out over the past year. It’s a hundred-dollar madness fest you’ll never want to forget! That, and the idea that there might be SOME TouchPad Go units out there in the wild able to be hacked up is an interesting thought to think through. Let’s run some iOS on that mother!

[via WebOSNation]

Despite the limited numbers – which, going by when the listings were closed, were all sold in under 25 minutes – the attention was still enough to make eBay sluggish and reduce PayPal to a litany of error messages and failed transactions. HP was forced to order a second production run after strong final sales back in August outstripped supply.

Unfortunately, this time around, while the TouchPad itself was something of a bargain, shipping fees were not. HP levied a flat rate of $19 – as much as a fifth of the actual TouchPad price itself – for the refurbished units, something which has earned it a thorough drubbing in the eBay feedback. In contrast the company offers free shipping on its refurb PCs and TouchSmart all-in-ones.

According to a leaked memo last week, the TouchPad sale was intended for HP staff wanting to pick up one of the cancelled tablets, something which perhaps failed to take place given it was so quickly made public.

The TouchPad demand could well have been fueled by the news that HP is making the webOS platform open-source, allowing developers and other manufacturers to step in, adopt and modify it for their own use. However, the simple lure of a sub-$100 brand-name tablet when an iPad runs to four times that amount is more likely the motivation, just as we saw earlier in the year when HP swiftly sold out of its first TouchPad fire sale.

Unfortunately for international would-be buyers, HP has still not released any new TouchPad units outside of the US in recent sales promotions. The market for a second-hand TouchPad is likely to be flooded with supplies, however, as while HP and eBay chose to limit customer orders to two units, that only applied on a per-listing basis. With several listings for each model, those with fast mouse fingers found they could grab a handful of webOS tablets.

Those looking to do more with their TouchPad than simply browse and check email in webOS could do worse than exploring an unofficial build of Android on the slate. Instructions can be found here.

As you may well know, the announcement a few months ago that HP would get out of the business of working with webOS as a mobile operating system came as quite a shock to those hoping for a future on the Palm side of things here in the mobile environment of 2011. On the other hand, as HP employees continued to hold their Palm smartphones in their hands with great hope for an unannounced future, they today came to realize once more the uncertainty of the truth. While HP’s current status with the operating system has seen a sudden reinvigoration due to the open source announcement, they only have a written possibility in their FAQ that they will “explore the viability of putting webOS on devices, just as we do for other leading operating systems.”

Meanwhile HP plans to remain active in the support and development of webOS, and current users of devices such as the TouchPad can continue to expect updates to their software regularly. As HP states, making webOS open source will only accelerate the development of the webOS platform as well as the application ecosystem, this of course ringing true as a positive future situation for everyone involved. Who will take the reigns next? Or will it be an Android situation where everyone under the sun takes a piece of the pie?

[via HP]

With this move webOS is moving into Android territory, with availability of the code now open to the world to use on a wide variety of devices as well as developers hoping to get in on the relative ground level of what now appears to be a very viable option for mobile devices. This after having seen a near complete collapse after HP deciding they’d no longer produce webOS-based hardware and selling their TouchPad stock out in a fire sale that saw the world clamoring for cheap slates. Now HP will make the underlying code of webOS available to the open source community under an open source license — HP president and chief executive officer Meg Whitman noted the following at the announcement:

“webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable. By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices.” – Whitman

With this move, HP plans on hitting four key points for the future of webOS:

• The goal of the project is to accelerate the open development of the webOS platform
• HP will be an active participant and investor in the project
• Good, transparent and inclusive governance to avoid fragmentation
• Software will be provided as a pure open source project

In addition to the underlying code, HP will contribute ENYO, the application framework for webOS, to the open source community in the near future. Those of you interested in getting in on this project by providing input and suggestions can do so at http://developer.palm.com/blog/ or right here in this post, of course. Looking bright for webOS!

