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Eee PC 900 MacBook Air Style Multi-touch Trackpad Revealed

gizmodo.com — The new Asus Eee PC 900's manual reveals it's got a MacBook Air/Pro style multi-touch trackpad, with two-finger pinch zooming, and two-finger scrolling.

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  • namae, on 03/27/2008, -21/+6I smell a lawsuit
    • Nzx0824, on 03/27/2008, -17/+3lol me to. God damn people these days can't think of anything for themselves. Especially that M8 cell phone.
    • souljaboytellem, on 03/27/2008, -5/+2if it has Mac in the name, law suits are inevitable
      • edwartica, on 03/27/2008, -2/+1Steve Jobs must be a Scientologist.
    • PleaseJustDie, on 03/27/2008, -3/+8you do know this type of multi-touch was around BEFORE the macbook air right? That it has been developed and in use in other products, not owned by apple, for years.
      • Aitese, on 03/27/2008, -1/+2Shhh...the truth makes their ears bleed.
      • supermanred, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Which ones? Not in any tablet PC I've seen... You could at least point out one example, even if it was some product that has never seen the light of day in North America.
    • LocalDocal, on 03/27/2008, -7/+2"I would ask "copyright infringement?" but then I saw the right click button."
      • justaboutdead, on 03/27/2008, -1/+3if you're going to quote someone, at least give them credit
        • LocalDocal, on 03/28/2008, -0/+0Ah, my apology for not listing the poster's name. I did put it in quotes and the quote is the first comment in the entire page, so I didn't think I need to.
      • supermanred, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2You do know Macs have had secondary clicks for over 10 years now?
    • prophetpimp, on 03/27/2008, -4/+3MS Developed Multi touch too independently of Apple. for their Surface PC. Apple can't do *****.
      • supermanred, on 03/28/2008, -1/+1Lol. That's like comparing touchscreen celphones and ipods to coffee tables that wont be on sale for another 10 years.
    • zongamin, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Idiot.
  • davidwasman, on 03/27/2008, -11/+77Good lord that title is a mouth full.

    Also, buried for being Gizmodo--another of Gawker Media's sites (like LifeHacker, I09, and 15 others) which are known to spam Digg (looking at you, MrBabyMan) and pay their submitters for it. On some days, no less than 6 of their sites are on the front page. And they steal their content.

    They're also the douche-nozzles who screwed with everyone during CES and got botted for life.
    • Sifter, on 03/27/2008, -6/+16Dude, you get my vote. Well said.
    • sagat, on 03/27/2008, -5/+4Somebody was reading this months Wired.
    • JointVenture, on 03/27/2008, -1/+2Did they mention HUFFINGTONPOST?
    • Kelmon, on 03/27/2008, -3/+8"douche-nozzles"

      Pardon? What is the obsession these days with calling idiots "showers"? That's what "douche" means. Now we're onto "douche-nozzles" - what gives? It's a fair comment that Gizmodo are idiots for their CES stunt but please learn how to use the English language to describe them properly.
      • Sifter, on 03/27/2008, -0/+9And a digg for you for being brave enough to chose Digg as the place to make your last stand for the English language....
        • Kelmon, on 03/27/2008, -2/+2Bravery or idiocy? I'm thoroughly expecting to be buried by those who have found "douche" and "douchebag" to be the new must-use words but had to ask the question. Honestly, I just find it funny that the people are describing idiots as "shower bags" and you have to wonder who the bigger idiot is.
      • Twoje, on 03/27/2008, -1/+3Douche doesn't mean "shower" in the English language. It does in French, though.
        People say "douche" because in the English language, it is an instrument used to clean vaginas. I don't know about you, but I would not want to be a douche.
        • Kelmon, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Ah, a reasonable explanation. Lovely. Wish I'd never asked now...
      • bradleyland, on 03/27/2008, -0/+3Calm down. This wouldn't be the first time in history a normally benign term was turned in to something more malicious and spiteful.
  • pathy, on 03/27/2008, -15/+8Oh god.

    No useful GPS, no slightly useful touchscreen, no would-be-nice WiMax... but a mutli touch trackpad.

    Whoop-di-frickin-doo.
    • RetepNamenots, on 03/27/2008, -0/+13And how many other laptops do you see with GPS, touchscreens and WiMax?

      Let me rephrase that, how many SUB-£300 laptops do you see with GPS, touchscreens and WiMax?
      • RobotLeAwesome, on 03/27/2008, -3/+0GPS modules are dirt cheap now, they could easily ad one without bumping up the price - I imagine the problem is the software.
        • Aitese, on 03/27/2008, -1/+1Are you new? The point is...HOW MANY HAVE YOU SEEN OUT THERE?! People are bashing a product that does not offer features it's competitors don't offer...and somehow that makes sense to you.
      • pathy, on 03/27/2008, -2/+4That's not the point, is it?

