HP Is Switching To Android For Tablets And Phones

HP Comedian Russell Brand in an ad for the HP TouchPad.

After failing with its own mobile operating system and tablet in 2011, HP has plans to try again with new mobile devices running Google's Android instead, ReadWrite reports.

It's an odd move for HP, but probably a necessary one. Competitors have been eating HP's lunch in mobile, and it's one of the biggest factors causing turmoil in the company right now.

ReadWrite says HP will start off with a top-of-the-line Android tablet that could launch very soon. HP may move on to other form factors from there, including a smartphone.

The Verge also backed up ReadWrite's report.

Even though HP has a few new Windows 8 tablets on the way, it's interesting that HP would still choose to make Android devices. John Gruber of Daring Fireball speculates that the move to Android could be HP's reaction to Microsoft's $2 billion loan to Dell and an overall lack of faith in the Windows 8 ecosystem.

HP launched its own tablet called the TouchPad in 2011. It ran HP's own WebOS software and got decent reviews. But HP decided to kill the TouchPad just seven weeks after launch. WebOS is now an open source mobile operating system.