CyanogenMod Releases Android For The HP TouchPad

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The crew over at Cyanogen have been pretty good about offering status updates in terms of the progress that they have been making towards getting Android up and running on the TouchPad. And well, while we have seen pending-issue reports and even got word a few days back that a release was still a few weeks away — it looks like we have something to play with as of today.

Yup, a publicly available version of CyanogenMod has come available for the HP TouchPad. But on the flip side, before all the TouchPad users waiting for Android get super excited, that news does come with a catch — this is the Alpha 1 release. And furthermore, it is being dubbed as the “lower your expectations edition.” Bottom line here, while this release is available for any and all to download and use — you may experience some issues when doing so.

According to the crew over at Cyanogen, here is some of what you need to know;

Sweet, sweet Internet,

You waited more-or-less patiently for over a month, so at long last, here it is– an alpha version of CyanogenMod 7.1.0 (an enhanced version of Google’s Android 2.3) for the TouchPad.

Understand, this version is definitely an alpha, with all that implies. Those expecting perfection will be sorely disappointed. Many things won’t work as well as they will eventually. But you wanted it ASAP, and hopefully, this version should be somewhat useable and gives a sense of progress.

More important here, that was just some of what you need to know before proceeding. For those still looking to install CyanogenMod on your TouchPad, keep reading the rest of this post and then hit the source link at the bottom for more even more details.

Anyway, while this should install and run sufficiently, there is a warning that it could brick your TouchPad, so just be warned. And with that, there are still some items that are not working. According to the FAQ for this release;

“Most hardware features of the Tablet should now be supported, although not 100%. There may be issues with sound, camera, wifi, etc. As stated previously, it is definitely an alpha build.”

Another item that may convince some to wait, it was noted that the “battery life is not as good as it might be, and you can probably expect improvement in this area over time.” And lastly, for those thinking about installing this version and then wondering how to proceed with future releases;

“Once CM is installed, you can use the original ACME installer to install most (but not all) subsequent “update…zip” files you come across.”