The head of HP’s open source initiative, Phil Robb, took umbrage when Touchpad lovers found Android running on some HP Touchpads and clamored for the source code. Robb, who is in charge of handling open source software and distribution for the company, said there was never an Android made for the Touchpad and there is no way it could have shown up on the Touchpads, even through factory error.
RegHardware quoted him as saying:
“We have confirmed that HP never authorised the distribution of any version of Android on the HP TouchPad,” he told coders.
“From a review of our manufacturing process, we believe that all TouchPad units have been shipped out of manufacturing with the WebOS operating system only, and that no TouchPad units were shipped with Android, even by mistake.”
Android currently works on the Touchpad thanks to the efforts of a large group of programmers and hackers, but Robb confirms that HP had little, if anything, to do with the ports.
