Alpha of Android 4.0 ICS port for HP TouchPad released

The CyanogenMod Team has announced the release of an alpha build of version 9 its Android port for the TouchPad tablet, which originally shipped with HP's WebOS mobile operating system by default. Labelled "Alpha 0", the first publicly available build of CyanogenMod 9 (CM9) for TouchPad is based on the source for Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"; the previous alpha of CyanogenMod for TouchPad was based on the 7.1 release of CyanogenMod which used Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" as its base.

Aimed at developers and early adopters, CyanogenMod 9 for TouchPad Alpha 0 is not intended for the general public as a large number of features still don't work. These include the camera and microphone, as well as hardware-accelerated video. The development team also points out that "audio is a mess", noting that "work on the current libaudio solution has halted because we will eventually switch to a CAF libaudio". Several applications, such as Titanium Backup, currently crash the kernel and Android Market filters will prevent some apps from being installed because of the current DPI setting, which is set to 160 by default but "makes everything look ugly and low resolution".

A brief overview of CyanogenMod 9 for TouchPad and what doesn't work

Further information about the alpha release, including download links and a full list of what doesn't work, can be found on the CyanogenMod 9 TouchPad RootzWiki page. Upgrade instructions for users currently running CyanogenMod 7 and a build guide are provided. Source code for CyanogenMod 9 TouchPad Alpha 0, including the device and kernel repository, is available on the project's GitHub page. Users testing the release are asked to provide feedback in the HP TouchPad RootzWiki forum.

The H reminds users that, as with all custom firmware, inexperienced users are not advised to flash their devices as they could unintentionally "brick" them, resulting in a complete loss of functionality.

See also:

• CyanogenMod surpasses 1 million installations, a report from The H.
• HP to make webOS an open source project, a report from The H.

(crve)