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Snow Leopard to Add 4-Finger Multi-Touch Gestures to Original MacBook Air

Small White Car said:
No, that's not multitouch in the sense we mean it. Yes, it involves 2 fingers, but by that definition a 2-button mouse is multitouch! (Heck, "holding a cookie" is also multitouch if you mean it that way.)

When we use the word multitouch it implies that the computer knows where each finger is in relation to each other. This makes things like 'pinch to zoom' possible.

Your laptop could detect if 1 or 2 fingers was touching it, but that was it. It didn't know how far apart they were or where they were moving. It just used 2-fingers as another modifing 'control' key, basically.
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Thank you. I feel like this needs to be explained every single time there is an article on multi-touch.

Miker2k said:
Haven't we been able to do this for awhile now by hacking the kext(s)?
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Yes, but it's nice that Apple is building in support so we don't have to muck around in the kernel.

Anyways, what I really can't wait for is the rumored advanced gestures and customizable multitouch preferences that we've seen in patent applications and .xib/.nib files.
 
Small White Car said:
Your laptop could detect if 1 or 2 fingers was touching it, but that was it. It didn't know how far apart they were or where they were moving. It just used 2-fingers as another modifing 'control' key, basically.
Click to expand...

Not entirely true. Macbooks and MacBook Pros could do two finger vertical gestures. I use that for scrolling while reading MacRumors, for instance. Moving them sideways doesn't do anything, but vertically scrolls the page.

But I understand your point. Earlier "two finger" systems don't qualify as multi-touch the way it's understood by Apple and their users.
 
bplein said:
Not entirely true. Macbooks and MacBook Pros could do two finger vertical gestures.
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That action is still consistant with what I said. I realize I said "moving" which was confusing since I left it at that. I meant fingers "moving in relation to each other."

The point I was trying to make is that putting two fingers on the trackpad is a lot like holding "control" or "alt" or something like that. It's telling the computer to do something different with the mouse, but it's still only tracking one of those 2 fingers.
 
Chobit said:
It's a bit misleading to say the first Macbook Air was the first apple laptop with multitouch support. My first gen intel macbook has 2 finger scrolling (and I think it even goes back to the last of the powerbooks), albeit they say the trackpad isn't up to snuff to do the more complex multi-touch capabilities, but it's still a multitouch gesture.
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I think what you have was made by synaptics, the people that make touchpad for a lot of other companies. The multitouch that's on the MacBooks listed and the newest ones are made by Apple.
 
Like you coudn't have guessed that this one was coming. There are a few features that the late '08 lineup brings which are merely software enabled. All of those are coming in Snow Leopard. You'll get gpu acceleration on all 2008 models also. But it is nice to have 4 finger gestures although they are somewhat of an overkill.
 
More Proof of a Track Pad for the iMac...

This is great news! I think this is just another step towards an optional Glass Track Pad being introduced for the iMac, which I believe is the reason for the "chopped" keyboard... 🙄 At least I hope it is! 😀
 
Small White Car said:
No, that's not multitouch in the sense we mean it. Yes, it involves 2 fingers, but by that definition a 2-button mouse is multitouch! (Heck, "holding a cookie" is also multitouch if you mean it that way.)

When we use the word multitouch it implies that the computer knows where each finger is in relation to each other. This makes things like 'pinch to zoom' possible.

Your laptop could detect if 1 or 2 fingers was touching it, but that was it. It didn't know how far apart they were or where they were moving. It just used 2-fingers as another modifing 'control' key, basically.
Click to expand...

I realize that difference, and I wasn't saying anything to the effect that it could do more than that. However, 2 finger scrolling is a basic multitouch gesture, the pad has to be able to tell that there are 2 fingers on it rather than one. In that sense the Macbook air wasn't the first mac with multitouch support, but the first mac with the ability to detect all the current gestures capable in OS X. To me (I have a current gen macbook as well), two-finger scrolling is by far the most important multi-touch gesture, so I guess my thinking about it is just different than others.
 
scottishwildcat said:
Sadly so. Personally I find it really awkward to use, and it also seems to be somewhat prejudicial against people who don't possess a full set of fingers!
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You don't have to use it, so what's the problem? Multi-touch trackpad has been a dream for me. Switching to Exposé with just one simple gesture is really cool. I never used the F3 key.
 
