The recent liquidation of HP TouchPads means there are a lot of people out there holding webOS-based tablets that from a software standpoint are dead ends. HP today announced that it is giving away six TouchPad apps to those who managed to get their hands on one of the units.
“We’ve selected six apps that normally sell for as much as $14.99 and we’re making them available at no cost to HP webOS customers for a limited time,” the company said in a post on its dedicated Palm blog.
The free apps are as follows:
• Glimpse (Inglorious Apps, $5): Amp up your TouchPad multitasking to 11 using this customizable and addictive split-screen interface.
• Kung Fu Panda 2 Storybook (zuuka, $2.99): Enjoy images and voices from Kung Fu Panda 2 right on your TouchPad.
• Big Boss (Fair Play Labs, $1.99): Design your “Boss” – a gigantic monster – and attempt to defeat the brave heroes and powerful wizards of WackyLands.
• Sparkle HD (10tons Ltd., $4.99): Save Crowberry Woods in this TouchPad version of the popular desktop game.
• Camera for TouchPad (Keen Studios, $0.99): Start snapping away, with options for managing your photos and using them with other TouchPad apps.
• Audubon Birds (Green Mountain Digital, $14.99): This searchable digital field guide to North American birds offers stunning photography and thrilling (trilling?) bird songs.
If bird watching and Kung Fu Panda don’t happen to satiate the new TouchPad user, perhaps an Android infusion might? The golden egg for many who bought the $100 HP TouchPad is finding a way to modify the device to run some version of Google’s Android operating system.
A website called hacknmod.com is currently offering a $2225 “bounty” for the first person to come up with a jailbroken HP TouchPad running any version of Android. A couple of the devices running the platform have been seen on eBay recently, but as of this writing a stable hack does not appear to have been achieved.
The liquidation of HP’s TouchPad is part of the company’s recent announcement that is discontinuing work on all webOS-based mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. The company has been rolling out controlled sales of its remaining TouchPad inventory on its website and through partner retailers since last weekend.
