HP Touchpad Now Dual-Boots With Android Via Simple Download

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So we just heard a couple days ago via our own Robert Nelson that the HP Touchpad, which may well represent simultaneously one of the greatest and most disturbing experiences ever by way of an 80 percent price drop less than two months after its release, was about to get dual-booting capability with Android via a project the CyanogenMod folks were hard at work in a bid to complete. New reports have emerged saying they’re not the only ones, though, and the folks at XDA Developers are also engaged in finding such a solution. They also have a program ready to download, but it’s not without its flaws.

Basically, out at the XDA Developers forum, they’ve announced completion of an alpha version program that will put Android on the HP Touchpad, going by the deceptively simple name of Android On Webos, which is somewhat different from the CyanogenMod ACME Installer. Android on Webos will not only give you Android access on your Touchpad, but it will also preserve WebOS, meaning that you’ll be able to keep the original operating system while you try out the new one.

Since this is an alpha release, however, there are plenty of bugs in it. Problems included in the current version: your wi-fi switch won’t work with it, your SD card won’t work with it, you won’t be able to get into Android Marketplace, and the original language is Chinese. Word is that you’ll be able to switch languages to something a little more familiar, but it may take some “tries and guess”. And you’ll be needing a copy of Preware, which is a community-developed bit of software, to handle the downloads and installation as well as an alternate app store.

Of course, this being an alpha version and plenty of people wanting in on the ability to turn the HP Touchpad into a super-cheap dual-booting tablet will likely mean that a much simpler to use beta, or even final, version should be coming out relatively soon, possibly even within a matter of weeks.

But what do you guys think? Anyone try using ACME Installer? Anyone looking to try Android on Webos? Whatever your plans for the HP Touchpad, we want to hear about them, so head on down to the comments section and tell us what you have in mind!