        My point is that of all the things to add, I find this the most useless. The touch-pad on the Eee is tiny, and the actual usefulness of the multi-touch pad I find in short amounts anyway.

        I would not have wanted them ALL, but rather just one. GPS would have been my prefered.
    • prophetpimp, on 03/27/2008, -0/+2You can probably hack the EEE to get GPRS if a spare PCI-e slot is available.
      Also does anyone know if those SD card interface GPS module for smart phones work with the EEE SD Slot?
    • Kelmon, on 03/27/2008, -1/+3Yes, because those features would be MUCH more useful than a multi-touch trackpad, right? Right? Wrong.
  • wpmegee, on 03/27/2008, -13/+2How about they ditch the multi-touch and put in a usable sized screen, like say, 11-12 inches? http://gizmodo.com/363243/asus-89+inch-eee-pc-900- ...
    • PleaseJustDie, on 03/27/2008, -2/+11they want to keep the overall size of the device down, if they make the screen that big they'll have to enlarge the eee PC, which would make it bulkier and no where near as easy to slip into a cargo pocket and carry around.
      • supermanred, on 03/28/2008, -1/+1Cargo pockets = No dates. Ever.

        They really could go the 12-13" size, dude. Seriously. Either fits in a pocket or doesn't. Cargo pocket indeed. The women must flock to those cargo pant wearing EEE pc users.
        • PleaseJustDie, on 03/29/2008, -0/+1Cargo pockets are the *****. Get the eee in one and DS and PSP in the other, no matter where you go, got something to do.
  • DiggOrNotToDigg, on 03/27/2008, -11/+28Isn't Apple multi-touch same as HP's TouchSmart which was out a year before??
    • sagat, on 03/27/2008, -8/+9Ssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the unwashed don't want anyone to know they were only second to the party.
      • supermanred, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1What an arrogant comment from someone who doesn't realize that touchsmart is a single touch detection system, wheras multi-touch can detect multiple fingers doing multiple things to make one gesture.

        Also, Macbooks for 4 TO 5 YEARS have had multi-touch technology, just had a limited ammount of gestures. My 1 year old macbook has it. two fingers up and down or left and right to scroll, two fingers and button to use as a "right"/secondary click, etc.
    • Octaman, on 03/27/2008, -2/+7Nope, TouchSmart only supports single touch.
    • Kelmon, on 03/27/2008, -2/+8In fairness, Apple's laptops have been multi-touch for about the past 4-years since even the PowerBooks supported 2-fingered scrolling. The MacBook Air took the concept further after the success of the iPhone interface and I certainly wouldn't buy a laptop without at least the scrolling function in the trackpad as I've been used to it for so long.
      • RetepNamenots, on 03/27/2008, -0/+5Two fingered scrolling is more software, rather than hardware-based.
        • chaosdude78, on 03/27/2008, -0/+6You're correct, the powerbooks, macbooks, and previous generation macbook pro's hardware could only detect two inputs (finger tip), not recognize what they were doing. The new trackpad hardware can recognize hand gestures.
      • Kelmon, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1Probably, although if that proves to be the case then I'd expect to see something like SideTrack (http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/sidetrack/ind ... which enabled scrolling trackpads on Apple laptops like my old PowerBook G4 Ti that didn't support the two-fingered scrolling present on later models, provide the sort of multi-touch gesture support that the Air and new MBP do. Last heard there was a hardware limitation as well but if my MBP can detect 2-fingers dragging either vertically or horizontally across the surface, why can't it detect the fingers changing position relative to each other?
        • RetepNamenots, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1No idea. But I know that Windows and linux PCs with synaptics touchpads can be set up to use two-fingered scrolling.
    • carlosos, on 03/28/2008, -1/+2If I remember a laptop that got sold about 10 years ago at Aldi (I don't remember what brand) already supported two (or three?) fingers for scrolling. I don't believe this is anything special.
  • l800LEMMINGS, on 03/27/2008, -10/+1this is a good thing more for the fact that this may prevent 1 of apples patent trolling patents
  • mGARANDEUR1, on 03/27/2008, -6/+5So wait, you are telling me that it has two buttons AND a multi touch trackpad? WOWEE!
  • deaftly, on 03/27/2008, -6/+3wow?
  • jjones20, on 03/27/2008, -4/+2I'm still gonna wait, id love one for when i'm on the train or the bus for long hauls, but i'm sure we'll see a faster model with a larger screen sooner rather than later.
    • kazamx, on 03/27/2008, -0/+9you want bigger than an 8.9", I think you want a laptop mate, not an eeePC
    • ghm101, on 03/27/2008, -1/+3just by a bigger faster laptop, plenty about
    • chingy1788, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1go on ebay and buy that chunky 3Kg 15.4" Celeron 2GHz for $500 or something
      lets see you try fit that in your pocket
  • aladrin, on 03/27/2008, -1/+24So many negative comments that are all because a $500 notebook won't do what they want a $2500 notebook to do. I'd love to be amazed, but it's a daily occurrence.

