PreCentral: HP introduced the Veer, Pre3, and TouchPad one year ago today
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By pivotCE
Well, it’s 2024 and technology continues to advance. The TouchPad isn’t new by any means, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be slightly modernized to be more convenient today. Specifically, it is entirely possible to convert the TouchPad’s Micro USB port to USB C for charging and USB storage access. I’ll show you how.
This is a tough mod which requires micro-soldering and modifying a PCB which you will have a hard time sourcing a replacement for without buying another TouchPad. Proceed at your own peril.
Tools for the Job
To do this mod you’ll need a few things for tools and parts. Here’s a list of what I used:
– Needle nose pliers/tweezers
– USB C boards with 5.1k resistors
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– Soldering iron, solder, flux and a hot air station
– Flush cuts
– Dremel with cutting or sanding wheel
– 28 AWG wire or smaller. 30 AWG is pretty good but any wire around 0.25mm to 0.5mm should work.
– Small file and screwdriver set
– Painter’s and kapton tape
– Metal spudger Disassemble the TouchPad
This is where you’re going to want to get that metal spudger out and be very careful not to snap clips. I can’t explain it better than iFixit already did so go check out their and then come back here.
Modify the USB Connector Board by Removing the Micro Port
There are a few ways to remove the Micro USB port. I added a bunch of flux and coated all the connectors in fresh leaded solder and then used a hot air station set to 800 degrees while wiggling the port very slightly with needle nose pliers. You don’t have to be particularly careful here so if you want to cut the port off with the dremel or the flush cuts or just rip it off with the pliers, (I don’t recommend it but…) that’s fine. We’re not using the pads it’s soldered to anyway. You should STILL be careful not to crack the board. Go slow. Be patient.
Trim the USB C Board
We need to expose the USB C port a bit on this board so let’s cut it down. Grab the painter’s tape and flip the USB C board upside down. You’ll see a small trace between the front and rear anchor points on the right side, which we don’t want to cut. Mark the tape just on the other side of that trace like I did. Dremel along the tape line until you get to the port. You can then use needle nose pliers, a flat file, and/or flush cuts to remove the rest of the board from the bottom of the port.
Prepare the USB Connector Board for the USB C Port
We need to slide the port into the old space so grab the painter’s tape again and mark off the area I marked to make room for the USB C port. You can place the port up to it like I did and use that as a guide. Grab your dremel again or a similar tool and cut out what you marked off. When you’re done, the USB C port should slide easily into the groove. It will fit tighter when we add the kapton tape in a later step.
Make Room in the TouchPad for the Added Thickness of the USB C Board
The USB C board will sit underneath the USB connector board so we have to make room by trimming away the plastic underneath. For this you’ll need to use flush cuts or any other tool you have to chip away. You could use the dremel for this if you’d like. Be careful to not go beyond the first inner layer. Beyond that is the outer shell of the TouchPad. There’s no real method here, just cut out the screw posts and chip away. Use the pictures below as a guide.
Cut the USB C Hole from the Old Micro USB Hole
To open the micro USB hole enough to fit the USB C port, take a rounded file to the left and right of both sides and just file a little bit at at time. Use a small flat file to widen the top and bottom of the port. This process is just trial and error. File a little and then grab the USB C board to test. The port will need to fit inside the hole a bit so you can push it through from the outside to test the hole size if that’s easier. Note: the USB C board will likely not rest on the bottom of the TouchPad and will float a little. This is good because it makes room for your wires and a little kapton tape underneath.
Tape the USB C Board
Since we hacked away at the USB connector board it’s possible we’ve provided the perfect environment for creating shorts! Oh no! So get out the kapton tape because we’re going to add a layer on both sides. You’ll see how I did it on one side below. Do it on both sides. You’ll also notice how I did not cover those two small square contacts just at the bottom of the tape. That’s because we need them.
