5 ms·

CyanogenMod 7 On the HP TouchPad

48 points by franze 15y ago

Maakuth 15y ago
Whoah, that was fast! Of course WebOS uses Linux kernel as well, so no need for driver porting and such. Still, impressive feat.
- gcb 15y ago
  exactly. Getting to a shell on the touchpad was easier than on my nexus one. ...now, ignore android and webos... Just get X running there and you will have the killer tablet system. Period. no need to reinvent the wheel.
  - newman314 15y ago
    X already runs on the TouchPad Google Xecutah or see http://twitpic.com/5rg5rr http://twitpic.com/5rg5rr for a sample
yardie 15y ago
Not to be a downer but they are still running a phone OS (android 2.3.5) on a tablet, which already has an OS built to run on a tablet. Beyond the technical merits of it (getting it to boot something other than webOS) this seems like a step backwards. IMO, webOS is a superior OS to Android. And now that some of the WebOS guys have been picked up by Google android can only get better. I'd be more impressed if they got Honeycomb running on the thing. Anyway I have a Nook Color and some of the menus scroll like crap because of the S/W rendering at 1024x600. I can't imagine the situation getting any better with 1024x768 screen.
- j_col 15y ago
  > IMO, webOS is a superior OS to Android. +1. I really don't understand why there is so much effort to install non-tablet OSs on a tablet with a lauded tablet-optimized OS already installed....
  - angryasian 15y ago
    not trolling but I don't see how webos a tablet os is different from android 2.3. The launchers (depending on which one you install with android ) serve the same purpose displaying your apps but on android you can at least use your home screens and customize. edit:asking a legit question, from a user experience pov.. tablet optimized os, in this case webos works in the same way as Android 2.3. What makes webos specifically tablet optimized. Just asking for clarification if he means the stock apps are optimized for tablet, the only ones making any difference would be email and calendar. On webos non tablet optimized apps show up as cards in the middle of the screen ( Pandora), its terrible.. where as on Android at least they will stretch.
    - yardie 15y ago
      You raise a good point but what most people don't realize is that tablets and phone use is completely orthogonal. You can run a phone application on a tablet but this would be the least optimal solution. Phones give you one view and only that view. You open an application and get a list, you click an item in the list and you get the details, you click on an item in the details and you are taken to a completely different window. Need to change a preference? Click a link and you are presented with a list of preferences. Your application is no longer there (it is, but you can't see it). A real tablet application can give you multiple views, you aren't booted from that view to change the preference. And in the case of Android those views are SW-rendered. Scrolling a very long list skips and stutters as more information needs to be loaded into framebuffer. Stretching is just a hack, instead of being more informative its the same 480x320 information blown up to scale.
      - fpgeek 15y ago
        Not necessarily. Plenty of Android apps are written with flexible layouts, so they aren't stretched. They may not give you more views than the phone version, but they can still use the larger screen to display more information. One simple example of this is Firefox (which hasn't really started on their tablet version yet), but there are others.
  - 15y ago
- angryasian 15y ago
  Its been a week since the firestorm, getting CM7 working this fast is already impressive enough. I have no doubts Honeycomb will be soon. I don't see any difference with running Android 2.3 vs webos. I find webos inferior in browsing experience, apps, localization, customization and ability in general. Webos is slick and polished, but not even close to what Android can do. I'm very much looking forward to getting Android on my tablet.
