How to install Android on other devices

It's the open-sourced nature of Android that has enabled it to proliferate so widely, but it's the touch-friendly interface that has had it so eagerly embraced by so many. This has enabled anyone that wanted, to direct their intellectual powers to porting Android to any device they want. This has lead to disgruntled owners of Android devices that have waited a few months too long for OS updates to create their own updated builds. Owners of devices with outdated or dead operating systems – such as Windows Mobile – have devised builds of Android of their own. While people who just fancy the damn challenge have done it for perfectly functioning devices, such as the iPhone 3G. For this example we've picked the HP TouchPad, there was a lot of noise about this in mid-2011. HP announced it was dumping its WebOS division and there was a fire sale on its only tablet the HP TouchPad. This runs WebOS, which, while in itself is a fine OS, has very limited third-party app support. With the death knell sounded for WebOS the challenge was on to create a working build of Android. The renowned hacker group, CyanogenMod took up the challenge and delivered a working alpha in a month. So how do you go about replacing the OS on a device? It's just like replacing an OS on a standard PC but with the added complications of gaining the right access to the original OS; having the tools to inject a replacement boot-loader; and having access to a replacement OS with the correct drivers in place. Sounds tricky, doesn't it? Thankfully the internet is a vast and varied place, inhabited by helpful and intelligent types. Sites like http://xda-developers.com and http://rootzwiki.com host communities of avid Android fans, dedicated to creating builds of Androids for specific devices. These gals and guys have created an armoury of tools that people can easily reuse for a host of devices.