Where To Get Power and Data
You’ll see the diagrams below which I’ve marked with VBUS (power), data in, data out, and ground. Obviously the old port is gone and most if its pads, but I wanted to show that both sides of the board have the connections. You could possibly do this mod differently, and if you so choose, hopefully these help.
A quick note: this mod can be done with a 4-pin USB C port. That would give you power and data just like with the USB C board I’m using in this guide, however, a 4-pin USB C board will not charge with a USB C charger (ie USB 3.1). The board I’m using in this guide provides the ability to use any charger because it comes pre-built with 5.1k resistors wired to CC1 and CC2 to ground. This is the trick that tells the USB C chargers to send power to the device.
Solder the USB C Board into the USB Connector Board
This isn’t a “how to solder tutorial” so hit up youtube and find a good tutorial that works for you. In general though, use flux, pre-tin the VBUS, Ground, D-, and D+ pads on the USB C board as well as the points on the bottom of the USB connector board.
Now for the tricky part, I didn’t list it in the Tools section above, but it would really help to have magnification or a digital microscope for this. I have these things and I used both. You might have steadier hands and better eyes than me. The picture below was my first attempt of the three TouchPads I modded, and it’s not my best soldering work, but fundamentally, this is what yours should look like.
Put the Pieces Together
You can use a bit of kapton tape to secure the wires in place a bit more if you’d like but it’s not required. It won’t short since it’s only plastic underneath. This is all press fit into place, but if you’re uncomfortable with that, you can add a little hot glue under the board as you put it back into the TouchPad. You don’t have to put the metal shield back into place if you don’t want to. It’s all a pretty tightly fit and if you find the TouchPad screen isn’t as flush as you want, just leave the metal shield off. A little kapton tape right on top would be fine instead.
Congrats, You Now Have USB C
I did this mod on three TouchPads and each one works fine with any USB charger I could find, including USB C port having USB 3.1 chargers. I can also confirm the data connection works just like it should to connect via USB mode on PC. Sadly, this doesn’t do anything to stop webOS from telling you the charger you’re using isn’t the original TouchPad barrel charger, but you can make a custom cable to stop that which I’ll cover in a future article on pivotCE.
#webOS4ever
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By ajmboy
With the release of webOS OSE, I'm wondering if it's able to run on the HP Touchpad. I wonder if someone will attempt to port it over.
Might give me a reason to pull out the old Touchpad, currently have an older Android system on it and haven't messed with it in over a year.
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By pivotCE
webOS friend and LuneOS project aficionado, , recently embarked on an unlocking adventure. His HP TouchPad 4G gave up the ghost and passed away quietly. So he did what anyone would do and got a new one! That’s what you’d do if your TouchPad died too, right?
His TouchPad was special though. In fact, you probably read his article right here on pivotCE about with an unlocked Sierra 7710 card in it.
Why not just crack open the new one and pop in the 7710 and throw away that crappy “3.5G” Ericcson card? Well, the TouchPad pretty much breaks when you open it. The little clips that keep the back connected weren’t designed to be opened once engaged.
After Herrie contacted, paid for, and was reimbursed by several unlocking services over the course of about a month he finally stumbled upon which was able to get him an unlock code. The catch? It took 2 weeks but it only cost him about $10.50 USD. Not bad!
Need your TouchPad 4G unlocked? Head over to www.unlockfusion.com and I’m certain they can help you. Or crack yours open and pop in a Sierra 7710 (EU) or a Sierra 7700 (NA).
#webOSforever
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By pivotCE
During HP’s “Think Beyond” event, in addition to revealing the HP Veer, the company unveiled the latest and greatest from the new webOS Global Business Unit, which was in charge of both hardware and software engineering under their management. The devices they showed off would be the refined Pre 3 and the bulky yet powerful HP TouchPad.