Also, this time around, the tablets offered will be refurbished models and there is a limit of two per customer. Sales are final and there is only a 90-day warranty. The 16GB model will be priced at $99 while the 32GB model will be priced at $149. An additional 3-piece accessory bundle will also be offered that includes a case, charging dock, and wireless keyboard for $79.

The HP TouchPad sports a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 10-inch 1024 x 768 pixel resolution display. It comes running the now defunct webOS 3.0 platfom, but some folks have managed to port Android to the device. For more details on getting Android on the HP TouchPad, make sure to check out this post on the Alpha 3 version at Android Community.

Many have been waiting on HP’s official position on webOS, with rumors swirling that the company is still looking to offload the platform it acquired as part of the Palm buy several years back. “This is not an easy decision, because we have a team of 600 people which is in limbo” Whitman suggested. “We need to have another operating system.”

It’s unclear if Whitman meant that HP itself needed another operating system, or if she felt the tech industry as a whole needed the extra competition webOS could bring. According to recent leaks, the only thing HP has webOS earmarked for is internet-connected printers, something that it has been muttering about since the Palm acquisition itself.

The first HP Windows 8 tablet will arrive in 2012, Whitman confirmed, though positioned as a media consumption and emailing machine rather than a PC alternative. “We will try to become the champion in 2013″ she concluded.

[via CNET]

It’s worth remembering, before you compare non-Apple tablet sales with those of the iPad, that both the TouchPad and Samsung slates like the Galaxy Tab 10.1 weren’t on sale for the entire year. Still, of those NPD asked, 76-percent of those who bought a non-iPad tablet didn’t even consider opting for Apple’s slate. That, NPD analyst Stephen Baker reckons, is “indication that a large group of consumers are looking for alternatives, and an opportunity for the rest of the market to grow their business.”

In fourth place, ASUS’ Eee Pad Transformer helped the company take 10-percent of the non-Apple tablet market, while Motorola trailed behind with 9-percent. Acer also managed 9-percent, though its line-up included not only Android tablets but models running Windows 7 as well.

Interestingly, a third of tablet market revenue in the year was from accessory sales, NPD counts, suggesting that it’s not just iPad buyers who are keen on picking up peripherals and gadgets to accompany their slate. Cases and screen protectors make up the majority of those sales, at around two thirds of all accessory sales.

The photos come from Chinese site Palm Joy, revealing a device with the same 4:3 aspect ratio display as its 10-inch brother but it slightly thinner and also has its dedicated home screen button located on the long-side. It’s said to be 3G-capable and features a 1024 x 768 resolution screen, a 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, 32GB of Sandisk internal storage, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash. It also has GPS, Bluetooth, and NFC.

HP’s suppliers are believed to be stuck with excess TouchPad components following the company’s decision to cancel the product line. Reports suggest that the suppliers could have as much as 100,000 units of the 7-inch TouchPad Go.

This tablet, for those of you that don’t know, became rather undeniably well priced once HP decided it would no longer produce it or any other webOS mobile operating system devices earlier in the year (note that they’re still considering the sale of webOS as recently as November 8th). Once the announcement was made, HP quickly reduced the price down to $150 and promptly sold the devices like they were giving them away. The situation quickly escalated once it was shown to be possible to load Android onto the tablets, and now they’re downright hard to find for a good price unless you’re an official webOS developer.

So here we go, the last of the TouchPads, maybe. You never know when more might show up, of course, and there’s always the possibility that HP has some more hidden up their sleeves, but a 10-inch dual-core Wi-fi tablet for $150 is hard to find no matter how you bend it, and there’s certainly not enough wrong with it to deny that this is a good deal. Have at it over at TigerDirect and have a look at our original review of the device if you dare as well:

The HP TouchPad tablet sold out quickly during the fire sale following the announcement that it would be discontinued back in August. The $99 fire sale TouchPad tablets proved so popular that HP scheduled another production run of the tablets to fulfill backorders. It’s hard to say if this new Best Buy deal, pricing them at $149.99 with the requirement of an additional computer purchase, would prove to be as hot an item, but we also didn’t expect it the first time around.

