How a failed 2011 tablet took Android rooting mainstream
How a failed 2011 tablet took Android rooting mainstream
https://www.howtogeek.com/how-a-failed-2011-tablet-took-android-rooting-mainstream/
Publish Date: 2026-02-27 14:00:00
Source Domain: www.howtogeek.com
Android’s history with tablets is filled with failures. Ironically, one of the most sought-after Android tablets didn’t actually launch with Android at all, but it had a lasting impact on the platform. This is the story of the HP TouchPad.
It’s no secret that Apple has dominated essentially every tablet that’s tried to compete with the iPad. Android has been on most of those tablets, but in the early 2010s, HP was readying its own attempt at a tablet. It didn’t include Android—at least at the start—and it would become famous for all the wrong reasons.
HP enters the tablet game
Puts its hopes on a brand new OS
In April 2010, HP acquired Palm, Inc. for $1.2 billion. Just two years earlier, Palm had stopped developing new PDAs—its bread and butter—and went all in on its new webOS operating system. People loved webOS, but it wasn’t enough to save an already declining company.
Before acquiring Palm, HP’s history with mobile devices was comprised mostly of calculators, PDAs, and “handheld computers.” The company had never made a touchscreen tablet before, but the introduction of the iPad in early 2010 kicked off an explosion that HP wanted to be a part of.
Leaked image of the HP “Topaz” webOS tabletCredit: Engadget
HP didn’t take long to put webOS to use. In the Summer of 2010, rumors started popping up about the company working on a webOS tablet in two sizes referred…