The Pre 3 was for all intents and purposes, the best display of what HP’s resources could do for Palm and the G.B.U. It had a chance to both sway public opinion and make webOS competitive again from a hardware perspective, something that really hadn’t been seen since the launch of the original Pre. Sadly though, the device only saw release in the UK for the span of an entire day before HP announced the end of webOS hardware development. This made the Pre 3 both the most powerful, but also among the rarest of webOS smartphones (outside of the unreleased
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In terms of hardware and build quality, the Pre 3 was in it’s day, one of the most powerful smartphones available. It had 512Mb of ram to run the software, but what really turned heads was the jaw dropping single core 1.4Ghz Snapdragon Processor, which was amongst the most powerful in the realm of mobile computing at the time. The design did not disappoint either. It had the largest qwerty keyboard, battery and at 3.6 inches, the largest touchscreen of any webOS phone. It also had a subtle black matte finish that curved elegantly around the device. Marking the end of an era, Palm’s logo was replaced by that of HP. Beneath it was the induction coil of a new feature: ‘Touch To Share’. Pre 3s and TouchPads could now pair on contact and pass data between them. The slider mechanism was sturdier than that of the Pre 2 or Veer. The keyboard was spacious and my personal favorite until I used the BlackBerry Q10. It had a strong tactile feel that lasted well into nearly 9.5 months with the phone. The device looked and felt like a refined, elongated, and smoothed Palm Pre. It was one of the best phones I ever held. The device also held a 5 mega pixel camera with 720p video recording and HDR, which made the camera on the Pre 3 a little more well..less horrible. It’s not a fantastic shooter but it is the very best ever put on a webOS smartphone to date.
The more powerful hardware made webOS 2.2.4 smoother than I had ever seen it on a phone. Memory crashes were few and far between. The Verizon unit I used had pretty average call quality and the larger screen made web browsing the exact opposite of what it was on the HP Veer, being actually usable for me. I found that when placed on a Touchstone, my Pre 3 was noticeably louder with notifications and alarms and that the lock screen widgets were easier to glance at. My favorite aspect of the Pre 3 was being able to answer text messages on my TouchPad due to the Pre 3’s TTS software. Beyond that, the software experience on the Pre 3 is the same as the Pre 2 and Veer with minor differences. functions much the same as it does on other devices with the exception that the Pre 3 can overclock to a crazy 1.9 Ghz and has a few Pre 3 exclusive patches and applications.
Although the Pre 3 is a gem and is what webOS enthusiasts should consider as a daily driver if price isn’t a factor, it is not as abundant as the Pre or Veer. It is somewhat difficult to find and if you’re on Verizon, its even more of a slog. If you do find one, take it and run with it. Prices for the Pre 3 vary, but expect to spend between $250-350 on the device.
Compared to previous flagships, like the Pre 2 and Veer, the Pre 3 is much more modern in a visual sense and the hardware makes a far more capable device. This makes the gulf between it and current devices like the Xperia Z2 or HTC one M8 more bearable. I would say that the Pre 3 is very much a 2011 flagship that is wrapped in a 2014 design. I feel that the external design stays more modern than the internal hardware but it still feels zippy and responsive.
The HP TouchPad would be the final device unveiled during the “Think Beyond” event. It would be Palm’s first and officially last tablet built and manufactured before the G.B.U.’s dissolution in August of 2011. The TouchPad was a large 9.7 inch behemoth that was even for the time, a heavy and thick tablet. The TouchPad had the distinction of also being the first HP tablet with integrated Beats audio, which gave the speakers a noticeable “ommph.” The HP TouchPad also had an extremely healthy ecosystem of accessories. These included an all metal bluetooth keyboard, a touchstone charging dock, and even its own smart cover, that lacked the magnets of the iPad variant.
