Reading on the TouchPad

[HansTWN]

Waiting for Zinio, too. Did you sign up for the notification and $5 gift card? Always glad to entice people to play around with their devices!

And for Nate I can only recommend www.precentral.net as a source of information. Installing Preware is not really "hacking" (actually HP supported them) and really easy.

By the way, that PDF fix seems to be for Quickoffice, not Adobe Reader? Couldn't try it yet.

[Graham]

Yes, I got the $5 Zinio voucher.

The Adobe Reader app is part of the QuickOffice implementation. Within the QuickOffice code they're calling an Adobe service to do the rendering.

Graham

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Always glad to entice people to play around with their devices!

Gadgets are for modding and playing. What else would we do with them?

Thanks for the links and info! I'll definitely at the very least get Preware installed, since I'm generally in favor of anything that adds features and functionality. Just because HP ships the ToudhPad with serious limitations doesn't mean it has to stay that way.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Waiting for Zinio, too. Did you sign up for the notification and $5 gift card? Always glad to entice people to play around with their devices!

And for Nate I can only recommend www.precentral.net as a source of information. Installing Preware is not really "hacking" (actually HP supported them) and really easy.

By the way, that PDF fix seems to be for Quickoffice, not Adobe Reader? Couldn't try it yet.

I should keep a closer eye on it, yes. I do have an account there but it's just so huge that i get lost easily.

And yes, installing Preware is hacking. It doesn't come from HP.

[ScalyFreak]

If all Preware does is giving you access to more apps, I don't think it technically counts as hacking. Hacking uses what's available and alters it to expand its potential. Installing Preware adds something that wasn't there to begin with, that HP never thought to include, and then uses that to expand on what the device can do, and that's not hacking. That's modding.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

Gadgets are for modding and playing. What else would we do with them?

Thanks for the links and info! I'll definitely at the very least get Preware installed, since I'm generally in favor of anything that adds features and functionality. Just because HP ships the ToudhPad with serious limitations doesn't mean it has to stay that way.

Now that's the spirit! :thumbs:

That is what I have been doing. Now I am reading my newspaper at Pressdisplay in the browser in Ubuntu, something that doesn't work in WebOS since there is no app and the sign-in button can't be pressed in the WebOS browser. Never accept your limitations.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I should keep a closer eye on it, yes. I do have an account there but it's just so huge that i get lost easily.

And yes, installing Preware is hacking. It doesn't come from HP.

Let us not argue about semantics (actually all the equipment Preware has was provided by HP). Point is, you should do it and at least install the patches mentioned.

And you say hacking as if it was a dirty word in this context, lol. Even if we are hacking, we are hacking our own devices!

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Let us not argue about semantics (actually all the equipment Preware has was provided by HP). Point is, you should do it and at least install the patches mentioned.

And you say hacking as if it was a dirty word in this context, lol. Even if we are hacking, we are hacking our own devices!

Until the software comes from HP, it is hacking.

And it may sound like I use it as a dirty word becuase I usually have bad luck while doing it. That's why I don't hack most of my devices.

[ScalyFreak]

Hacking is a dirty word. That doesn't mean it's bad though.

Originally Posted by HansTWN

That is what I have been doing. Now I am reading my newspaper at Pressdisplay in the browser in Ubuntu, something that doesn't work in WebOS since there is no app and the sign-in button can't be pressed in the WebOS browser. Never accept your limitations.

So are you dual-booting WebOS and Ubuntu, or is Ubuntu running in a VM of some kind?

From a first glance at it, Precentral looks like the place to go for homebrew and other alternative ways of running the TouchPad. Is there any other place I should be aware of, where I can find resources and software?

[HansTWN]

Ubuntu runs in a card, just like a WebOS program. While running Ubuntu you can therefore switch to other programs and it will continue in the background. Sort of like a VM.

Other places you can check out are WebOSInternals (their Wiki pages are often referred to as How-To-Guides) and WebOSRoundup.

And www.xda-developers.com now has a WebOS and a Touchpad section, too. Though rather small and not nearly as thorough. In general they are best for Android and Windows Phone 7.

And now that MeeGo can soon run Android programs, WebOS shouldn't be far behind it -- that would mean all Android apps running just like WebOS apps. Much better than flashing Android!

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Until the software comes from HP, it is hacking.

And it may sound like I use it as a dirty word becuase I usually have bad luck while doing it. That's why I don't hack most of my devices.

In that case I would advise you not to install Ubuntu yourself (the disk partitioning takes some effort) but Preware is real easy.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

And yes, installing Preware is hacking. It doesn't come from HP.

Well, Preware is really just an unmoderated app store. In the Android world, the HP Catalogue would be equivalent to the Amazon Appstore while Preware would be equivalent to the Google Android Market itself.

Just like in the Android Market, in Preware you would check the app description and reviews before installing anything. On an Android device would you install only the apps either specifically written by Google or checked by Amazon?

Graham

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

In that case I would advise you not to install Ubuntu yourself (the disk partitioning takes some effort) but Preware is real easy.

It is easier than the instructions make it look. (I'm really tempted to post my own set of instructions.)

Remind me to tell you about the time that I tried to install BSD and my laptop caught on fire.

[rhari79]

I would have thought since webos is linux based, porting fbreader or coolreader should be fairly straight forward. at least the vanilla versions.
Wonder if it was ever tried.
Pity is i am not able to get a Touchpad at a decent price.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Ubuntu runs in a card, just like a WebOS program. While running Ubuntu you can therefore switch to other programs and it will continue in the background. Sort of like a VM.

How very very handy...! And I can get cards easily, work sells them.

Now I just need to get the thing. Shipping is slooooooow.