HP Touchpad and Android

Thanks to a buddy who works at HP I recently snagged one of those HP Touchpad 16GB for $99 (or about $121 after tax and shipping). The hardware is pretty nice to hold and feels pretty solid. It's a tad thicker and heavier than my iPad 2. I like the rounded corners.

Specs:

16GB (about 12.3GB free out of the box)

9.7" 1024X768 IPS screen

1.2ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 APQ8060, dual-core ARM

Qualcomm Adreno 220 core GPU

1 GB ram

micro usb

Here are some benchmarks. As you can see the hardware is rather top notch. Apparently you can overclock to 1.5ghz but I didn't try. There is no dedicated GPS so turn by turn is out. Map applications though work ok with using wifi for location.

Accessories

I picked up the HP Touchpad Custom Fit Case (about $20) and the Splash Masque Clear Screen Protectors ($10 for 3). The screen protector isn't bad. It's the usual static cling type application and is pretty clear. Installation went pretty well with my usual "clean room" procedures (steam up the bathroom, make sure screen is completely clean, use long strips of scotch tape to go over entire screen to lift off any dust/lint, use smaller pieces of tape to help lift and re-position as you dial in the alignment). The case is HEAVY and adds some noticeable bulk but it does feel good in the hands. The cover looks like a smart cover but it is actually pretty dumb since it just flops around with nothing to keep the cover closed. Keep that in mind if you plan to toss this thing into a bag. Also, it uses a bit of velcro to put it in the 2 different stand modes. The cover does flip all the way around to the back for when you want to hold it. Compared to my iPad 2 with powersupport screen protector and the iCarbons on the back this thing feels like it's from the stone age with all the weight and bulk. At least it looks nice. It feels odd that I'm spending almost 30% of the cost of the tablet on accessories.

WebOS

- First thing you want to do after charging and setting up your hp account is go update your webos to the latest version. It is 3.04 as of this writing. Also, make sure you update your apps especially the hp app catalog.

- After that it is time to start side loading some stuff if you really want to play with webos. Here are some great instructions on how to get preware installed which is basically a catalog of homebrew apps.

http://forums.precentral.net/hp-touchpad/292472-ereader-questions.html#post3079211

This also takes care of installing the novacom driver which is required later when we get to the android stuff. Make sure you reboot after you get preware installed and before you launch it for the first time otherwise it will continue to hang. After a reboot preware seems to run just fine. The only things I was really interested in were the file manager Internalz Pro and pReader native alpha (epub reader) both which you can install using preware. Fyi, pReader native was quite buggy and performance wasn't that great though a lot better than the pReader in the official app store. There is a lot of things to try in preware if you want to really dig into webos but I didn't really explore that much.

- I found the browser to be adequate but sluggish. It's nowhere near as nice as safari on iPad 2. It does do flash...Yeah!!!! But flash video playback is poor at best hitching every few seconds.....Boooo!!!! (issue was consistent on multiple sites I tried). I could actually stream music using the subsonic web interface. Even video worked but the hitching was really annoying.

- I installed the Amazon Kindle app and messed with it a bit. It's ok.

- I found the actual OS and UI nice and smooth but the apps all around pale in comparison to iOS apps. If you stick with just webos I guess you would still get your $100 worth out of it....barely.

Android (2.3.7)

- CyanogenMod for TouchPad Alpha 2.1

- So I had enough of webos and I figure it was time to install Android which is the main reason to own a touchpad. There is a really good guide here:

http://liliputing.com/2011/10/how-to-install-google-android-on-the-hp-touchpad-with-cyanogenmod7.html

- You can ignore step 1 and all the stuff about installing novacom since you already did that.

- I went ahead and installed gApps to get the android marketplace on there all in one shot. The file you want from here:

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Gapps#Google_Apps

is CyanogenMod 7 20110828 md5: 1647897d8ac3efb04723d2ad2c361a3f

So the files you want in \cminstall on your touchpad are:

update-cm-7.1.0-tenderloin-a2.1-fullofbugs.zip

update-cwm_tenderloin-1012.zip

moboot_0.3.3.zip

gapps-mdpi-20110501-signed.zip

Don't rename them or do anything but copy them as is to \cminstall.

And with the latest alpha all apps show up in the marketplace just fine.