With regards to build quality and the hardware, The TouchPad was a general mix of bad on one end of the spectrum, to pretty good in the other. I feel that in describing the TouchPad, I need to get the bad out of the way first as it is a decidedly different device from it’s smartphone brethren. The finish of the HP TouchPad is horrid. It’s bulky plastic body makes it a fingerprint magnet. In the year that I used it, the device developed the common problem of cracks around the speaker openings. My device was never dropped and never left its case. Actually, most of the time it never left the charging dock except when I was in class where I never used it outside of sharing info or zoning out on a lecture. So the physical build of the TouchPad is surprisingly bad considering this device was to challenge the iPad 2. The speakers unsurprisingly are really good…when they don’t clip out or distort through general use. Although to be fair this was uncommon for me and the times it did happen usually came from a result of extended or
binges. The hardware that runs the TouchPad is an underclocked 1.2 Ghz Snapdragon Processor with 1GB of RAM and a single front facing video camera (The White 64GB TouchPad had the processor bumped to 1.5 Ghz but that version is hard to come by). The screen had a resolution of 1024×720 for a very standard VGA screen resolution. There also exists a 4G version that comes with a standard 32GB of storage and the sped up 1.5 Ghz processor.The software aspect of the HP TouchPad is a very unique story, so I will tell it in three parts. Firstly, the standard webOS experience, with Preware and without. Then I’ll examine the , which gives access to some Gingerbread applications through a dedicated app store. Finally, I’ll discuss Android and other systems installed on the TouchPad as dual boot options.
The HP TouchPad launched with webOS 3.0 and it was both a drastic departure from where the O.S. started and a glimpse of the brilliance of where it could go. webOS on the bigger screen showed great potential for the O.S. as everything looked nice and scaled beautifully. The gestures to swipe between applications and swipe them away functioned much in the same way as it did on the phones. webOS 3.0 brought with it a ton of new features, including TTS and the Enyo application language. With the multitude of improvements to the platform, the application experience was good, yet third party support was minimal. Quality applications for the HP TouchPad were few and far between. The app catalog had a unique magazine-like section called Pivot, which featured applications in themed editions. When it was abandoned, it was eventually colonised by the webOS community to host new content. The latest version is what you are reading now.
One major problem of webOS 3.0 was how un-optimized and buggy it was when first launched. Although some fixes would come through five software updates, it would only go so far. Applications were prone to either crashing or randomly reloading, the “too many cards” bug was back in full effect and overall everything felt slow and very unintuitive, which showed how rushed 3.0 was. With Preware though, a huge amount of the TouchPad’s problems from a software perspective were patched and smoothed out and made the device a much more refined and polished experience. These efforts culminated in the release of a rewritten system manager: .
Although Preware would prove to be an almost indispensable piece of software, there was another matter that had to be dealt with: The cripplingly low application count. This would be solved with the addition of a piece of software called the Application Compatibility Layer which was the result of a successful kickstarter campaign by . The money funded further development of work by . What is so special about the software is it allows to run on webOS. It is a relatively small selection, but things like Skype, Netflix, and supplementary document editors are available to augment the applications of webOS. What this does to the tablet is both amazing and sobering. Sure you get enhanced usability, but the available apps are based on Gingerbread, an older Android O.S. that isn’t much in the way of looks and the older version sometimes has problems with applications even working properly. While this isn’t a huge deal breaker, it does show that the HP TouchPad, from a software perspective, is a truly ‘Frankensteinian’ creation, requiring different patches and non-native Android apps to make it live.
Even though ACL is only a temporary fix that just manages to keep the tablet outside the realm of uselessness, there are those in the development community who have managed to port every version of Android from Gingerbread to KitKat to the tablet. This opens the device to a whole new world of possibilities for those who still hold on to the HP TouchPad, nearly three years on. Android and webOS have always had a rather odd relationship. It has been of general benefit for our platform, whether it be from ACL or a full-on port. Android on the HP TouchPad is a relatively easy thing to do. While you can get stable builds of 4.0 all the way to 4.3, later Android builds are either in early Alpha or Beta stages. In order to get the very latest Android O.S. you will most likely take a massive hit in almost basic functionality. Android has managed to keep the HP TouchPad relevant even in 2014. It isn’t webOS, but it is a different, larger and more diverse avenue for TouchPad owners to travel. It is somewhat unorthodox to mention Android when discussing webOS, but it is both a part of our tablets history and something that can be considered when looking at purchasing a TouchPad. To further emphasize the flexibility of the tablet, you can install Ubuntu Touch, Arch Linux, Open webOS (), and even Linux from a webOS card. It is dang impressive.
