MOTO gives straight advice on smartphone touchscreen quality (video)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted January 9th 2010 3:04PM
posted January 9th 2010 3:04PM
Update: Test under medium pressure after the break.
posted January 9th 2010 3:04PM
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And engadget continues to fail to post the other picture (where the android devices to better) or even mention the terrible corner tracking of the iPhone.
Oh biased engadget.
@Kmobs you are right, they are missing the second image, however, the iPhone still comes out on top on the medium pressure.
@Kmobs
Yep, the iPhone fans in the media are in total panic mode and are rushing out anything they can to try to defuse the amazing Nexus One hype.
So far we have:
* The infamous Engadget iPhone fanboy 'review' where he was caught faking/rigging tests to try to make his precious iPhone look better
* google 'Nancy Gohring" a columnist who has been spreading lies, among other FUD, about Google Android support forums being 'swamped'. You can see for yourself they aren't.
* Every iPhone blogger regurgitating every bit of FUD and lie they can find
Didn't really despise the iPhone and the hipster losers who buy them but after seeing the disgusting reaction from them in the media to the incredible Nexus One it is clear these people have serious issues where they have so identified with their precious iPhones that they lash out at anything they see as a threat to their self worth(aka iPhone).
Honestly, iPhone owners. Get a life. It's just a damn phone. The Nexus One is a faster and better one.
Deal with it.
@Kmobs YOUR biased. The movie shows clearly that HTC Droid Eris has worse behavior around the edges and the Motorola Droid the worse for that stair stepping effect.
It's hilarious watching every mobile 'camp' blaming Engadget for being biased.
@taligent
His biased what?
@Kmobs How is Engadget showing bias? They didn't do the test; plus the video mentions the iPhone's inaccuracy at the edges. The Android devices clearly aren't quite as accurate as the iPhone.
@taligent
It's You're ;)
@taligent They didn't even post a link to the whole article.
http://labs.moto.com/
Really? This is from the article: "The Droid Eris is actually the clear winner for edge performance — the signal tracks right off the edge of the screen very consistently."
Also whats MY bias? Its "You're"
@(Unverified) .. God damn it :p
@Yoyodyne Apps. Deal with that. Plus by the time you can get a Nexus One, a new, better iPhone will be out.
Dont forget who started this touchscreen stuff. There would be no Android without the iPhone.
@dalucci
You're right. We should all thank Palm. Oh.. and then all the other companies/device manufacturers that were doing touch screen interfaces before that.
@cocopuffz .. yep like Apple which released the Newton in 1993 (3 years earlier than the original Palm Pilot)
@Yoyodyne
Not that I don't believe you, but where is the proof of the rigging of these tests?
We need a ranking system for articles like we do for comments. "This article has been down-ranked into oblivion"
@Yoyodyne ahahaha, looks like some people just can't deal with the superiority of the iPhone and are now resorting to pathetic conspiracy accusations. Because if anyone speaks favorably of the iPhone it can only mean the reviewer is biased. How dare they speak positively of the iPhone!! Ahahahah!
I have nothing against Android phones, in fact I think they're quite fantastic but the emotional weakness of some people really shows when they are told something contrary to their beliefs.
@Kmobs Normally I hate the bias that tends to pop up on Engadget regarding anything and everything Apple related...but this isn't really one of those cases. Sure they cut out half the picture for reasons I don't understand. But they included the video and didn't exactly say the iPhone was the clear winner.
By the way, the edge performance you keep pointing out isn't THAT big of a deal compared to something like light pressure with the corner of your finger, considering most gesturing you will be doing will likely be light and quick and somewhere on the other 90% of the screen other than the far edges.
I think it's a bit more telling of your own bias that at the *slightest HINT* of good word about the iPhone, you and people like Yoyodyne are up in arms.
Especially considering this article wasn't in any way focused on the iPhone alone.
"but where is the proof of the rigging of these tests?"
People were posting the youtube videos yesterday right here on Engadget.
@dalucci Only stupid people care about number of apps.
You can get the Nexus One right now.
It is a better phone or would be if it had either a keyboard or multitouch.
The Droid and Pre plus are better then the iPhone.
I upranked you for not saying engadget is biased. You are.
-iPhone user and mac fanboy
@Yoyodyne Seriously? So it's a big conspiracy? I'm a Palm Pre guy, and I generally hate iPhone fanboys, but I'm totally on their side here. Android phones still have that linux-y feel to them, where they just haven't polished it enough to make it a fully enjoyable user experience. And posting a big thing about how Android is better and then saying iPhone owners don't have a life, it's just a phone, etc is kind of a pot/kettle situation.
@dalucci No. Apple didn't invent the touchscreen. They weren't the first to put it in a device. They weren't the first to put it on a cell phone. They might have really shown what they can do in a handheld device. They might be responsible for making the entire industry switch to capacitive touchscreens. But they didn't start it.