  - pilif 15y ago
    > Its been a week since the firestorm, getting CM7 working this fast is already impressive enough. I have no doubts Honeycomb will be soon. Unfortunately Not. Honeycomb is closed source (aside if the kernel) and only available to a few OEMs. Google maintains that it's just not ready for public release, but that was nearly a year ago now, so I wouldn't be surprised if Gingerbread was the last public release. Even more so with the recent purchase of Motorola. (though I'd love to be proven wrong by Google of course)
    - angryasian 15y ago
      not a nook owner but I've read of honeycomb running on it sdk 3.0
      - com 15y ago
        Yep, but the Honeycomb that's running there is a hacked version of the SDK image (!!). On my Nook Color it works, barely. I get crashes in the browser, have issues getting apps available from the Market etc. An amazing effort, but not the same as something built from source and which can have defects fixed if they get frustrating enough to me ;-)
      - yardie 15y ago
        It's running Honeycomb SDK parts on a Gingerbread kernel (since the HC device drivers haven't been opensourced). We'll call it FrankenComb. It's not a great position to be in. As a Nook owner I take Google's "open" stance with a serious grain of salt. It's a bit like Animal Farm, it's open, but some parts are more open then others, you just have to be a certain animal to get it. It's for your own good.
- iaskwhy 15y ago
  I'd say the biggest reason for this is that Android is still being updated while webOS probably isn't going to change much in the future. So far webOS is my favourite tablet OS though.
- watty 15y ago
  From what I read the easiest path to getting Android tablet versions to run (Gingerbread, ICS) is to start with the phone version of 2.3.5. It seems that all of the dev teams are taking this approach. Once they finish it will be running the tablet version but of course the alpha version with phone os and no touch support is a step backwards from WebOs. WebOs is arguably better than Android. The huge advantage Android has is apps. I've had the Touchpad for a week and feel like I've already downloaded all of the quality games in the market - can you imagine how much fun I'll be having in a year?
- sp332 15y ago
  It's not really about the OS, it's about the apps. There aren't nearly as many apps for WebOS as there are for Android.
lawnchair_larry 15y ago
Does CM7 make for a good tablet OS? Like half of the internet, I have a TP order in limbo, but this gives some promise in case support is lost for webOS.
- j_col 15y ago
  I have a Touchpad and a Pre3, and I have to say I love them both. When you get your Touchpad, please give webOS a go as it is a fanastic platform, you may find yourself wanted to keep it and hoping that HP keep it alive (like the rest of us long-suffering webOS fans). It also has lots of tablet-optimised applications, all you could need really.
  - ddw 15y ago
    I have to say I'm really digging the Touchpad for web browsing, which is primarily would I would want a tablet for. I can see some people needing more applications, but this is fine for me. That said, is there a way to get Gmail working through the web browser? Because I'll be sharing the Touchpad with someone else I don't want my credentials in the email app.
- joenathan 15y ago
  Here are some screenshots of CM7 with the Tablet Tweaks. I'd say it makes for a very good tablet OS!
bho 15y ago
really impressive and fast work! for me, however, I would like to see an implementation of Dalvik VM as a "card" similar to how they've managed to boot Ubuntu/LXDE as a "card". That way, we could retain the best of both worlds - webOS + android apps. This would be akin to the Alien Dalvik project on the Nokia stuff. Does anyone know what it would take to port Dalvik over? It must be possible, but this is outside of my area of knowledge.

