Over the weekend HP announced that they would discontinue production of the TouchPad tablet. Shortly after this was announced the remaining unsold devices were sold via a firesale of epic proportions. The 16GB version was going for $99 and the $32GB version for $149. The price alone made almost everyone want one.
Few took a step back to look at the big picture, essentially with every purchase of the discounted tablets, that person was buying into a dieing ecosystem, as HP has no plans to develop further webOS devices.
Some saw this as an opportunity buy the TouchPad for $99 and essentially turn it into a $500 tablet by porting Android over to it. Before you ask, the answer is no… no Android port currently exists.
To help entice the hacker development community, a hardware modification website is currently offering a $1,500 cash bounty to the first person to successfully port a full version of the Android OS to the HP TouchPad. Hack N Mod gives the full rundown:
“As you’re probably aware, the HP TouchPad is now available for $100 – A $400 discount from it’s original price. And let’s be honest, we all want it running Android. So, to speed up the porting process, we’re offering a bounty! With built in Wifi, Bluetooth, etc, it’s a perfect tool for enhancing DIY projects, especially those using the Arduino!
How to get the prize ($1500) – Complete one (or several) of the tasks above and let the world know! Post your source code on GitHub and paste links to your pictures and videos in the comments below (or email us). All work must be documented under an open source license. The first person or group to successfully complete a fully functional task above wins the corresponding prize. The only condition is that your port must have a user-friendly installation process (such that the average user can easily install it).”
With the future of webOS extremely unclear at the moment, the future of all new TouchPad owners could rest in the hands of this select group of hacker / developers to trying to get Android.
Do you think we’ll ever see Android running on an HP TouchPad? Let us know.
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