Personally I think everyone needs to lighten up a bit. I think engadget is fairly unbiased. Especially listening to their podcasts, you get to hear how they really feel about various tech. And they pick apart everything. So what if they like Apple? They make solid stuff. If they were praising Android all the fanboys wouldn't call it out. But then iPhone people would complain about the Android bias. To paraphrase Mitch Hedberg: "You can't please all of the people all the time, and all of those people are reading engadget."
If you want to see bias, go read All Things D or Gizmodo or Wired Gadget Labs or a million other sites.
statelypenguin "Android phones still have that linux-y feel to them"
My god are you an idiot.
The test was pretty simple on the front end, but I wonder what algorithm was used to plot the lines. It could have been simple geometry but it'd be interesting to hear what was done in the code.
As a Moto Droid user, I'll say that I don't like the responsiveness of the touch screen sometimes. I wouldn't be all that surprised if the issue lies in the software programming and can be corrected. The quality of the touch screen hardware is still solid in my opinion.
Wasn't the Kyocera 6035 the first touchscreen "smartphone"?
That was released in 2001!
@Yoyodyne And u are android fan, im not iphone user, but iphone is very simple and very intuitive with big amount of content.Main thing is content, iphone have alot of apps and that apps are really great.Andoid trying to make something special on the OS, there is much less apps, and android apps is mostly crap..
@Yoyodyne I KNOW! Of course I'm using linux right now so there's no way in hell I'd have any frame of reference.
Polish, that's what I'm after. I'm not saying that having everything all shiny like it is on an iPhone makes it better per se, but but it certainly makes it more enjoyable. But yeah, I'll admit that it's easier to remember that depending on what you're doing, different settings can be accessed at different times using the menu key. It's very handy. And of course I'd rather see kludgy icons on the top bar than something that looks more refined. But to each his own I guess.
@EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT THE EDGES...
Who gives a flying f*** about the edges? I like Android more than Apple and it clearly has lost to Apple in this test. Is Apple perfect? No, it has faults of its own but damn...could everyone stop being a fanboy for a second and actually see that whatever device you like, it's not perfect and has faults!!?
ffs...
@Yoyodyne
Your bias is what makes you look like the idiot.
As a Windows and Linux user, there is absolutely a "feel" to Linux that can put some users off. It's also why so many people like it.
Personally, I prefer the control and complexity of Linux while I'm sitting at my desk using my computer and have the time and patience to use it. However, I want nothing to do with that on a device that lives in my pocket. For me (and many others), it's a situation where simplicity becomes paramount.
Deal with it, fanboy.
@Kmobs Not bias, simple mistake. Kinda busy here.
@Kmobs
Durr ohs nos not another article clearly showing the iPhone to be better, something everyone already understands except delusional iHaters. This must be biased, yup that's it. lalala (fingers in my ears) I don't want to hear it, my distoreded view of reality is right, tests prove nothing. iPhones suxors haha fart apps lol take that losers.
If this test showed the iPhone to have those hideously inaccurate attempts at lines then this would be the highest ranked article in a long time but no, sorry not today haters, comeback with another "killer" because the iPhone remains supreme.
@statelypenguin How is Gizmodo biased? They definitely aren't mac biased, Nikon/Canon biased, or iPhone/Android/Pre biased.
@Kmobs Am sure iLovers will love this review, perhaps a little poking with the nexus one, but hey that's why there are so many people are giving their feedback with this one right? For 2 years, Google has carefully been following the trails of iPhone seeing their flaws and using it for their advantage advantage. All questions has definitely been answered: http://bit.ly/nexus-one-official-details-and-questions
@chaosmint Really? I used to love Gizmodo because they reported a lot of breaking tech news but they were really crass, and I love a smartass. But their reporting has really slipped. Check their coverage of CES this year. They didn't do any liveblogging, which really kept me coming back to engadget probably hundreds of times a day this past week. They didn't have too many updates, not much video, and most of the updates were really short blurbs instead of something that gave any real info.
But as far as their bias, come on. How many posts have they had with titles like "Apple Tablet to Redefine Newspapers, Textbooks, and Magazines." And that was in September. Maybe it will. But the article seems quite presumptuous. They've reported on the iSlate more than any other site I read, and technically it could still be considered vaporware. They constantly pump out Apple updates, which honestly I wouldn't care about if they had a lot of other content. But frankly, they don't.
@Yoyodyne
You stupid idiot, keep deluding yourself. The iphone is better than your garbage Nexus One, keep your head in the sand.
@High
Exactly, if the study showed the iphone to come in last place or heck second place. You would see how many highly ranked comments. These delusional Android fanboys can't deal with the fact that the iphone came on top. Jealous muthafuckas.
@Yoyodyne
* The infamous Engadget iPhone fanboy 'review' where he was caught faking/rigging tests to try to make his precious iPhone look better"
Do you have any proof that the test was rigged? If you do I'd like to see it. And further more, calm your self, you sound just as delusional as the "iPhone Fanboys" you talk about. No ones trying to sabotage your beloved Nexus One.
