> Thread already doing the patent thing to death on -developers;

> http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers/browse_thread/threa...

> It probably should go to -discuss if anyone wants to continue it.

> Al.

> Dianne Hackborn wrote:

>> Please don't talk about patents on this list, thanks.

>> On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 6:04 PM, Bob <bob.eb...@gmail.com
>> <mailto:bob.eb...@gmail.com>> wrote:

>>    Engadget just had an interesting article that discussed the Apple
>>    "multi-touch" patent, suggesting that pinch/zoom isn't claimed.
>>    http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/28/apple-vs-palm-the-in-depth-analysis/

>>    Please think about soft keyboards when considering multi-touch APIs,
>>    where the problem isn't detecting the distance between two finger, but
>>    rather is allowing a 2nd finger (or thumb) to come down on a 2nd key
>>    before the first finger (or thumb) has been released.  The proposed
>>    API to provide only a centroid and the distance between fingers won't
>>    work at all for this sort of application.

>>    I think you'd ultimately want to package this as additional
>>    GestureDetector subclasses, depending on whether the type of gesture
>>    detection wanted was pinch/zoom or multiple/overlapping taps.
>>    Keyboards (and maybe games) would use one class, browsers another.

>>    Providing the right information from a touch panel to drive either
>>    detector might be challenging, especially if the panel provides
>>    'unpaired' x and y coordinates rather than individual touch locations,
>>    but I believe it could be done.

>>    On Jan 13, 4:08 pm, Disconnect <dc.disconn...@gmail.com
>>    <mailto:dc.disconn...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>    > And everything I have seen says apple patented -gestures-. EG
>>    pinch to zoom,
>>    > etc. So .. ymmv. But it cannot prevent general multitouch from
>>    working
>>    > (ahem, ms surface) or - likely - even stretch to zoom (prior art)..

>>    > On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 5:31 PM, luke <luke.hu...@gmail.com
>>    <mailto:luke.hu...@gmail.com>> wrote:

>>    > > Actually I have one more question if anyone can answer it -- does
>>    > > anyone know for sure if the threat of being sued by Apple
>>    really is a
>>    > > barrier to getting multitouch on Android?  I don't need an
>>    official
>>    > > word from Google or anybody else -- I just need to know if this is
>>    > > just rumor or if it is a real possibility.

>>    > > Thanks!

>>    > > On Jan 13, 5:29 pm, luke <luke.hu...@gmail.com
>>    <mailto:luke.hu...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>    > > > On Jan 13, 5:01 pm, "Dianne Hackborn" <hack...@android.com
>>    <mailto:hack...@android.com>> wrote:

>>    > > > > Hi, this is really cool work, but I don't think we would
>>    accept
>>    > > something
>>    > > > > like this as a patch.  At the very least, re-using the
>>    size field to
>>    > > report
>>    > > > > pseudo-multi-touch information is a pretty big hack.

>>    > > > No problem, totally understandable.  I will probably put
>>    this out
>>    > > > there as a "community hack" and see if it catches on (i.e.
>>    whether
>>    > > > Market apps start appearing that use it).  I am going to
>>    hack together
>>    > > > a map and browser apps that use this for scaling, and people can
>>    > > > choose whether or not to use this on their phone as a
>>    workaround,
>>    > > > until multitouch is officially available.

>>    > > > Thanks for answering my questions.

>> --
>> Dianne Hackborn
>> Android framework engineer
>> hack...@android.com <mailto:hack...@android.com>

>> Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to
>> provide private support.  All such questions should be posted on public
>> forums, where I and others can see and answer them.

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