When HP first announced discontinuing WebOS hardware, including the Veer, Pre3, and TouchPad, it had insisted that it would continue support and development of the WebOS software. But following the announcement this week that HP has reversed plans to spin off its PC business, there are new reports that the WebOS software division will soon be completely shutdown. The changes have come after Meg Whitman became HP’s new CEO, replacing Leo Apotheker after his short 11 month stint that was riddled with communication missteps.

[via Reuters]

The HP sources revealed to FoxNews that the hardware team has been busy testing the Windows 8 developer release on the HP TouchPad and that there have been internal discussions about resurrecting the tablet or even building a completely new device to run Windows 8. This seems to go against HP’s plans to spin-off its PC hardware unit, making a transition into enterprise software as was announced back in August.

It also continues the confusion as to what HP plans to do with webOS, which it had initially insisted that it would continue to support and develop. But the company is looking more likely to sell the unit and has been in talks with HTC, LG, Nikon, and Amazon as potential buyers of the software platform.

[via MobileBurn]

Naturally, there is still no ETA on the finished product, as the guy says in the video the CM7 mod is done when it is done. Moreover, don’t call him and ask. The latest version of the CM7 mod will support movie playback from Netflix and gaming with a demo of MineCraft playing. You can also see the live wallpaper working along with Skype calling.

The latest version is still in alpha, which doesn’t give it extraordinary abilities like mind control. The alpha build is less stable than a beta, which is generally not very stable either. The long and short is that you are on your own with the software and it may not work as intended. If you still want to give it a shot, check out the instructions for getting it on your device here.

This newest version of CyanogenMod now supports nearly 70 devices with more on the way. Newest entrants into the world of Cyan including such gems as the HTC Desire S, the HTC Incredible S, Samsung Galaxy S, Samsung Galaxy S II, T-Mobile G2X by LG, Motorola Cliq, and the entire line of Sony Ericsson XPERIA devices. The entire line of Sony Ericsson XPERIA devices have been added thanks to the FreeXperia and the newly supportive Sony Ericsson crew, having just pledged their involvement in the modification of XPERIA devices through the future.

This newest version of CyanogenMod includes enhanced Bluetooth support for mice as well as tethering, app launching gestures, brand new lock screen widgets, a completely rewritten LED notification system, and device-specific modifications galore. Then there’s a built-in screenshot function which we’ve been hoping for since the birth of Android itself as well.

Devices currently in the BETA ROM, coming up quick, include the HP TouchPad, HTC Sensation, Vision, and the LG Optimus 3D. Gold releases for each of these devices should be starting in a few weeks according to the Cyan crew, while Gold versions (aka basically final releases) are available right now from CyanogenMod via your regular outlets. Will you mod?

[via Android Community]

For those of you wanting to get in on the process for installing this system, head over to the original XDA thread where it’s all going down, but know this: it IS an Alpha release, which means there certainly are bugs. In addition, you’ll need the community-authored tool “Preware” as well as an alternate app store (Android Marketplace isn’t here quite yet) and a set of other tools and tweaks to keep running. Limits currently include basically no usable storage, no Google apps, and – oh yeah – it’s in Chinese.

Preware, for those of you that don’t know, is an easy install that can be deleted after you’re done with it, this allowing you to work with the innards of your WebOS device, in this case your HP TouchPad. The developers behind this particular install of Android say that they’ll be continuing their work on the system and will be “ironing out” kinks for future releases, as well as flipping the whole thing so that Android can run as a “card” in your WebOS interface. Sound nice to you? Go ahead and hack now if you want, or wait a few weeks and the whole process should be made quite a bit easier – whichever you choose!

Also check out this alternate means of dual-booting Android and WebOS from just a couple of days ago – everyone wants both!

[via Android Community]

On the left of the chart you see above (or in the enlarged version in the gallery below) you’ll see some already in-effect titles, those being Radial aluminum for casing, deep draw stamping, CNC hinges for utter accuracy, double shot display bezel and glass touchpad for strength. Added to this list inside 2012 are two major factors you’ve seen popping up in the mobile world over the past year, those being a completely aluminum unibody construction and Gorilla Glass.

