Hacker cons HTC Touch Pro 2 into providing multitouch, other WinMo devices too (video)
By Tim Stevens 
posted June 12th 2010 1:52PM
posted June 12th 2010 1:52PM
Never, ever doubt the skill and determination of the guys over at xda-developers, capable of cracking any device and bringing you fresh ROMs to brighten up your stuffy gadgets. This latest bit of wunder-code isn't a full new image, rather a tiny WinMo app that does something magical: enables multitouch on single-touch resistive screens. How? Sadly developer OndraSter isn't saying just yet, but it relies on leaving one finger in place and moving the other, so perhaps it detects a jump in touch position and treats it as a pinch gesture. In the videos below it's shown working in Opera, but should work anywhere, and while the developer filmed these on an HTC Touch Pro 2 he says this will work on just about any WinMo 6 or 6.1 device. The app has sadly not been released to the wild just yet, but we hope OndraSter drops some binaries soon before he starts a riot among Windows Mobile users with more than one finger. [Thanks, Wes]
Xda
@SolidSnake
Breaking News, Love those XDA developers, they are an example of open developers community creativity.
@Beatnik
It is magical, seriously!
@Beatnik
Off topic for people interested in Football World Cup:
The game (U.S.A. vs England) starts in around 25 minutes.
@Beatnik
OndraSter is actually Wayne Rooney! That's why it's so good...
COME ON ENGLAND!
@SolidSnake If you go to any paint app on a resistive touch screen winmo phone you can test out the theory.. place one finger on the screen then place a second anywhere else on the screen.. you will immediately see a line drawn that starts from the first finger and ends exactly halfway between the first and second finger.. As long as the first finger stays put you can keep changing the second finger and you'll end up with an asterik looking doodle.. as long as the first finger stays put its accurate if you move the first finger like a true pinch zoon gesture it wont work at all.. Devs have been working on this for a few years now I think..
@SolidSnake I'm very grateful to those people at XDA who make my 3 year old WM phone run the latest OS and without any carrier specific crapware to limit it or slow it down.
I'm hoping they figure out how to get WP7 on the EVO as I doubt Sprint will have the Gold_W out any time soon. I love the EVO hardware but Android isn't ready yet for my business needs and I don't think even Android 2.2 will fix the bad battery life the EVO suffers.
@boe well its clear you've never used an EVO because I only charge mine at night while I sleep. Yesterday was the first time it died b4 I got home after 8 hours but it was my fault I streamed both world cup matches with Sprint tv.
@boe the TMO HD2 is nearly the exact same hardware as the EVO, but it runs WinMo 6.5. Theres a better chance of WP7 coming to the HD2 even unofficially than the EVO. EVO and HD2 have the exact same screens. the only differences is the camera on the EVO is a bit better and the HDMI output on the EVO is not on the HD2. And the "4g" wimax, but that's a questionable benefit, as HD2 is compatible with HSPA+ that TMO is rolling out and its been shown in several reviews that HSPA+ is better than Wimax. HSPA+ will also cover TMO's entire 3g footprint by the end of the year, while sprint continues the slow build out of Wimax over the next several years likely. Also as currently implemented Sprint's Wimax doesnt even meet the definition of 4g either, just as people got on TMO's case for claiming 4g speeds with HSPA+, but TMO was claiming speeds like 4g not that it was 4g
@SolidSnake
A heart was meant to be after "Xda". I think Engadget messed that one up...
@d0ug The HD2 and EVO 4G is NOT identical in hardware, maybe in processor, but the actual hardware is not the same. Please do your homework and research before blurting out responses like that.
If it was identical, we'd already have an Android port for the HD2, and a lot of happy non-US cell phone users :)
ahh... i first thought of this! ı got the idea when i was messing around the homescreen in 6.5.3
@chasing statues
yeah and windows 7 was my idea!
@chasing statues me too! me too!
@chasing statues
Thinking about it and DOING something about it are two different things. You fail
@tikigawd How did he fail?? If he never tried to make the app??
@Celz
Exactly
@chasing statues
The unicorn was my idea. I was 6, I was really creative. I couldn't even talk yet.
@Celz
No attempt to WIN = FAIL
I'm a Dark Lord of The Sith and blowing up Alderaan was my Idea
@Lando Calrissian Age 6 and couldn't talk yet?