- Step 10 make sure you wait a while until the usb connection is good and solid. Mine did the connect disconnect dance for a bit before it settled down.

- In the future if you ever need to update cyanogenmod follow these instructions:

http://liliputing.com/2011/10/how-to-install-cyanogenmod-7-1-alpha-2-on-an-hp-touchpad.html

I've tested that out and it works fine.

- Now you can dual boot between webos and android anytime you want. Cyanogenmod also mounts the hp media shared part of the storage as a fake sd card. This is great because any media you put on there (it looks just like a usb drive when connected to a pc) is accessible from either OS.

- Post install I had 10.3GB free so the install only used up around 2GB.

- At this point I started going app install crazy and moving installed apps to the fake sd card. You have 1.5GB of internal storage so it wasn't entirely necessary.

WARNING: DO NOT move more than 50 apps to the fake sd card. I wouldn't go past 45.

I did this and android crashed HARD and rebooted but got stuck on the blue circle screen. Then, I had to force a shut down (hold down power then hold down home key for 10 sec). After that my fake sd card would no longer mount. So yeah, move only your largest apps to the sd card if you plan to install a ton of apps. To fix it I had to boot back to webos, fire up Internalz, delete some files out of .android_secure folder before I could get android to mount the sd card again.

- The good news is most apps seem to work quite well. Almost every single google app works just fine including gmail, google+, google voice, google maps, google books, google translate, google reader, google earth, google music, etc. Everything syncs nicely with my google account. What didn't work for me was google docs. Youtube works in full screen mode (landscape) but has issues in portrait.

- The big things that still don't work properly is the camera and microphone. The microphone records what sounds like a very slow talking version of what you say.

- Other apps that worked just fine:

Aldiko (nice epub reader)

Dolphin Browser

Flash

Facebook

Twitter

Meebo

Fluent News

CNN

Evernote

PocketCloud VNC

1password

dropbox

speedtest.net

flixster

yelp

Netflix (runs great!)

subsonic (even video which uses flash works pretty well)

pandora

Vevo

Nook

Kindle

Wow Armory

Advanced Task Killer

Battery Widget (Geekyouup)

Amazon app store

adobe reader

amazon mp3 music player

plex (still no air video but not bad)

rockplayer

uPnPlay

playon

Some games I tried:

All versions of Angry Birds

CK Zombie (3d)

Dungeon Defenders: Second wave (3d)

Tetris

Seven Stars (3d)

Death Worm

Raging Thunder Lite (3d)

Stair Dismount (3d)

HexDefense

Robon Defender

Asteroid Defense

Galaxy Wars tower defense

Grave Defense

Medieval Castle defense

NExus Defense

AI Factory games (reversi, checkers, chess, four in a line, sudoku)

help out (rush hour type game that actually scales properly)

Tanagram Moment
Robotek

Some apps that don't work:

Anything that uses the camera or mic

Zinio

bing (won't let me install from app store - item is not available on your carrier)

asphalt 5

Asteroid Defense 2 (graphical glitches)

- 3D performance was pretty acceptable already on this alpha build. The games are definitely playable.

- Overall app compatibility seems very good so far. The android market app likes to crash now and then but it's not that big of a deal.

- Battery life still isn't the greatest.

- You might also want to disable mobile data (settings, wireless & networks, mobile networks, uncheck data enabled). This helps wifi to stay connected after coming out of sleep.

- The touchpad is very picky about chargers. I have mono price USB chargers rated for 2A (works great with iPad 2) and my iPad 2 charger also rated at 2A and none of them will charge the touchpad. In android it says it is charging but it still drains over time even while sleeping. Webos gives a warning. It might be worth picking up a couple of extra ones at amazon for $12.22 each. Here is a very informative discussion on why this is the case and some modding info.

Overall I'm very impressed with the touchpad especially with android on it. For a $100 it is a fantastic value no matter how you look at it. The components are top notch and performance (especially video and 3d) are already good enough in the current cyanogenmod alpha build. It is already stable enough for everyday use. The browser in android is better and faster than webos. The flash support is definitely better in android. You get 2 OS's to play with for one low price. Hopefully when ICS source gets released we'll see a port of that too. I guess I'll be cancelling that Kindle Fire preorder. Even at current ebay prices of around $200 this might be more worth it than a Fire. If you ignore price though I still think the iPad 2 is a MUCH better tablet.