On the right, leading into 2013, you’ll find a set of 5 new materials and methods for greatness, Print on Body, ALT-ANO, Metal Film, Ceramic, and Carbon Fiber. Let your guesses run wild about what each of these topics will unfold as over the next few years, but your humble narrator is most excited about the ceramic bit. Speakers set in ceramic have a certain lovely sound to them, especially when combined with such classic forms of music transmission like vinyl records. That’s only the tip of the iceberg, of course, and I’m certain there’ll be more than a couple readers ripping their fingernails off in protest of such a claim, but have at it – what do you think HP will bring with such futuristic methods and materials?

For more coverage of our tour, simply head to our big [HP Elite portal] and click around until your mouse finger cracks. You’ll be seeing more content like this:

Cool beans!

VB’s interpretation, however, is that both hardware and software are up for grabs, with HP looking to wash its hands of the whole failed endeavor. That’s despite the company’s talk shortly after axing the HP TouchPad - and canceling its upcoming smartphone release plans – that it was looking to license rather than sell webOS, and still had collaborative hopes for the software.

Those hopes, according to ex-Palm CEO, current HP “Product Innovation” chief and Amazon board member Jon Rubinstein, already tipped Amazon as a possible partner. “We’d like a partner that would allow us to expand the webOS ecosystem” he told This is my next back in July:

“There’s a variety of different sets of a characteristics to qualify as a good partner. I would say Amazon would certainly make a great partner, because they have a lot of characteristics that would help them expand the webOS ecosystem. As to whether there’s been discussions or not… that’s obviously not something I’m going to comment about.”

Whether Amazon would be interested in webOS in return, though, is less clear. The company launched its first tablet, the Kindle Fire, earlier this week, and much has been made of its heavily-reskinned Android 2.3 OS and how that could allow the retailer to in effect swap the underlying platform with little visible UI change to users. However, part of Amazon’s value proposition with the Kindle Fire is the Amazon Appstore for Android, something it could not carry across to webOS.

Instead, it seems possible that Amazon could be more keen on the Palm hardware business. Palm is known to have had several phone and tablet designs – including a 7-inch slate and a TouchPad-replacing 10-inch slate – on the roadmap, which could give Amazon a head start on its own product plans. We’ve already seen the retailer reportedly use the BlackBerry PlayBook as a template for the Kindle Fire; a bigger tablet is apparently in development for launch in early 2012.

HP has declined to comment on “rumors and speculation” while Amazon is yet to respond.

Meanwhile there have also been improvements on sound support, with the TouchPad’s Beats Audio blessed speakers now functional. Multitouch touchscreen support was added earlier in the month, and there’s working WiFi and accelerometer. Unfortunately there’s still a list of components not yet playing nicely with Android: the front-facing camera and Bluetooth for a start, as well as accurate reporting on battery status. Some of the sensors aren’t working either, like the digital compass and gyroscope.

As always, the Cyanogenmod team’s plan is to only release a ROM when it’s ready for public consumption, so TouchPad owners wanting a taste of Android will have to hold off for a while until that’s the case. The eventual goal is a dual-boot option, giving a choice of Android or webOS.

[via Android Community]

“As communicated on August 18, HP will discontinue the development of webOs devices within the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011, which ends Oct 31 2011. As part of this decision, the webOS GBU is undergoing a reduction in workforce. Today’s actions are part of this initiative. During this time, we stand by our commitment to our webOS customers and will work to ensure that support and service for customers are not adversely affected. HP is exploring ways to leverage webOS software” HP statement

Those mysterious ways could include licensing webOS to a third-party, something HP is apparently exploring as the preferred alternative to selling on the platform, or resurrecting it after spinning off the company’s computing hardware business altogether. HP is rumored to be splitting software and hardware in two, keeping the webOS software team as it distances itself from the device side.

