After An Internal Investigation, HP Has No Idea How TouchPads Shipped With Android
Apparently, HP doesn’t the slightest clue on how some of their significantly discounted TouchPads were shipped out to customers pre-loaded with the Android OS (and not WebOS as intended). Developers began emailing HP asking that they share the Android kernel source that shipped on the TouchPads as per the open-source licensing terms.
HP’s Phil Rob director of HP’s open-source program responded in an email saying HP never authorized the distribution of these Android TouchPads and after an internal investigation, found that none were shipped by HP, not even by mistake.
“Regarding your specific request for source code below, I must decline at the present time. HP has never authorized the distribution of any binaries for Android in association with the HP Touchpad. Therefore, HP is not under any license obligation to provide any corresponding Android source code to you.”
“We presently believe that some person or persons unknown may have facilitated the delivery of these Android-based units strictly against the policy and authorization of HP.”
These developers have also sent the same request to Qualcomm after the QuIC (Qualcomm Innovation Center) logo appeared while the TouchPads in question were booting up. Qualcomm denied any part in the manufacturing or distribution of these Android TouchPads leaving even more questions than answers. The search continues for the HP TouchPad’s Android kernel source and if you have any information, feel free to help out the cause here.
[Via PCWorld]