@Thomas Ricker
"@Kmobs Not bias, simple mistake. Kinda busy here."
Busy eh? Why not wait to post about an article until you've read it the whole way through then ;)
In any case, can you please add another update with MOTO's conclusions?
"The Droid Eris is actually the clear winner for edge performance — the signal tracks right off the edge of the screen very consistently."
Yeah, I bet you won't. No bias my arse. ;)
@Kmobs I'm not even sure if this is actually a valid test, since the waviness might just represent the software kinda dividing everything into a grid with more up/down movements and attempting to "round" the input towards what it thinks you're trying to get at. Which would be just fine in a grid-shaped keyboard layout.
You don't really ever need to make diagonal swipes so I'm not really sure if this is really representative of keyboard accuracy-it might be, but I don't think the waves necessarily represent accuracy of the positioning being reported at the hardware level.
@tauttvisz A lot of those Android fanbois are like any other fanbois, they just have penis envy. Google as a company is way more evil than M$ or Apple. They are plotting to take over the world!
@dalucci WTF? You think Apple and the iPhone started all this? Well done for winning Dick of the Day.
@Yoyodyne
Ummm, seems as if you comment is biased as well.
@Ryanrkm
*Your, opps
@Kmobs I did the test with my n900 and a ruler. Lines are perfectly straight... Cheers!
I like resistive touchscreen.
This test is juste biaised. The guy finger is just huge and fat.
My question is, how can you really compare using different drawing apps? Perhaps inconsistancies in the drawing problems causes issues, maybe with the apple program performing the best due to the lack of background apps?
@Kmobs
I just tried this on my Droid, and the results were halfway in-between the iPhone and the Droid results. i.e. not nearly as bad as they claim.
Also, I would have commented from the Android app if there was one.
@(Unverified) Or because the guy was drinking some heavy stuff between each test and got more and more drunk each time... explains perfectly the shape of the lines.
@MaltedVomit There's always going to be whiners. The Engadget site would be in hell.
@MaltedVomit We would have nothing to read...
@Yoyodyne Man i completely agree with you ... I cant forget the looks on Joshua's face when he was reviewing Navigation on Motorola droid ( hands on ) .... That bit of news caused stocks of garmin and tomtom to go zonkers and the whole industry was shaken at its core but Joshua was like " meh " .....
oh and did you see one of the videos circling on youtube where the host of this show "the loop" asked Joshua about the "then rumored Google Phone" in December 09... Joshua was almost pissed at the news :D .....
Oh and last but not least Joshua conducted the browser speed test for N1, !phone and the droid ( and he rigged it ) and when !phone ( or should i say Joshua's girlfriend ) came out on top , Joshua was almost proud as if he is steve jobbs.... why i say he rigged it is coz you guys can see for your self on numerous other sites how N1 is faster than Iphone....
I am an Iphone owner but unlike alot of other iphone owners i am not married to it and i dont have wet dreams about it :D ... frankly i think N1 is a fantastic phone and so is Iphone .... i dont care which one is better coz i am not into all this.... all i see is a product which is good and deserves the applause so i applaud the N1 and go back to using my phone and oh i'll definitely switch to android coz its just way more better than the prison.... why do u think they call it " jail breaking " :D .... Seriously Guys if you wanna buy a phone ( not just a smartphone ) go buy the N1 .... its a great device ....
@tauttvisz Really? Most iPhone apps are good? 90% of the apps I see on the App Store when I go on my iPod are either non-working apps with names that make people go get them (and then write 1 star reviews), softcore porn apps, terrible clones of tetris, and stupid mafia-wars-style games with every theme imaginable. However, the remaining 10% are either genuinely polished and useful or incredibly fun.
@AckbarsFist
I think the problem lies in the mentioning of the iphone's inaccuracies, but not making it an advantage of the Android devices.
If you look at it from a pure device standpoint, the iPhone is clearly a stable device for applications that use the center of the screen (maps, pictures, video, but not text fields and buttons, i.e. phone and SMS stuff). The other devices are likely the reverse (better for phone/SMS communication stuff).
I can see map navigation smoother on the iPhone, but I would never see a app-picker nor notify bar on the iPhone--which clearly works easily on any Android device.
What did we learn from MOTO's test: iPhone features can run on an Android device with medium pressure and the iPhone can never run Android (since one could never pull down the notify bar due to the inaccuracies).
Each has their advantages and disadvantages.
MOTO's conclusion: that MOTO's rating system means squat.
@Yoyodyne
Nice rant.
No one gives a fuck. I'll keep my Nokia brick.
And here's a shocker: Some people have a personal preference as to what phone they use. My.... its almost as if they knowingly pick it despite its shortcomings because its the one they like better!
Have a nice bawwwwwwwwwww.