A new reason to find the best HP TouchPad cover

When HP lowered the TouchPad’s price to $99 last year, the tablet obviously experience a surge in demand. From that point on, the perfect HP TouchPad cover was in as much demand as a premium iPad cover in the marketplace. Yet some users complained about the lack of new apps being developed for this device—call it iPad jealousy or simply a desire to stay on the cutting edge. But now, a Kickstarter project entitled Phoenix, aims to alleviate these issues that all webOS device users face.

Phoenix raised $35,000 to cover the development costs incurred by porting the OpenMobile Application Compatibility Layer over to webOS devices such as the HP TouchPad. Once the ACL is ported to webOS, users will then be able to run Android apps on their HP TouchPad. Since the full amount was raised through Kickstarter, the software is now on track for a July launch. Guess you may want to get that HP TouchPad cover after all—chances are you’ll be using your device a lot more than you originally thought.

Phoenix is now seeking to raise additional funds so they can add support for apps requiring Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and up. At present, the recently created software only supports apps designed for the 2.x range of Androids. This limits the use of some apps, and especially puts constraints on those who want to play the latest games.

The developers at Phoenix are also seeking hardware partners to help launch a webOS-powered Smartphone. We’re not sure if that is a necessary move, considering how hard of a time one of the former market leaders, BlackBerry, is having in the competition-laden marketplace. Either way, HP TouchPad users may grow more reliant on their devices, and find themselves putting the same amount of energy into finding protection for their device as many tablet users put into finding a premium iPad cover.