Highly recommended.

UPDATE: 12/2/2011
Alpha 3 is released:
http://rootzwiki.com/topic/10121-releasealpha3cyanogenmod-touchpad/
I went ahead and did the old acmeinstaller method to update because I noticed there was a new boot loader and a new clockworkmod recovery out.  I didn't think it would be wise to try and update clockworkmod recovery using the clockworkmod method.  Everything installed smoothly.  Hopefully this fixes the sleep of death which seems to happen quite often (won't come out of sleep and must do a hard reset).

UPDATE: 5/9/2014
So I dug up the old HP Touchpad today and decided to update it.  I ended up installing kitkat 4.4.2 on it and it runs pretty well for 3 yr old hardware.  Even the camera and mic work now.  I think bluetooth does too but I haven't tested it yet.  Netflix works for the most part but seems to have some graphic corruption for the first 15 sec or so on starting a video.

The main guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=42505399&postcount=2

another guide with some additional info:
http://rootzwiki.com/topic/40107-rom-guide-how-to-updateinstall-android-42-43-and-442-builds-on-the-hp-touchpad/

latest jcsullins rom:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2712680

Since I was coming from cm9 I did the whole backup and copy to pc (using root file explorer and smb map), uninstall android, boot to webos, erase usb, installed the touch recovery (very nice) and moboot (this step is acmeinstaller5), repartittion (I have the 16gb one) (steps from here on out are installed through clockwork recovery install zip function), install the latest jcsullins snapshot (data media build), install gapps.

I recommend watching the related youtube videos as they add some details not covered in the written guides.

It all went very smoothly, and I highly recommend doing it you still use the hp touchpad.

I only dug it up since it's really my only "real" ish android machine besides the mk808.

update: Additional fixes:
Reflash A6 firmware to fix sleep battery drain issue:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2283168
I used method 1 which is further down in the post.

Add flash support back in:
http://youtu.be/jd35BbUmRKg

iOS 5

I decided to skip the iPhone 4S. You can read about my reasons here.