Underwhelming sales of the HP TouchPad led the company to axe the tablet, as well as the imminent Pre3 smartphone, back in August. A subsequent firesale saw the remaining TouchPad stocks cut to $100, with demand unsurprisingly exceeding supply and forcing HP to schedule a final production run to meet orders.

Other specifications apparently include NFC support and 16GB of onboard storage. There’s also a rear-facing camera with an LED flash, something the 9.7-inch TouchPad didn’t have, together with a front-facing webcam. A SIM slot and user-accessible battery are found under the back cover, and the dual-core processor is the same as in the larger versin.

According to leaks earlier this year, the HP Opal was expected to go on sale sometime this fall. That’s obviously not going to happen now, though HP is reportedly hoping to spin off its computing hardware group and there are suggestions that the tablet range could be resurrected once that happens.

[via This is my next]

We don’t know where the retailer’s stock has come from, but the assumption is that it’s not part of HP’s final production run. Those slates are expected to be limited to the US market, and probably to only fulfill outstanding orders from the last round of sales, rather than going up for grabs internationally.

Whether the TouchPad is a good buy depends on how attached to the idea of webOS you are, how much you trust HP’s commitment to continue development of the platform, or whether you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and get hacking. Projects to load Android 3.x Honeycomb onto the TouchPad are already underway, and HP has hinted that the slate could be resurrected after the PC business is spun off. So, any takers?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Rumors began last week that HP would produce another batch of HP TouchPads or even possibly resurrect the tablet. The supply side was stuck with excess inventory, said to include components for 100,000 units of the HP TouchPad Go, a 7-inch version that will no longer see the light of day. HP promptly confirmed that it would indeed be running one last production of the HP TouchPad tablets, a move possibly to appease its supplier relationships.

It’s believed that the production would begin in October, which fits in with the 6 to 8 week time frame listed in the email sent to HP’s small and medium business customers today. The email also assures customers that HP intends to fulfill the existing orders at the discounted fire sale pricing. Sales at the reduced price are non-returnable, but customers can cancel their orders as long as they respond within a week.

Efforts to port Android on to the HP TouchPad are already underway, with the latest progress being multitouch support. You can see a video of an early CyanogenMod Android port on the HP TouchPad here.

[via PreCentral]

Samsung was seen as the company in the ultimate position for such a purchase because it had a flourishing hardware business with smartphones and tablets, but seemed alarmed by the Google-Motorola deal that could compromise its competitive position with the Android platform. Scooping up WebOS would give it a new software asset that had features that could differentiate enough from both Android and iOS.

However, that is certainly not the case, according to Choi, who in an interview during IFA 2011 in Berlin, insisted that Samsung would “never” pursue such a deal. Instead, Samsung is quite heavily invested in further developing its own homegrown Bada platform, which has just seen the release of a major update along with three new devices at IFA.

“It’s not right that acquiring an operating system is becoming a fashion,” Choi said. Samsung, which has its own mobile operating system called Bada, is working to boost its software capability “harder than people outside think.”

The future of WebOS continues to look hazy ever since HP made that fateful announcement. But HP Touchpad tablets have surprisingly been selling well despite the news thanks to $99 fire sales. In fact, so well that HP has confirmed its doing one last production run on the tablet. The planned 7-inch HP TouchPad Go probably won’t see the light of day and is said to have left HP suppliers with components for over 100,000 units of the tablet.

[via Bloomberg]

In this case Woot is sending out emails that include an explanation of how they are in fact just like Lando when he made that awesome plan on Bespin Cloud City in the Empire Strikes Back to work with the Empire to give away Luke Skywalker in exchange for the city’s safety. Turned out that didn’t work so well, and certainly those businesses (like Woot) left holding stacks of HP TouchPads after the announcement that they’d be reduced to $99 isn’t all that unlike the Lando situation.

What Woot is doing now, according to this email, is giving you back $100 of your original purchase price so that you’ll be a bit more satisfied with the fact that, like most of America, had you waited until HP announced their ditching of the webOS hardware they’d already made, they’d have gotten a much lower priced deal. Read the full text of the email below:

Seem reasonable to you? Seems pretty reasonable to us.