Video: Demoing the multitouch trackpad

There's a lot of noise about MacBooks with multitouch trackpads coming out at Macworld, but we're wondering why there's no similar frenzy over Taiwanese ODM Elantech, which is tucked away in the International Pavilion at CES demoing a multitouch trackpad technology called "Multi-fingers Smartpad." The prototype is actually in an older Asus laptop, but it's got all the pinching and spinning action you'd expect -- check it out after the break!

[bob @ Jan 10th 2008 2:48PM]

macbooks as you should know already have multi touch trackpads with gestures, for right clicking and scrolling, but more can / could be done by software updates.

[James Flowers @ Jan 10th 2008 4:30PM]

Is that not in different zones on the pad and therefore not true multi-touch as in regard to this technology?

[Phil @ Jan 10th 2008 2:56PM]

if it were as simple as that, i wonder why there are no 3rd party hacks at all for extending the capabilities of current trackpads. i sure would like to see some.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez @ Jan 10th 2008 3:22PM]

You may want to refer to that as "dual-touch" since it can only register a 2nd point and the movement based on these two points. The "multi-touch" patent is much more sophisticated by using and following more than two points at one time.

Experiment:
• Place your left index finger on a MB or MBP trackpad and the use your other index finger to scroll. You get the same effect as scrolling with two fingers.
• Place two fingers together on the trackpad and try spreading them apart in opposite direction, like you would do with an image of webpage on the iPhone. It doesn't work; in fact, it cancels out the other movement.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez @ Jan 10th 2008 3:23PM]

You may want to refer to that as "dual-touch" since they can only register a 2nd point and one movement. Apple's "multi-touch" is more sophisticated by using and following more than two points at one time.

Experiment:
• Place your left index finger on a MB or MBP trackpad and the use your other index finger to scroll. You get the same effect as scrolling with two fingers.
• Place two fingers together on the trackpad and try spreading them apart in opposite direction, like you would do with an image of webpage on the iPhone. It doesn't work. In fact, it cancels out the other movement.

[tek @ Jan 10th 2008 3:23PM]

Yes, two-finger scroll has been around for a couple years now, and is the most useful feature I have ever used on a laptop. I will never buy another laptop - mac or PC - without that. It's shameful that PC laptop makers haven't figured out that people like things like this!

[Bender Bending Rodriguez @ Jan 10th 2008 3:24PM]

You may want to refer to that as "dual-touch" since they can only register a 2nd point and one movement. Apple's "multi-touch" is more sophisticated by using and following more than two points at one time.

Experiment:
• Place your left index finger on a MB or MBP trackpad and the use your other index finger to scroll. You get the same effect as scrolling with two fingers.
• Place two fingers together on the trackpad and try spreading them apart in opposite direction, like you would do with an image of webpage on the iPhone. It doesn't work. In fact, it cancels out the other movement.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez @ Jan 10th 2008 3:25PM]

Sorry for the extra postings. Engadget wasn't reloading the pages so I assumed it wasn't going through. Vote me down if you must.

[mabedan @ Jan 10th 2008 7:55PM]

i totally agree with Bob

[Kiwi616 @ Jan 10th 2008 2:47PM]

Great, i can't wait to see what resting your palm on the track pad does!

[Mark N @ Jan 10th 2008 2:53PM]

unless we're dealing with midgets, the trackpad should be made bigger to accomodate the size of peoples hands

[Darius S @ Jan 10th 2008 3:06PM]

A Nilay Patel post without Veronica? looks like Nilay succumb to pressure and wont post anymore content with the beauitful Veronica. Its a shame you couldnt take the heat N.Patel. i dont even like most of your content unless Veronica is involved.

Engadget, please hire Veronica. She gives a fresh perpesctive on tech and gadgets. If her performance during CES 2008 doesnt convince you shes a keeper, i dunno what will. Hope will be seeing more of her during Macworld and the other conferences. Sex sells. just go to alexa.com, a huge spike since Veronica started covering for engadget.

[RadicalxEdward @ Jan 10th 2008 3:17PM]

Hmm, you notice the spike in traffic, haven't you thought that maybe that huge spike might have to do with engadget covering CES period? There's a ton of new stuff so people are checking out the site a hundred times a day. Doesn't mean it's because of her. You don't think there would still be the same spike without her? Your crazy. Go get a girlfriend.

