Multi-touch is here now, no matter what Apple says

There is a lot of random talk about multi-touch out right now due to Apple’s recent “leak” about their possible tablet. Talking to a few Apple fans I came to a realization: they had no idea that multi-touch was out right now. Absolutely clueless that Windows 7 supports MT (multi-touch) and that there is a very large array of hardware that you can purchase to take advantage of it. I was actually a little amazed, but not because of the simple fact they didn’t know about it. I was amazed because they seemed so versed in the subject, but had not even done a simple Google Search to look around.

MT has been around quite a long time. Bill Buxton’s very thorough page written on the subject gives a great history and is far better than I would want to replicate here. I will quote a great line from it though, as it definitely deserves it.

Multi-touch technologies have a long history. To put it in perspective, the original work undertaken by my team was done in 1984, the same year that the first Macintosh computer was released, and we were not the first. Furthermore, during the development of the iPhone, Apple was very much aware of the history of multi-touch, dating at least back to 1982, and the use of the pinch gesture, dating back to 1983.  – http://www.billbuxton.com/multitouchOverview.html

I highly recommend reading through his page.

I have tested, played with, and tortured just about every multi-touch piece of hardware out there and I can tell you that there are some stellar pieces of equipment floating around. The Touchsmart’s are very nice. I currently use one of those as well as a few other devices.

Here is the Official Touchsmart Page as well as some nice movies showcasing the technology and features.

Remember to install the Windows 7 Touch pack if you get one to really see some of the great things that you can do using ….. both hands, or one hand, or whatever!

The Windows 7 Touch Pack includes:

• Microsoft Surface Globe
• Microsoft Surface Collage
• Microsoft Surface Lagoon
• Microsoft Blackboard
• Microsoft Rebound
• Microsoft Garden Pond

If anyone has any user experience feedback about these products, feel free to drop me a line.

A little Design Inspiration Google Reader “bundle” for you

InkSiene: New inking software from Microsoft Research, free install

InkSeine, Rethink your Ink!

If you don’t know what Microsoft Research does, go take a quick peek at their website. Microsoft Research is think tank at MSFT that explores, develops, designs, and tries to implement new technologies and thoughts. They are not harbored by having to make money. Its really just like a wonderful adult playground where your imagination is the only think stopping you.

They do some amazing work over there and some very interesting projects. They do everything from researching ways to display information, to ways to gather information from the bottom of the ocean. One thing I am particularly interested in is the project Ken Hinckley is working on, InkSiene.

Now the interesting aspects of this project are numerous, but he touches on some great things. Here is his list of features:

These are some of the cool features offered by InkSeine:

Blaze a super-fast trail by using radial menus for pen commands.
Just hover to preview the commands. Touch down in the center and
stroke towards the command you want to activate it.

Select existing ink right on the page to initiate a search.

Create queries in the context of your notes to keep track of searches,
reuse them, or return to them later.

Easily find emails, documents, ink notes, or web pages without
leaving your notes.

Drag links to the documents and web pages you find right into your
notebook.

and lots more…

I encourage everyone to go check it out and let me know what you think. To be honest, its not very often you get state of the art inking software for free, so go download and install it.

The interesting part about this is that Ken did this totally in a bubble based on user feedback. Rather than stick with the same methods as Windows, he went a different direction and innovated some remarkable things. I really like seeing something and thinking, “now that is smart.”

I currently have this running on a few machines to put it through its paces.

Check out his wonderful tutorial!

Sync and backup software

Here are the programs I am using or testing right now that all perform some sort of sync operation.

• Second Copy – $29, lots of profiles, lots of options. Needs to run all the time.
• Live Mesh – free, syncs with a cloud of 5 gig storage space. Very powerful and unique service.
• Windows Live Sync – free – powerful, does sync with other folders, but all the computers need to be online. Even if you are doing it on a network.
• Delicious Toolbar – I went to this for bookmark sync’ing because it does all browsers and it has some other decent functions like compare, tagging, etc.

Currently trying it out

• Good Sync – I am currently testing this one out. Not sure about it yet. Looks good, but only offers 3 simultaneous download profiles. You can do the paid version for $29 and do unlimited, but I don’t want to buy another piece of sync software. I like the look of the interface though.
• Sync Toy from Microsoft - free – small but powerful. Also has the ability to be scheduled in Task Scheduler so it doesn’t need to be running all the time.

Phased Out

• Google Calendar Sync - free – this only syncs one single google account and one calendar. Almost not worth mentioning.
• Foxmarks – they tried to turn this into a marketing thing. I had issues because it would only sync your bookmarks between Firefox installs and not IE.
• Sync2it – does bookmarks, but just not robust enough for any serious use.
• Cobian Backup – free, Open Source - theres also a paid version. I used it for a bit but he does not offer syncing. He only offers backups.

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