Google's Android guy Andy Rubin on lack of multitouch....

[TheWart]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/08/andy-rubin-on-multitouch-in-android-i-personally-dont-like-tw/

Endgadget's question and his reply:

"You call this a superphone -- 3.7-inch capacitive display, but no keyboard and no multitouch. Yet it has multitouch outside the US. Why not America?"

Andy's reply:

"It's not an America versus outside America kind of thing. It's a decision that is a result of the OEM model. I personally don't like two-handed operations... there is no conspiracy."



I guess Steve Jobs doesn't have a monopoly on refusing features b/c it doesnt fit his personal whims....

 

[zerocool84]

I guarantee you it has to do with the patent Apple has here in the States. There is no such patent anywhere else.

 

[TheWart]

I guarantee you it has to do with the patent Apple has here in the States. There is no such patent anywhere else.

But don't some phones in the US have multitouch other than the iphone? I thought HTC's Sense UI had it...Did they license it from Apple or something?

 

[zerocool84]

But don't some phones in the US have multitouch other than the iphone? I thought HTC's Sense UI had it...Did they license it from Apple or something?

I'm sure they did just like Palm did for the Pre.

 

[foghorn67]

I'm sure they did just like Palm did for the Pre.

The palm had multi-touch and other gestures because Palm told Apple we don't care what you patented, we did it first.
Basically if Apple tried to sue Palm, Palm would have called them on it.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I guess HTC's not ready to do what palm did and give Apple a big F--- You in the states. I think it should though. HTC really does do a much better job of making phones than most makers.

I'd ut Apple and HTC at the top tier. Moto gets a dead last.

 

[foghorn67]

I guess HTC's not ready to do what palm did and give Apple a big F--- You in the states. I think it should though. HTC really does do a much better job of making phones than most makers.

I'd ut Apple and HTC at the top tier. Moto gets a dead last.

Did Motorola run over your grandma? I think people are going to stop giving a crap about your opinion. Especially considering the last sentence had no relevance.

 

[destrekor]

I guess HTC's not ready to do what palm did and give Apple a big F--- You in the states. I think it should though. HTC really does do a much better job of making phones than most makers.

I'd ut Apple and HTC at the top tier. Moto gets a dead last.

You do realize HTC still has no multi-touch support on the American version of phones that don't have SenseUI, yes? Like the Nexus One.

If it's a Google Experience phone, and likely any of the upcoming "Google Phone" models, it won't have multi-touch here in the States, because Google isn't including it. And if it's a Google Experience phone, the manufacturer cannot add features.
Motorola has no say, nor does HTC. If it has a custom skin, then the manufacturer can either do it freely or get a license. Google doesn't want to pay Apple and doesn't want to get Apple all pissy and end up in court either.

 

[Qbah]

His answer is so full of sh!t it's not funny... He could as well say "crippled people with only one arm would feel bad if their healthy friends would have a better experience on the phone so we wanted for everyone to use it the same way" or some other nonsense. Apple was full of sh!t too when patenting a multi-touch display as it really slows down progress in the market in general (and I own an iPhone). Seriously, there should be rules against patenting things like that. Next thing you know someone will patent "a device that moves forward by rolling itself" and everyone using wheels will have to pay license to them. Silly.

 

[Zenmervolt]

I have a browser and a photo editing/viewing app that support multitouch on my Droid. Both were freeware and both work perfectly. The browser also allows you to change the agent setting (something that is worlds more useful than multi-touch), which the default does not.

In any case, having used both multi-touch and the default mode, I am firmly of the opinion that multi-touch is nothing more than a gimmick. I find it much less awkward to use a traditional zoom bar or buttons. Multi-touch always impresses people, but in everyday use, the traditional options just flat work better.

ZV

 

[TheWart]

I have a browser and a photo editing/viewing app that support multitouch on my Droid. Both were freeware and both work perfectly. The browser also allows you to change the agent setting (something that is worlds more useful than multi-touch), which the default does not.

In any case, having used both multi-touch and the default mode, I am firmly of the opinion that multi-touch is nothing more than a gimmick. I find it much less awkward to use a traditional zoom bar or buttons. Multi-touch always impresses people, but in everyday use, the traditional options just flat work better.

ZV

wow, I was expecting to see a [/sarcasm] tag at the end of that. I cannot imagine how anyone could possibly find multitouch (when web browsing of all things) to be a 'gimmick.' I personally find it interminable to try and zoom around a webpage using zoom buttons or some other such annoyance....to each their own I guess hehe

 

[mTeryk]

I've had a Droid for a couple weeks now and what I find it does really well is to resize html columns to a good width and then zoom to that width with a double tap. The only sites where I have to mess with the zoom buttons are really graphically intensive sites which I don't tend to browse much on my phone anyway.

 

[Pliablemoose]

After using my 2G iPhone for some time and using a G1 now, I love multi touch, and miss the hell out of it...

 

[foghorn67]

I've had a Droid for a couple weeks now and what I find it does really well is to resize html columns to a good width and then zoom to that width with a double tap. The only sites where I have to mess with the zoom buttons are really graphically intensive sites which I don't tend to browse much on my phone anyway.