With regard to cost, the HP TouchPad can be an investment depending on where you look. Typically, places like Craigslist and eBay are great places to look as people tend to knock down the prices to the sub $200 dollar mark. But, if you want peace of mind, look at Amazon’s selection and note that it does go into the $300 dollar mark for some models. In terms of investment, it is a solid one that every webOS enthusiast should consider.
Do I recommend the Pre 3 and the HP TouchPad? For starters, I do solidly recommend the Pre 3, regardless of the carrier. The Pre 3 is the last great smartphone from Palm. It is the very best our platform can offer and its very existence is an important piece of history for webOS users. If you have the money and want a beautifully crafted phone, buy the Pre 3 and never second guess it. About the HP TouchPad, I am a little more on the fence. I do recommend it, but only if you are able to embrace some its quirkier software aspects and its rather damning build quality. But what you get, is a device that has possibly the most devoted software community in the mobile arena. With a little bit of work, the software that is available fully unlocks the device’s potential and gives you one of the most dynamic, fun, and useful software suites regardless of your platform preference. The HP TouchPad to me in my 13 months of using it, has proven its bulky, plastic weight in gold. It is for all of its flaws, a masterpiece.
To conclude, thank you for joining me in this look back at webOS: Both the history and the devices that define our small but great community. I will be creating different content in the future for pivotCE and I hope you enjoy reading these articles as much as I enjoy writing them.
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By pivotCE
2010 was a special year for webOS. It would mark the release of the Pre and Pixi Plus, alongside something special. That something special, would be the Pre successor and the very last smartphone to ever be released, under the “Palm” branding.
The Pre 2, code named “Roadrunner” first appeared in August of 2010, as a rumor but launched in November as a unlocked developer device in the U.S. and finally an actual carrier launch on Verizon in February of 2011.
The Pre 2 had the distinction to be the launch device for webOS 2.0 which would bring with it a bevy of upgrades and refinements to the much beleaguered operating system. A few of the most prominent updates and refinements include “stacking,” which allowed for open apps to stacked on one another for better organization of tasks and a powerful universal search engine called “Just Type,” which allowed you to search both the device and the internet for applications, questions videos etc.
A final and more solemn distinction, is that the Pre 2 would be the last webOS phone from Palm, until it was purchased by Hewlett Packard (HP) earlier that year. webOS 2.0, overall built upon the original 1.0 foundation and moved it forward in a very positive way. Universal Search alone, was one of the biggest additions. It expanded up the idea brought in webOS 1.0 and brought to the table a unique, simple, and powerful way of searching for items that would not be matched until the likes of Siri or Google Now, in the years to come.
The Pre 2 was very much a departure from the original Pre, yet in the same way built on the device that won so many people over and refined it. The overall build quality of the Pre 2 was a noticeable improvement over the Pre. Improved and slightly curved Gorilla Glass covered the front. A matte black plastic build with a enhanced touch/notification LED accompanied the front panel of the Pre 2. The back had an integrated Touchstone back cover. Making wireless inductive charging that much easier to adopt. Finally, one of the best design updates for the Pre 2, was a refined sliding mechanism, making the Oreo effect from the first generation Pre, almost non-existent.
In terms of hardware, the Pre 2 was a device that was a year behind in terms of specifications. The 1Ghz processor that powered the Pre 2, was not antiquated by any means by late 2010, but when compared to flagships during the time which were pushing the threshold to dual core chipsets, the Pre 2 came in just as single core was beginning to be over looked in the spec race. The Pre 2, had a similar array of sensors that most modern smartphones during the time. Wifi, Bluetooth, and ambient light sensors made the device feel more competitive with other 2010 smartphones.