• The upgrades went fairly smooth for the 2 iPhone 4 32GB and one iPad 2 64GB. One of the iPhones was updated on a Mac and the other two on a pc. Upgrades took forever (think hours) since all our devices are nearly full. It does a full backup, a factory reset, flashes the new os, a restore, and then syncs back all you apps, music, videos, photos, etc. plus the update itself is over 700MB download. I'm still running into some syncing issues especially with the calendar and contacts with outlook. I've tried some of the things listed here:
  https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2669782?start=15&tstart=0
  It would work for a while but then the conflicts and errors would come back. It's annoying but not a show stopper. I'm still looking for a solid fix.
• There are now a ton and slightly confusing sync/iCloud/backup solutions. If you enable iCloud backup it will no longer backup to your pc through itunes. I wish there was an option to backup to both. If you turn on wireless itunes sync (you must do it on the device summary in itunes while you the device is connected) it seems to always sync over wifi even when you have it connected to usb. It's convenient but a bit slower. What's also nice is the sync happens in the background so you can continue to use your device while it syncs. Contacts and calendars get a bit more complex. I currently sync through itunes with outlook for contacts, notes, and calendars. You can also sync these through iCloud. Once you install the windows iCloud control panel:
  http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1455
  You can also sync outlook to iCloud . It seems like you would get some redundant syncing with all these methods having devices sync both through itunes wifi sync and iCloud all against outlook. I wonder if it would be better to disable calendar and contacts syncing through itunes and do it only through iCloud. You can force a wifi sync through settings|general.
• Notes syncing is also less than ideal. Once I turned on icloud notes sync I had to create a @me.com email address. This creates a new account in the notes app which is separate than the account where I was syncing with gmail which was also separate what was only on my iphone, which is also separate than what was synced with outlook. I couldn't find a way to just say sync all the notes I have across all accounts to iCloud. I know, I should probably just stick to using evernote instead but sometimes I just want to fire up notes quickly and jot something down. Even more confusing is if I'm in the all notes view and I create a new note it ended up in the gmail account vs the iCoud account. I can't even seem to specify I want my iCloud account to be the default for newly created notes when in the all note view.
• UPDATE: So here's what I did to get everything to sync using iCloud as much as possible to share data between my macbook pro, a windows 7 x64 desktop with outlook, iphone 4, and ipad 2.
  • win 7: setup outlook with the @me.com account that was created when I turned on notes syncing on the iphone icloud. You'll need to setup the servers manually and click on the advance settings. I also set incoming to ssl (and use the right port!) and outgoing to auto (ssl didn't work for me). Here are the icloud mail settings:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4864
    I don't really plan to use my @me.com email for anything really except to enable syncing.
    I disable calendar and contact syncing in itunes (I still left notes outlook syncing on).
    Enable wifi sync in itunes.
    In the icloud control panel I enabled contacts and calendar syncing with outlook. This creates a new icloud section in outlook for contacts and calendar.
  • On the iphone and ipad I enabled all iclould syncing options.
  • Mac: Update iPhoto and enable all icloud syncing options. Fire up the mail app and setup your new @me.com email. This way you can get to notes. Contacts and calendar should should sync with address book and iCal.
  • This in theory should let you make changes anywhere in any of those devices and then sync across all devices using icloud.
• icloud.com is quite nice and lets you not only view but edit most of your icloud data (contacts, calendars). Find my iphone is also here but notes is missing. You have to fire up the email app with the @me.com email you created when you turned on icloud notes. Yeah, overall notes is a complete mess and is anything but simple or "just works."
• Photo stream actually works quite nicely especially on windows. The windows iCloud control panel lets you choose a download and upload directory. It's clean and simple just the way I like it. On the mac it syncs with iPhoto which is ok if you like iPhoto (which I don't).
• Apple ID strategy: I have one main apple ID that I share among all my apple devices so you can share itunes purchases like apps. The problem is when you also use it for iCloud. You can in fact use a different apple id for iCloud vs the store on the same device. Also, it makes since to use different apple id's in certain cases. So every device uses the main apple ID that is used for all purchases for the store. I use the same apple ID for iCloud on my iPhone 4, the iPad 2 (since I use it the most), and my macbook pro. This way I can share photos, documents, contacts, calendars, etc among all my devices. It would make no sense for my wife to share my apple ID for her iCloud which would mix up contacts, calendars, documents, photo streams, etc. She uses her own apple ID for iCloud on her iPhone 4 and macbook pro yet continues to use the main apple ID that the purchases are on on both of her devices. This also helps get by the 5gb free space limit used for backups. I could NOT backup both my iphone and ipad (both nearly full) within the 5gb. Once I toggled off backing up certain apps that contain a lot of user data like good reader (pdf's, videos, etc) I was able to get it to all fit.
  http://www.macworld.com/article/163006/2011/10/how_to_configure_icloud_if_you_share_an_apple_id.html
  The one drawback is this splits up find my iphone because it's tied to the iCloud apple id. The new find my friends app though works well enough.
• The reader feature is nice in safari. Just realize it doesn't work on every web page, only the ones it thinks are articles. When it is on a compatible page a reader button will appear in the address bar.
• You can 4 finger swipe on the iPad to swap between running apps. You can also 4 finger swipe up to bring up the task bar. I love the tab browsing.
• Wife's visual voice mail got wiped out again but after entering the password it was re-enabled.
• 1password required re-entering the master password to get dropbox syncing working again.
• iSub cache was wiped out after the upgrade.
• You can't put newsstand into a folder because it acts more like a special folder than an actual app. I found a few magazines that were actually a bit cheaper than zinio and nook. Just keep in mind these are actual individual apps that meet certain specifications to appear in newsstand. That means you are tied to iOS devices only. With zinio and nook you have broader device support. Right now I still really like the nook for the pricing and selection. I just wish it had push notifications for when new issues arrive (or at least an email). The lack of free trial issues in newsstand is rather annoying. It should be a requirement for every magazine in newsstand to offer at least a free preview of 10 pages or so.
• I like the new usage view in settings especially the apps sorted in the amount of space each is using.

iOS 5 brings a lot of new features but IMO quite a bit of complexity too if you have a lot of devices and platforms. Notes is a mess but the rest I like. It's definitely a lot of functionality for free so I can't complain too much.