TouchPad

Android has found yet another way to run on HP's TouchPad, courtesy of a Chinese developer.

A developer dubbed Chomper has created a test version of a WebOS application package, or IPK file, containing Android. Installed on an HP TouchPad, the IPK file lets TouchPad owners essentially run Google's mobile OS as its own app.

TouchPad users daring enough to try it out can download the IPK from a Chinese Web site (Google Translate version) linked by a poster at a forum hosted by tech site PreCentral.

Installed this way, Android appears to run fairly smoothly, according to … Read more

Hewlett-Packard appears to have made the TouchPad available for sale a couple of times today--albeit, very briefly, according to a report. That would be the first time in more than a month that the tablet--liquidated back in August for $99--was offered for sale by HP.

The first instance happened this morning when the 32GB model was available for $249.99, according to a report at Precentral.net. And it went up again later in the day, Precentral said. In both instances it quickly became unavailable. Maybe more importantly, a number of commenters cited glitches when trying to purchase a TouchPad, … Read more

The HTC Flyer is the latest tablet to see its price kicked down a couple hundred bucks, as the market adjusts to the impact of the $99 HP TouchPad fire sale and a just-announced $199 Amazon Kindle Fire.

HTC's 7-inch Flyer fell from its pricey $499.99 heights at Best Buy to $299.99 on Friday.

It comes with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, a 1,024-by-600-pixel 7-inch color touch screen, front and rear cameras, 16GB of storage, 1GB RAM, Wi-Fi, a microSDHC card slot, and a single-core Qualcomm processor.

If the truth be told, the HTC … Read more

Amazon may have Palm on its shopping list.

The retail giant is said to be in "serious negotiations" to acquire what's left of Palm from current parent Hewlett-Packard, according to VentureBeat.

Citing a "well-placed source," VentureBeat says that HP is eager to get rid of Palm, and among the current suitors, Amazon is the closest to cutting a deal. The tech news site also notes a connection between the companies as former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein, who currently has a role at HP working with WebOS, joined Amazon's board of directors last year.

VentureBeat also pointed to a July interview with Rubinstein at This is My Next in which he discussed Amazon as a potential 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," Rubinstein said. "As to whether there's been discussions or not...that's obviously not something I'm going to comment about."

HP's WebOS chief Stephen DeWitt also played up his praise of the retail giant in the interview.… Read more

Today's news that Hewlett-Packard may sack its relatively new CEO points to an ongoing identity crisis at the big PC maker.

The fact that the world's No.1 supplier of PCs has been trying to disown that very business and everything that goes with it--like its TouchPad tablet--then simultaneously holding out the possibility that it won't spin off PCs points to some very serious identity problems. CEO Leo Apotheker's potential ouster is the latest symptom, according to analysts.

First, a quick look at recent events that preceded today's news. When HP announced earnings back in … Read more

Research In Motion has a backlog of roughly 800,000 PlayBooks, The Guardian is reporting.

Citing an analyst from Fubon Securities, the U.K. publication reported today that RIM's supplier, Quanta Computer, had shipped 1.5 million PlayBooks to RIM in the first half. But RIM has only shipped 700,000 Playbooks--including 200,000 from the past quarter--to its retail partners.

The massive stockpile at RIM is another illustration of the struggles the BlackBerry-maker has faced in selling the tablet. It also adds a wrinkle to how the company plans to reduce the inventory. RIM has acknowledged … Read more

The crew at CyanogenMod has gotten a few steps closer to fully running Android on an HP TouchPad.

Known for designing customized builds of Android for different mobile devices, CyanogenMod has managed to enable Wi-Fi, sound, and a working accelerometer on one of its TouchPad demo devices running Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Noting the team's latest developments on its TouchPad thread at the RootzWiki Web site, one of … Read more

Hewlett-Packard is laying off as many as 525 employees in connection with its plans to ax its WebOS hardware business, according to a report.

AllThingsD's John Paczkowski says sources told him the pink slips began going out this week and that HP confirmed the layoffs with a statement reading, in part, "the WebOS GBU is undergoing a reduction in workforce." The company would not say how many workers were being let go, Paczkowski says.

HP announced the shuttering of the WebOS hardware unit during its August 18 earnings call. The unit has been responsible for the TouchPad tablet and Palm Pre phone.

HP says it will close the division by the end of this fiscal year's fourth quarter, which wraps up October 31.

Updated with the 525 figure on Monday evening.… Read more

Hewlett-Packard is being sued by one of its shareholders following the sudden dismissal of webOS and the HP TouchPad in August.

Specifically, Reuters reports that shareholder Richard Gammel is accusing HP of covering up and not admitting to investors that webOS wasn't actually central to the business model of the company anymore even while it was building up the HP TouchPad.

The suit also claims that HP executives--especially CEO Leo Apotheker and CFO Cathie Lesjak--made positive statements about the state of HP that "later proved unfounded."

Now, all executives try to sound positive to investors so as … Read more