@Bully
It's from The Office.
@chasing statues Actually, Mutli Touch has been wished for for WM since the first iPhone came out. . .
@chasing statues
no no, seriously, if you pull that selecting bar on the homescreen with one finger, and put the other finger on the top of the screen, the bar gets centerized between your fingers. I just've thought that if a small app that can recognize this series of gestures than woila, you have multitouch on a resistive screen. and apperently thats what this hacker has accomplished
@manofchao5 Well, you could've sold idea for win7 to Microsoft right?
@Lord Vader
corny!!!
It's probably the method some dude said like a month ago here on engadget. Has a position and if it bouces somewhere on the screen real quick it takes the new point as the middle and reverses the starting point to figure out the second finger. Only problem this would have is if the first finger moves.
@Tiptup300
They guessed right. I made an app for Android that does the same exact thing. When you press that second finger down, the touch point moves from the first finger to halfway between both fingers. Then I extrapolated that line to find the location of the second finger. It was surprisingly accurate, but not quick. And it was tough to tell the difference between moving the pointer quickly or multi-touch. It's cool, but it has to be done precisely or it doesn't work right. In my opinion it was not worth it for the app I was working on, so I scrapped it.
@Tiptup300
I think it will be easy. You can have an "anchor finger" on screen with the hand you are using to hold the device.
How cool!
Xda is beast. I mean no one else can do multitouch resistive.
@Alexpeegs Nah not really, I've seen the same technique in a DS homebrew proof of concept. Ultimately it's not that useful in the end.
@iofthestorm exactly, its not that useful. Over a month ago, I used this method for my Android game Touch Drummer, with my old resistive device HTC Touch, but it didn't work 100% of the time, like if you press one finger, then lift it and press the other finger at the same time it could miscalculate that as a multi-touch. Many bugs.
Xda-developers are the best. From WinMo phones to Androids phones. The community is amazing.
My Xperia X1i is so much better thanks to xda.
@HumanNature
+1
@HumanNature
+1 also from me !!!
I will use this as much as I use multi-touch on my iPod Touch ... hardly ever. Multi-touch is the most over-hyped technology ever with this new generation of smart phones. Sure, it's nice to have. But practical usage is pretty minimal save for a few apps.
I'll still get this when it comes out (I have a TP2) but I imagine it will remain a novelty item.
@bjsguess
I agree with you 100%. Apart from a few select apps, it's really a huge overhyped feature. I rarely ever use multitouch even though my most used apps are enabled for it. It's just really inefficient.
Wouldn't miss it even if I lost it on my phone. That said,
@ounkeo
Uh oh, another one silenced by Jobs. *Pew* Be careful when dismissing a technology like multitouch. You just might get the bald guy that designs for Apple crouched outside your house at night with a silenced handgun.
Although I must say, I do agree with you, multitouch is basically useless-- *Pew*
@bjsguess It's not even hyped as much as you think O_o multitouch is just a more precise way of zooming on devices, there really is no other use for it except that and that is already a pretty good feature, I like to zoom on a webpage or photo to the amount just the way I like it, that's why I'm happy Android devices now have pinch to zoom because the old method of zooming was pretty crappy and I couldn't get it just the way I liked it.
@bjsguess multitouch is not all pinch and zoom...it records fingers individually...you have an iPod touch, and this is for all of you with phones that have native multitouch...try playing RPG games(iPhone-Assasin's Creed) or observe how fast you write...and then try it on a phone with resistive screen...you will fail...bottom lin: you all use multitouch more than you think
Prodigious
" capable of cracking any device "
I guess I missed the post that mentioned that they were able to root the Motorola Backflip...anyone have a link to it?
The only Android on AT$T and still running Android 1.5 :-(
@zappcatt
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=643866
@zappcatt
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=653904
Sorry but I guess it hasn't been rooted? but getting warmer?
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
Pinch zoom is the most over-rated pain-in-the-ass 'feature' ever invented.
Apple tells you it's too complicated to have two buttons on a mouse but having to use two fingers to do something you SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO WITH ONE FINGER is ok...
Horse Crap... You're all idiots for eating it
people still use windows mobile?!
XDA Rocks!! Nope, nobody uses windows mobile, unless you want a powerful OS.
Windows mobile and SLOW processor !!!!
Try android and snapdragon :)