This is probably why I don't feel the need for multi-touch. I honestly don't feel like it's a huge miss for web browsing.

 

[tommo123]

wouldn't it be like using a keyboard without being able to hold the shift key down?

pretty basic thing to leave out IMO

 

[foghorn67]

wouldn't it be like using a keyboard without being able to hold the shift key down?

pretty basic thing to leave out IMO

What? You have never used any phone guessing by this question.

 

[WelshBloke]

wow, I was expecting to see a [/sarcasm] tag at the end of that. I cannot imagine how anyone could possibly find multitouch (when web browsing of all things) to be a 'gimmick.' I personally find it interminable to try and zoom around a webpage using zoom buttons or some other such annoyance....to each their own I guess hehe

Nope, I agree completely with him. Its way easier to just double tap the screen where you want to zoom in than have to pinch.

 

[tommo123]

What? You have never used any phone guessing by this question.

no touch screen, no. simply due to them being crap till the last iphone

 

[cecco]

I own a droid, and although it's a shame multi-touch wasn't incorporated, the double tap and/or landscape view on the phone work fine for most websites. I used an iTouch before this phone for my music and occasional web browsing, suprisingly enough I don't miss it.

 

[hanoverphist]

i browse everything on my phone one-handed anyway, including texting. i use the portrait mode qwerty soft keyboard on my omnia, i dont really need multitouch at all.

 

[pm]

Nope, I agree completely with him. Its way easier to just double tap the screen where you want to zoom in than have to pinch.

I agree with you - except on those occassions where for whatever reason, I double-tap and it doesn't zoon on what I want it to zoom in on. Then it's nice to go into full-manual zoom mode and pinch things. But yeah, just double-tapping on something and having it be automagically resized exactly to the screen side is a lot easier and faster than pinching and then panning and trying to get everything to line up correctly. But still, there are times when double-tapping doesn't work right or zooms on the wrong thing and then pinching is necessary and on those occassions if I had to go through some menu to grab the zoom and then manually do it, it would definitely be slower than messing with a simple finger pinch.

 

[sswingle]

I just loaded up Dolphin Browser, which supports multitouch, and si faster anyways.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Nope, I agree completely with him. Its way easier to just double tap the screen where you want to zoom in than have to pinch.

And you hope your browser zooms in properly. That matches the browsing experience of a non touchscreen phone like my Nokia N82. I hit the zoom button and assume Opera does the right job of zooming. If it doesn't I have to hit 5 buttons to zoom in 10% more or zoom out 10% more etc etc.

Pointless.

You can double tap on the iPhone. Safari browser reigns supreme. You can pinch zoom to FINE TUNE what you want. Your'e right though, multitouch isn't a killer in the browser. To me it's a killer to not have multitouch in the keyboard.

You do realize HTC still has no multi-touch support on the American version of phones that don't have SenseUI, yes? Like the Nexus One.

If it's a Google Experience phone, and likely any of the upcoming "Google Phone" models, it won't have multi-touch here in the States, because Google isn't including it. And if it's a Google Experience phone, the manufacturer cannot add features.
Motorola has no say, nor does HTC. If it has a custom skin, then the manufacturer can either do it freely or get a license. Google doesn't want to pay Apple and doesn't want to get Apple all pissy and end up in court either.

This is because the US doesn't GET Android phones to begin with--and the ones we get are pretty much raw Google Experience phones. Your comaprison is against a raw Google Experience phone. The Droid Eris HAS mutli touch in the keyboard. It doesn't have multitouch pinch zoom and stuff, but HTC did subtly add multi touch into the onscreen keyboard. This is why typing on the Droid is different from typing on the Droid.

 

[foghorn67]

And you hope your browser zooms in properly. That matches the browsing experience of a non touchscreen phone like my Nokia N82. I hit the zoom button and assume Opera does the right job of zooming. If it doesn't I have to hit 5 buttons to zoom in 10% more or zoom out 10% more etc etc.

Pointless.

You can double tap on the iPhone. Safari browser reigns supreme. You can pinch zoom to FINE TUNE what you want. Your'e right though, multitouch isn't a killer in the browser. To me it's a killer to not have multitouch in the keyboard.



This is because the US doesn't GET Android phones to begin with--and the ones we get are pretty much raw Google Experience phones. The Droid's Blur UI is barely to the level of SenseUI. Your comaprison is against a raw Google Experience phone. The Droid Eris HAS mutli touch in the keyboard. It doesn't have multitouch pinch zoom and stuff, but HTC did subtly add multi touch into the onscreen keyboard. This is why typing on the Droid is different from typing on the Droid.

As someone that types just fine on the Droid...your starting to get batshit crazy with your moto hate.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

As someone that types just fine on the Droid...your starting to get batshit crazy with your moto hate.

Uhh, i'm not saying it's hard to type on the Droid. It's probably easier to type on the Droid than many of your resistive screen devices. I'm saying the Droid Eris does the job better which shows what multi-touch can do. And Motorola doesn't really make good phones in general. The Droid was a hit. Big deal. Moto's next few phones look good on paper. If they all turn out just as good, then maybe this will be a revival of the company. But there's a reason it's slipped to 4th or 5th place or wherever it's at now.