Palm says long taps are 'meta-taps,' impresses Solaris admins worldwide

What do you call a long press in the gesture area on a webOS phone? Well, it doesn't matter, because unless you said "meta-tap" you're wrong. That's what Palm has decreed such a touch will be called and so it shall be called -- at least officially. A long press in that area plus a key, like X, C or V to cut, copy, or paste, has been given this moniker by Palm in something of a nod to the concept of a UNIX meta key, a keyboard modifier that works like the Apple Command key or Windows Alt and Ctrl keys. Why bother with the clarification? Well, for one thing, "meta-tap X" is a heck of a lot easier to type than "hold your finger in the notification area and then press X on the keyboard," and that's the sort of efficiency we can get behind.