[Nilay Patel @ Jan 10th 2008 3:30PM]

Alternatively, this video could have been shot off the cuff by our awesome crew at Engadget Chinese as they dug through the endless crap in the IH -- but don't let that stop you from thinking that I'm somehow affected by your "heat."

[waiownsyou @ Jan 10th 2008 3:55PM]

Congratulation on being an online stalker.

[Brad @ Jan 10th 2008 3:08PM]

"we're wondering why there's no similar frenzy over Taiwanese ODM Elantech"

Well, that's easy. Apple (the obvious comparison) doesn't actually sell technology or services, they sell "hype" and "cool" - and are very good at it. When was the last time someone walked up to you while you were holding an LG phone and said "Oh, that's not an Elantech? Man, it's like talking with strings and cups with you."

The fact is that the "technology" Apple sells is pretty on-par with the rest of the world. The rabid, unchecked glee that a small number of highly outspoken users experience (and the rest of us are on the receiving end of) is the result of very impressive marketing of the exact same technology that other people use.

[Jeff @ Jan 10th 2008 5:30PM]

I'd say that the "no frenzy" comes from the fact that no one even knows who the hell "ODM Elantech" is, and the technological prowess it would take to create a multi-touch trackpad really isn't impressive or note-worthy at all.


the big difference is that when Apple actually brings something to the market, and implements it in a useful way with sophisticated software and support, well then that technology has a chance of being important. If ODM Elantech comes out with this tech... who cares? If Apple brings it out (or, say, Dell or HP, etc put this on every laptop they sell) then it could be a game changer.

And, Apple has a good track record: the mouse, cd burners, killing the floppy, USB, LCDs, 802.11x, portable mp3 players, online music downloads, etc. Apple may not have invented the tech, but without Apple pushing these as standard equipment, who knows how long it would have taken for them to truly catch on.

[Intrepid @ Jan 10th 2008 6:23PM]

@Jeff
Apple didn't push most of those technologies into the mainstream, or out in floppy's case. You may be confused because a $4000 Mac had an LCD screen when a $2000 PC didn't... but that doesn't mean Apple pushed them mainstream. They went mainstream when the PC industry started selling enough that they could sell them cheaply. Sorry Jeff...

[OneLove @ Jan 10th 2008 3:08PM]

I just want him to stop using...check it out after the break!

[Nick @ Jan 10th 2008 3:15PM]

bigger would be better

[Jake @ Jan 10th 2008 3:53PM]

That's what she said?

-jp

[ScooterDe @ Jan 10th 2008 4:03PM]

agreed. Love the Tosh. trick of turning the trackpad into a mini tablet. Make it bigger and that could be a very useful function. Touch functions, as well, would make it great. With 17" laptops in particular, the standard trackpad is way smaller than it could be.

[Nick @ Jan 10th 2008 9:58PM]

Hahaha dude jp your a saint. and yes true 17" is a definitely on the mid-large scale of laptops, maybe if there it like took most of the bottom part with about the same dimensions as the screen, or something? idk, I'm just talking.

[Chris Liphart @ Jan 10th 2008 3:26PM]

"The prototype is actually in an older Asus laptop"

This makes me wonder if the end user can upgrade parts like that. I'd love to add multi-touch to my laptop!

[cheap @ Jan 10th 2008 3:47PM]

sounds like a SLAYER ripoff band is playing in the background>

[Carl Vitullo @ Jan 10th 2008 9:35PM]

speaking of trackpads, does anyone know some good sites or specific programs that add functionality to them? i've been looking for something that makes it into a thing that's based of absolute screen location, like that thing artists use to draw on non-touchscreens.

[EDALBNUG @ Jan 11th 2008 1:03PM]

When I run Linux (Ubuntu) on my 5 year-old laptop, I could use 1 finger (left click), two fingers (middle click), three fingers (right click), and circular scrolling. I have yet to find any Synaptics driver that does the same for Windows platform except for the circular scrolling, which Panasonic wrote a specific program for it.

[EDALBNUG @ Jan 11th 2008 1:03PM]

When I run Linux (Ubuntu) on my 5 year-old laptop, I could use 1 finger (left click), two fingers (middle click), three fingers (right click), and circular scrolling. I have yet to find any Synaptics driver that does the same for Windows platform except for the circular scrolling, which Panasonic wrote a specific program for it.