WebOS, what HP thought would revolutionize tablet computing across the world has had a relatively dull time so far. In fact, it has seen no growth since the time of release, when it was lauded as the greatest operating system ever for tablets and then shunned, virtually the next day itself. This was despite a $1.2billion investment on HP’s part. Recently, HP had made an announcement that development related to webOS will be stopped and it will evaluate the future for the platform in the coming months; though support for existing webOS owners will continue. However, this hasn’t prevented Android developers from having a crack at the Touchpad which went on a firesale for a flat $100 a few weeks ago.
The CyanogenMod7 was released on the 18th and is by far the most comprehensive release. It ports the Android OS onto the Touchpad for what could possibly be a game changing release. This mod includes multi touch drivers and the latest release includes WiFi accessibility for the device. Moreover, upon downloading this release, applications on the Android market can be downloaded and used normally without sideloading. Further, there is inclusion of audio capability and a working accelerometer. There is no API released as of now but it is a possibility for the future.
The latest release might fix a lot of bugs but developers are still trying to work around the multi-core processor facility as it is unable to use more than one core. Moreover, applications like YouTube are not working but direct streaming is quite functional. WebOS might have been disastrous for HP but it has provoked several innovative developments through Android and it seems the best way out for TouchPad users.
