$99 HP TouchPad Now Compatible With Android OS

HP’s TouchPad is now compatible with Google’s Android OS, thanks to the technical team at TouchDroid.

HP recently discontinued its TouchPad, which led to a drastic mark down in price. The 16 GB model has sold for only $99.

The TouchPads immediately flew off the shelves.

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The techs at TouchDroid have been working on a way to create the necessary drivers to coax Android 2.3.5 to run on the TouchPad and allow owners of the device to use their touchscreen with the operating system, according to CNET.

TouchDroid recently unveiled a video which demonstrates the TouchPad being used by a developer of the company and shows how he could fluidly and smoothly tap and move his finger around a TouchPad running Android with no delays or skips.

The developer also demonstrated the Android’s multitouch feature by first moving five fingers and ten fingers across the screen.

TouchDroid’s ultimate goal is to get HP’s tablet to support the current HoneyComb or Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android OS.

TouchDroid is making quick progress as just two weeks ago its developers were trying to drum up a TouchPad it could use for testing and now it already has Android 2.3.5 running on the device.

CyanogenMod, another group who is hard at work to make the TouchPad compatible with Android has succeeded in getting the OS to run on the device but has yet to build support for the touch-screen drivers.

The TouchPad became one of the hardest to find devices when HP announced a few weeks ago it was bowing out of the tablet computer market. Price drops followed and customers immediately took advantage of the discounts, causing retailers to run out of stock quickly.

The discounted versions are still quite rare. However, Amazon.com is selling the device at a lower rate than it was originally priced, but not giving as low of a discount as some of the retailers did.

Instead of the 16 GB selling for $99, it goes for around $250 on Amazon, which is still better than its original $399 price tag.