MacBook Air not only laptop getting touchy-feely

From the moment I played with the iPhone and Microsoft's Surface tabletop computing technology, I have been waiting for pinch-zooming and other motions to make their way into mainstream PCs.

The wait is essentially over.

Although it's the MacBook Air that's been getting all the ink for adding such gestures, Synaptics announced at the Consumer Electronics show last week a version of its touchpad for Windows notebooks that will also support a range of gestures, including methods for continuous scrolling, zooming in and out, and trackball-like movement.

And that's just the start.

"There will be more gestures forthcoming," said Mark Vena, vice president of Synaptics' PC business unit.

Gesture touchpads do everything that ordinary touchpads do, of course. What they add is the ability, through software, to translate finger movement into on-screen motion. For instance, the touchpad on the MacBook Air translates a twist of the fingers in the rotation of a photo on-screen.

It will take a little time before Windows PCs with the new gesture-capable touchpads hit the market. Vena said that the first models should ship in late March or early April, though he wouldn't say which computer makers have signed up for the new version. Vena said the MacBook Air announcement is helping his business, particularly with computer makers that were on the fence about redesigning models to include the new touchpad.

"None of them have been dismissive of gestures," he said. "Some have been a little more, shall we say, deliberate."

Gestures have been slowly making their way onto PCs for a while, mainly via the notebook's trackpad. For some time, Mac and Windows laptop owners have been able to scroll up and down a page by swiping their fingers along the pad.

Microsoft included support for gestures in its earliest plans for Vista, but was primarily focused on using a pen, not touch.

Toshiba showed off PCs and laptops at the Ceatec trade show in October that could be operated by gestures. Flick your wrist to the right, the page goes forward. To the left, back. Also at Ceatec, Sharp showed off a gesture screen that takes commands from three fingers. Pioneer has a GPS car unit that can be operated with gestures: touch the hologram for parking and the GPS unit tells you where the nearest lot is located.

Vena gives a lot of credit to Apple for getting consumers excited about the concept.

"The iPhone has done a great job of educating the marketplace on the benefits of touch technology and what you are able to do with it," he said. "There's just a lot more (understanding) in the minds of consumers in terms of what gestures are capable of."

Adding such gestures should be a no-brainer. It's just a better experience, much like the graphical user interface was eminently more enjoyable for most people than a character-based system. Die-hard DOS fans might have a point that command-line interfaces can be more efficient for those who like memorizing commands, but most people prefer a more natural way of navigating through a computer.

Such is the case, I believe with gestures. Take zooming in and out of the screen. Apparently, there is a feature in Windows, using the control key and the scroll wheel, that enables zooming. I didn't know about it until Synaptics mentioned it Wednesday (although I'm sure my educated readers have been doing this for years). But any product that lets me pinch to zoom in and out leaves an indelible impression in my mind.

Whether it's Surface, the iPhone, or the new MacBook Air, they all make me want to do the most important gesture--reach for my wallet.

CNET News.com's Michael Kanellos contributed to this blog.

[Blackie287]

...won't get a lot of ink....

The fact that PC tech is now following Apple, rather than fruitlessly trying to belittle it,confirming Apple's innovation as the market leader.

[supoman]

Why should it get a lot of ink?

When did it become a big deal to copy someone else's idea and market a year or two later? Woopdy doo!! The PC will be able to mimick another Mac feature!!!

[DrtyDogg]

It shouldn't get alot of ink

Touch gestures have been available on the Mac and Windows for years. Though the company that pioneered this technology no longer makes products for PCs, Apple bought them. It is nice to know that other companies are picking up where they left off though.

[Ushiikun]

Copying

All industries incorporate the ideas of their competitors into their products. Why should you let a competitor be the only one with a certain feature. Imagine if the first company that installed radios into cars was the only company who did, because people said it was unfair to copy this idea!

Who cares who comes to market first with touch tech in their computers. The important thing is the implementation.

[alenas]

Copying?

Synaptics is not copying anyone. They are inveting touch technologies and companies like Apple are using them in iPhones and etc...
So if Apple uses Synaptics, why can't Alienware?

[nmcphers]

re: Copying

There is no evidence yet that Apple is using Synaptics technology. They used Synaptics for the original iPod scroll wheel, then they developed their own. They didn't use Synaptics for the iPhone.

[ServedUp]

The Macbook Air hasn't been out...

for more than week, or for that matter hasn't even shipped, and
already the significance of the new laptop is being downplayed.