In February of 2011, HP following it’s purchase of Palm, would unveil the next and final generation of devices running webOS. The devices they showed off were HP’s answer to the iPad, The HP Touchpad, Pre 3 and finally, a third more peculiar and somewhat more compact device, the HP Veer 4G.
The HP Veer was designed to be the next step in the evolution of the Pixi line of webOS devices. It came in two colors, black and white. Had a peculiar magnetic headphone jack that was prone to being lost (I went through two of them in my own time with the device) and was the first webOS phone to feature the Touch To Share magnetic coil that would allow users to share data between the phone and the upcoming HP Touchpad. Sadly, the software to enable the technology to work, would never arrive from HP. The phone ran the then new 800 Mhz Scorpion processor and on 512 MB of Ram which already put in a similar performance category as the Pre 2.
In terms of quality the Veer was a combination of improvements and backtracking. The overall design of the HP Veer was great. The much improved mechanism for the slide out, Pre-esque design of the Veer made it sturdy and feel really solid in the hand. The device was Touchstone compatible. The keyboard, was cramped and not designed for people with larger hands, yet it was sturdy and very solidly built. The phone was made of a single plastic shell that was very solid and curved beautifully around the body, showing off the pebble design ethos that was a trademark of Palm.
Although the overall design of the Veer was a great step forward for the Pixi line, it had several design flaws that kept it from really being taken more seriously as a webOS device. The first was the size of the device. In a literal attempt to keep up with both the Pixi line and to follow it’s own marketing message of “webOS in S, M, and L.” HP built the Veer to be very small phone with a lot of power underneath the hood. With a 2.6 inch screen, the phone was to small to do a lot of meaningful tasks. Web browsing was a squint fest. Composing email with the cramped keyboard was very hard to accomplish error free and although gestures work as well as previously, it was a little difficult to more precise gestures with the smaller gesture area.
In terms of Software and Performance the Veer in my time with it, was a very snappy device, that downloaded web pages quickly over ATT’s 4G network and was generally a pleasure to use. In terms of webOS software it ran essentially what the Pre 2 does, just in a smaller package. There is one real hardware difference worth noting is the inclusion of the TTS coil for sharing information. Software does exist for the coil to be used and a few developer units of the Veer have leaked that include this software yet it hasn’t been made available by HP. There is though a more iffy way of installing a custom build of webOS unto the device but the stability of the software and legal ramifications of messing with software that isn’t owned by the person who made the build make it a risky endeavor.
In terms of 2014 devices, The Pre 2 and Veer like the webOS devices before them are a worthy device for those who are looking for the more middle runners of webOS devices. They are stable devices that are capable with their enhanced hardware and software.
On a side note: In terms of usability for the devices. it is important to note that due to the general decline of upkeep for the software that Preware is near necessity if you plan on using your Pre 2 or Veer as anything more than a dumb phone that has a decent browser. As email (Google and Yahoo) recently released with new patches in order to make syncing a far less painful job.
I do recommend that the Veer be looked at with a grain of salt as it really is just a smaller Pre 2 and should only be used with those who have smaller hands or want the added TTS coil for TouchPad collaboration. The Pre 2 in my opinion is the best webOS smartphone I have ever used and I do recommend it. It lasted me through a very rough year of solid use and I keep it to this day as a reminder that a good phone can come in any shape or size. Although it lacks the TTS coil, I use the Pre 2 as the definition of why webOS was great and it’s phones were just as good. It was the very last phone Palm ever released and may have been its very best. The Veer on the other hand was the first that HP had released in years and it was a mixed bag with even more mixed results. It from a design standpoint was a solid device and alongside its nice internals, it had a chance of being even greater than the Pre 2, instead it was met with mixed reception due to it’s size.
The actual costs of both devices is mixed. Both the Veer and Pre 2 are sub 150 dollar phones that have great build quality and should be great additions for current and newcomers to the world of webOS.
So stay tuned next time when I review the last webOS devices released, The Pre 3 and the TouchPad.
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