Sounds good to me. I tried the 4-finger gestures at the store, and I want them! (Without hacks, please.)

I can see them adding the same to a Plain Leopard update too.
 
bplein said:
Not entirely true. Macbooks and MacBook Pros could do two finger vertical gestures. I use that for scrolling while reading MacRumors, for instance. Moving them sideways doesn't do anything, but vertically scrolls the page.

But I understand your point. Earlier "two finger" systems don't qualify as multi-touch the way it's understood by Apple and their users.
Click to expand...

Actually, for this "multi-touch" vertical scrolling, you only 1 finger to scroll ,but 2 fingers touching the pad.
Moreoever, sideways scrolling also works (try for example when zooming a lot on a picture in Preview, until you have both vertical and horizontal scroll bars.)
 
scottishwildcat said:
Sadly so. Personally I find it really awkward to use, and it also seems to be somewhat prejudicial against people who don't possess a full set of fingers!
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So does typing on a keyboard. I believe that new technologies should be developed to help people with different needs access technology, but the pace of innovation shouldn't be slowed down for disabilities.

Plus, it's all optional.
 
MacontheBeach said:
This is great news! I think this is just another step towards an optional Glass Track Pad being introduced for the iMac, which I believe is the reason for the "chopped" keyboard... 🙄 At least I hope it is! 😀
Click to expand...

So... like... a trackpad instead of the numpad? Interesting. But it'd have to be removable, or they'd need left/right handed versions... right?

Anyways, as far as I can tell we're moving towards dynamic, tactile, multitouch display surfaces in place of trackpads or even keyboards.

Imagine something like the ProRemote iPhone app, but in place of every trackpad (and/or keyboard) on every Mac. When you need a keyboard, you have it. When you need volume and mixer controls for GarageBand/Logic, you have it. When you need a virtual MIDI keyboard, you have it. When you need Photoshop controls, you have it. Any application could dynamically change the controls on the multitouch surface. No more remembering complex, inflexible hotkeys.
 
The thing is, it would be quite simple for apple to include that into current 10.5. I mean there are lots of How-Tos for that in the web. But why don't they?

I hope they don't disable that feature again for the old machines once Snow Leopard is Gold Master.
 
KALLT said:
You don't have to use it, so what's the problem? Multi-touch trackpad has been a dream for me. Switching to Exposé with just one simple gesture is really cool. I never used the F3 key.
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Actually, as things stand in Leopard, you do have to use it. I keep triggering the pinch gesture by accident and it seriously p*sses me off. Here's hoping they'll allow more customisation in SL – let me turn off pinching, and assign something useful to the four-finger gestures.
 
Air was first with multi-touch?

What's funny is that I'm using multi-touch on my 17" MacBook Pro, which I bought in November 2007!
 
I'm a little surprised that those who are desperate to have it on their early 2008 MBP don't have it already.

It's a hack, I guess technically, but it's basically editing a text file to say "Multi gestures = on".
 
I did the hack on my Early-2008 MBP to add 4-finger touch, but I don't even use it. The actions they have them bound to are useless for me. I don't use expose and the left/right swipe for app switching just doesn't work as well as Cmd-Tab.

I find 2-finger scrolling extremely useful. 3 finger actions would be nice if more apps used it (for example, I like using it in Preview while reading PDF's and using it to switch pages).

I'm looking forward to the multi-touch API in Snow Leopard and am hoping that will unlock some of the potential in the 3/4 finger actions. Is there any info available on this API yet?

I also hope that Apple delivers multi-touch to desktop users somehow (either a standalone device or integrated into their keyboards). They need to make up for delivering that awful product known as the Mighty Mouse.
 
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