To my knowledge its the FIRST of its kind with these kind of
features. Not only is it the first to use a hybrid multi-touch like
touchpad, its also the first to use a variety of gestures to
navigate through a Desktop OS interface. And the gesture list is
growing and being patented.

Not even one PC brand name even comes close, as to how far
Apple is taking Multi-touch technology, and likely never will, as
Apple has patented most of these multi-touch gestures, that
have already become familiar to us on the iPhone & iPod touch.

Apple is so far ahead of everyone in seeking out the next
paradigm shift in technology, its not even funny.

The only way Apple's version of multi-touch (which is probably
the ideal way) were to make its way to the PC is through a
premium Apple will most likely charge.

First come first serve, Apple started the whole multi-touch craze
and they should reap the reward like Microsoft did with Win95.

For those of you who think The Surface is an revolutionary, think
again-

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q2.07/2152AFA
3-DE5C-4A92-BE17-672C7858E854.html

[maverick_nick]

Blah blah blah

Remember back in the day when Steve told Bill that, "we have better stuff than you."? Bill replied, "You don't get it. All of that doesn't matter." Back then Apple was bigger than Microsoft. Today Microsoft is the world's biggest tech firm, and Apple is still saying, "We've got better stuff."

Ha suckers!

[tonenyc]

reap the benefits of what?

applue didn't invent anything. the only person reaping the benefits of multitouch tech is that asian dude (someone help me with his name) who actually invented the technology. apple doesn't invent anything. they just take other people stuff and rebrand it. then they put up pretty billboards and get rich watching the idiots flock to the store! it's the same crappy apple with the retarded one button mose! lol.

[keyringwest]

Apple Musc make iLaptop!

pple must build iLaptop: That is code for meaning iPhone creativity
on laptop. Air missed the great multi-touch screen of iPhone.

[AJ Pants]

Catching up with Apple

Tough, isn't it?

[maverick_nick]

Not really!

Everybody tends to hype everything that Apple does - even the simple stuff. Apple simply implemented gesture computing on a couple devices before the PC, but it doesn't mean they invented it. Anyway, Apple may be ahead in certain hardware design, but they've always been behind in the software department.

[tonenyc]

catching up? lol

apple comes out with one lil new feature and all of a sudden everyone is supposedly playing catch up? HILARIOUS! apple fanboys act as if steve jobs invented multi touch screens or something. if you don't know, HE DIDN'T! but i give him credit for being the first to jump on it. and please continue to give it up to apple for continuing to sell mp3 players with no fm player and severely limited features to gullible retards who love pretty billboards and rat-sized dogs. my cellphone even has fm! lol. tell apple to catch up to that!

[jscott418]

Its not about catching up

Mac fans always seem to think that Apple creates everything.
Technology is always there. Most companies hesitate to take a
chance. Apple takes chances, sometimes they win sometimes they
don't. But with only 5% of the computer market vs say Dell with
30%. Who is more willing to take chances? No Mac fans, technology
is out there for all companies. Not just Apple.

[Ian Joyner]

Condescending

"But with only 5% of the computer market vs say Dell with 30%.
Who is more willing to take chances? No Mac fans, technology is
out there for all companies. Not just Apple."

It's who put the money into R&D. Apple puts far greater
resources into R&D, Dell almost none. Could Dell catch up by
increasing their percentage - no. Apple actually knows how to
do it and have been doing it for a long time. To understand this
read the book "The Apple Way":

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Way-Jeffrey-L-
Cruikshank/dp/0072262338

[iBuzz]

This WIMP and GUI stuff might catch on!

You know, next year Apple will be celebrating the 25th
anniversary of the Macintosh. The WIMP (windows, icon, menus,
and pointers) interface has been around even longer. And yet
here we are... still getting excited about computers that display
little windows and icons on the screen and moving a little cursor
thing around the screen using a touch pad.

Ooh... but now we can pinch! That's nice. I don't know about
you, but I'm a little disappointed on where technology has gone
in the past 20 years. I mean, weren't we supposed to have
holographic interfaces floating in air which we could reach out
and grab (as well as being able to talk to our computers) by
now?

What happened? Did all of the smart people leave the field of
computer science? Did the dot-com booms and their promises
of riches force everyone to focus on a primitive browser-based
environment that is basically good for displaying page layout but
is in many other ways a huge step backward in human/computer
interaction?

It doesn't seem like anyone has really moved beyond the original
Xerox PARC research that was done in the late 70s and early
80s. So, a pinchable touch pad. I say, eh.

[BallmerSoft]

WAY PAST APPLE ALREADY!

What do you people mean by catching up? Haven't you seen our
coffeetable?

http://****************.blogspot.com