Whenever the G1 vs iPhone debate gets underway, iPhone purists are quick to flag the G1’s lack of multi-touch input support. Turns out, it might just be able to handle it after all -on the hardware end, at least. Whilst tearing his G1’s workings apart line-by-line, a crafty coder going by RyeBrye came across an interesting artifact. It seems the driver for the Synaptics touchscreen has some code commented out; after recompiling the kernel with said code back in, he was able to track two finger presses at once.
So if the hardware supports it, why no multi-touch on the G1? Patents, presumably. While this in no way actually enables to you to do any kind of multi-touch funnin’ immediately (nothing made for the G1 is currently coded for use with multi-touch, afterall), it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Though we probably won’t see any official support for multi-touch on the G1 any time soon, someone with a bit of spare time to tinker will probably figure out a way to make use of it before too long.
Comments
Justin, I believe it will happen… Within 3 - 6 month’s ;)
The fact that the device is capable is great.
Charging for an app that uses multi touch might be a patent issue but what if it were a free app?
it would be nice to have multitouch, but its patented by apple. this patent prevents any one else from using multitouch. sooo that means a free app that enables multitouch would give apple a good reason to sue the pants off of the developer
No, actually it isn’t. It is patented by Synamptics but thanks for playing
Yeah, I believe you are right. Screens = Synaptics, the gestures in which you use on the screen are patented by Apple.
not sure I understand what multi-touch actually is. But on the G1, when cropping pictures, you use two fingers to control the selection box. Is that not multi-touch?
You actually only need to use one finger, not two. Try it :) Using two will probably only cause difficulties as the screen/application is not looking for that extra finger.
I guess we’re forced, then, to give Apple the One Finger Salute.
I ALWAYS give Apple the One Finger Salute.
Any info on what gesture Google may come up with for multitouch zooming and other functions??? Given that Google has any plans for a multitouch screen of course.
The rumor is that the Android team had multi-touch implemented but eventually decided to remove it out of fear of legal and commercial retaliation from Apple.
The scary thing is that a shitty thing like “patent” is preventing humanity to progress because someone can’t get enough of their eulogies over their cleverness and money.
Things are not invented, they are discovered/found out how they actually, so why put a ‘firewall’ on things because they are so ?
It would be interesting to see how Columb ‘invented’ America.
Columbus patented America? No, no he didn’t.
Patents are to protect an inventor’s time, effort, and investment in bringing a “new” and “non-obvious” idea/product to the marketplace. It’s capitalism 101, without which, I’d be sending this in smoke signals.
Anyone who doesn’t like patents has never invented anything. In others words, a taker not a producer. And producers make the world go round, not “hope.”
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