48 points by franze 15y ago

Whoah, that was fast! Of course WebOS uses Linux kernel as well, so no need for driver porting and such. Still, impressive feat.

gcb 15y ago
exactly. Getting to a shell on the touchpad was easier than on my nexus one. ...now, ignore android and webos... Just get X running there and you will have the killer tablet system. Period. no need to reinvent the wheel.
- newman314 15y ago
  X already runs on the TouchPad Google Xecutah or see http://twitpic.com/5rg5rr http://twitpic.com/5rg5rr for a sample

yardie 15y ago

Not to be a downer but they are still running a phone OS (android 2.3.5) on a tablet, which already has an OS built to run on a tablet. Beyond the technical merits of it (getting it to boot something other than webOS) this seems like a step backwards. IMO, webOS is a superior OS to Android. And now that some of the WebOS guys have been picked up by Google android can only get better. I'd be more impressed if they got Honeycomb running on the thing. Anyway I have a Nook Color and some of the menus scroll like crap because of the S/W rendering at 1024x600. I can't imagine the situation getting any better with 1024x768 screen.

j_col 15y ago
> IMO, webOS is a superior OS to Android. +1. I really don't understand why there is so much effort to install non-tablet OSs on a tablet with a lauded tablet-optimized OS already installed....
- angryasian 15y ago
  not trolling but I don't see how webos a tablet os is different from android 2.3. The launchers (depending on which one you install with android ) serve the same purpose displaying your apps but on android you can at least use your home screens and customize. edit:asking a legit question, from a user experience pov.. tablet optimized os, in this case webos works in the same way as Android 2.3. What makes webos specifically tablet optimized. Just asking for clarification if he means the stock apps are optimized for tablet, the only ones making any difference would be email and calendar. On webos non tablet optimized apps show up as cards in the middle of the screen ( Pandora), its terrible.. where as on Android at least they will stretch.
  - yardie 15y ago
    You raise a good point but what most people don't realize is that tablets and phone use is completely orthogonal. You can run a phone application on a tablet but this would be the least optimal solution. Phones give you one view and only that view. You open an application and get a list, you click an item in the list and you get the details, you click on an item in the details and you are taken to a completely different window. Need to change a preference? Click a link and you are presented with a list of preferences. Your application is no longer there (it is, but you can't see it). A real tablet application can give you multiple views, you aren't booted from that view to change the preference. And in the case of Android those views are SW-rendered. Scrolling a very long list skips and stutters as more information needs to be loaded into framebuffer. Stretching is just a hack, instead of being more informative its the same 480x320 information blown up to scale.
    - fpgeek 15y ago
      Not necessarily. Plenty of Android apps are written with flexible layouts, so they aren't stretched. They may not give you more views than the phone version, but they can still use the larger screen to display more information. One simple example of this is Firefox (which hasn't really started on their tablet version yet), but there are others.
- 15y ago
angryasian 15y ago
Its been a week since the firestorm, getting CM7 working this fast is already impressive enough. I have no doubts Honeycomb will be soon. I don't see any difference with running Android 2.3 vs webos. I find webos inferior in browsing experience, apps, localization, customization and ability in general. Webos is slick and polished, but not even close to what Android can do. I'm very much looking forward to getting Android on my tablet.
- pilif 15y ago
  > Its been a week since the firestorm, getting CM7 working this fast is already impressive enough. I have no doubts Honeycomb will be soon. Unfortunately Not. Honeycomb is closed source (aside if the kernel) and only available to a few OEMs. Google maintains that it's just not ready for public release, but that was nearly a year ago now, so I wouldn't be surprised if Gingerbread was the last public release. Even more so with the recent purchase of Motorola. (though I'd love to be proven wrong by Google of course)
  - angryasian 15y ago
    not a nook owner but I've read of honeycomb running on it sdk 3.0
    - com 15y ago
      Yep, but the Honeycomb that's running there is a hacked version of the SDK image (!!). On my Nook Color it works, barely. I get crashes in the browser, have issues getting apps available from the Market etc. An amazing effort, but not the same as something built from source and which can have defects fixed if they get frustrating enough to me ;-)
    - yardie 15y ago
      It's running Honeycomb SDK parts on a Gingerbread kernel (since the HC device drivers haven't been opensourced). We'll call it FrankenComb. It's not a great position to be in. As a Nook owner I take Google's "open" stance with a serious grain of salt. It's a bit like Animal Farm, it's open, but some parts are more open then others, you just have to be a certain animal to get it. It's for your own good.
iaskwhy 15y ago
I'd say the biggest reason for this is that Android is still being updated while webOS probably isn't going to change much in the future. So far webOS is my favourite tablet OS though.
watty 15y ago
From what I read the easiest path to getting Android tablet versions to run (Gingerbread, ICS) is to start with the phone version of 2.3.5. It seems that all of the dev teams are taking this approach. Once they finish it will be running the tablet version but of course the alpha version with phone os and no touch support is a step backwards from WebOs. WebOs is arguably better than Android. The huge advantage Android has is apps. I've had the Touchpad for a week and feel like I've already downloaded all of the quality games in the market - can you imagine how much fun I'll be having in a year?
sp332 15y ago
It's not really about the OS, it's about the apps. There aren't nearly as many apps for WebOS as there are for Android.

lawnchair_larry 15y ago

Does CM7 make for a good tablet OS? Like half of the internet, I have a TP order in limbo, but this gives some promise in case support is lost for webOS.

j_col 15y ago
I have a Touchpad and a Pre3, and I have to say I love them both. When you get your Touchpad, please give webOS a go as it is a fanastic platform, you may find yourself wanted to keep it and hoping that HP keep it alive (like the rest of us long-suffering webOS fans). It also has lots of tablet-optimised applications, all you could need really.
- ddw 15y ago
  I have to say I'm really digging the Touchpad for web browsing, which is primarily would I would want a tablet for. I can see some people needing more applications, but this is fine for me. That said, is there a way to get Gmail working through the web browser? Because I'll be sharing the Touchpad with someone else I don't want my credentials in the email app.
joenathan 15y ago
Here are some screenshots of CM7 with the Tablet Tweaks. I'd say it makes for a very good tablet OS!

bho 15y ago

really impressive and fast work! for me, however, I would like to see an implementation of Dalvik VM as a "card" similar to how they've managed to boot Ubuntu/LXDE as a "card". That way, we could retain the best of both worlds - webOS + android apps. This would be akin to the Alien Dalvik project on the Nokia stuff. Does anyone know what it would take to port Dalvik over? It must be possible, but this is outside of my area of knowledge.