A hacker known as Cyanogen has modified Google’s Android 2.1 OS to enable multitouch capabilities on the Nexus One smartphone.
According to PC World, the hack is somewhat limited at this stage, as it only enables multitouch capabilities for the device’s native browser. However, Cyanogen has reportedly pledged to add multitouch features to other Nexus One applications in the near future.
“It’s not exactly clear why the Google Nexus One does not feature multitouch capabilities,” wrote PCWorld’s Daniel Ionescu.
“Some blame it on Apple, which reportedly owns the rights to the technology, while some reports speculate that Apple and Google have a gentleman’s agreement that Google won’t enable this feature.”
Ionescu explained that Nexus One is “noticeably missing” a number of multitouch features, including pinch-to-zoom in the Web browser, maps and software keyboard.
“However, the multitouch hack for the Nexus one enables pinch-to-zoom in the browser and paves the way for gesture use in other apps as well,” added Ionescu.
Cyanogen’s Nexus One multitouch hack can be downloaded here.