    Listen, the reason it doesn't have a 17" touch-sensitive screen and 8 kinds of built-in wireless access and quad-core 8 ghz processor are because it's supposed to be a CHEAP laptop, not a top-of-the-line money-guzzler.
    • Roger, on 03/27/2008, -6/+1Why is a touch-sensitive screen too much to ask?

      It should only increase cost by about $15.
      • RetepNamenots, on 03/27/2008, -0/+5But the whole point is that it is as cheap, yet as functional as possible. For the number of people who would actually get $15 worth of use from a touchscreen... the thing's so light you'd touch the screen and knock it over (that's not an exaggeration).
      • jjones20, on 03/27/2008, -3/+3I think its mostly the apple fans that have hard ons for touch screens, everything needs a touch screen now.
      • prophetpimp, on 03/27/2008, -0/+4It will come but later. EEE might be playing with the idea of a pure Tablet EEE.
  • timmillwood, on 03/27/2008, -4/+8I want one!
    • edwartica, on 03/27/2008, -1/+1I would rather feed the starving children in Africa.
    • Cockslap, on 03/27/2008, -0/+0Im with you on this one. If I want raw speed and all the bells and whistles ill go to me Desktop, but this EEE is awesome for on the go stuff and web browsing. Small enough to go in a large cargo pocket, I'll be getting one.
  • macgallant, on 03/27/2008, -2/+4the touchpad with gestures is cool and all, but will we be able to custom order it with more that 12gb storage and have more that 1 gb ram?
    • chingy1788, on 03/27/2008, -0/+3you can always stick in a 2GB stick of ram, my friend did and he has xp on it runs like a dream
      loads up and shuts down faster than my desktop (Athlon64 4000, 1.5GB ddr400, Sata hdd) can load up
  • a007proxy, on 03/27/2008, -5/+3I'm in for 3!
    • a007proxy, on 03/27/2008, -0/+3sorry, there is a woot-off today. I got excited.
    • edwartica, on 03/27/2008, -1/+1People like you need to have all their money taken away. Buy one, and donate the money you would of paid for the other two to charity.
  • podopie, on 03/27/2008, -7/+19For everyone complaining about Apple not supporting two buttons:
    You do realize you can set up Apple's trackpad to be the right click, right?
    Trackpad-> Check "Tap trackpad with two fingers for secondary click" Done and done.
    • Kelmon, on 03/27/2008, -7/+6I swear this is the first comment in their thread on that subject, but OK. Unfortunately, this comment is incorrect - the option actually reads "For secondary clicks, place two fingers on the trackpad then click the button", which is just as well since activating a contextual click simply by placing 2-fingers on the trackpad would be problematic. To be honest, I prefer the old Control-Click option and I'm a switcher from the PC.
      • LilyFoxglove, on 03/27/2008, -1/+4Wrong
        http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/8444/keyboardmo ...
        The "two-finger" tap is a very distinct gesture, and I can't image how one would accidentally activate it.
      • Kelmon, on 03/27/2008, -1/+1What do you mean "wrong"? I copied that word for word from System Preferences on my MBP that I'm typing this comment on. I assure you it is 100% correct. I'd be happy to upload a screenshot as evidence if that would help. With respect to the accidental activation, given that the trackpad is also used for 2-fingered scrolling, I see it as entirely possible that the beginnings of a scroll would be accidentally interpreted as a contextual-click.

        *DAMN YOU, DIGG COMMENTS REPLY* Sorry...
        • SuperSunny, on 03/27/2008, -0/+2I can tap the touchpad with two fingers and get a right click menu on my MacBook. You can enable the gesture.

          Is your Pro not updated?

          http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/3481/screenshot ...
          • Kelmon, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1My Pro is a C2D from Oct 2006 but even with all updates and OS X 10.5.2 this option is not available and all I have is the one quoted ("For secondary clicks, place two fingers on the trackpad then click the button"). Now that I can see your screenshot I can only assume that there are either differences between the MacBook and MacBook Pro trackpads, or that something changed in the models. When was your MB made?

            Just for the heck of it, please here's a link to a screenshot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelmon/2367820873/
    • simplynix, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1But wouldn't it be nice if they, you know, just gave us the second button?
  • godsdead, on 03/27/2008, -2/+3Is the screen on this one gogin to be bigger? as in not have those like 3" Black borders!?
  • Ph0tios, on 03/27/2008, -11/+6OMG...THEY COPIED MAC...STEVE JOBS THINKS OF EVERYTHING! STOP STEALING HIS GENIUS!

    P.S. PEOPLE DON'T READ BOOKS ANYMORE.
  • RobotLeAwesome, on 03/27/2008, -6/+1no no, bad EEE, bad - we want a touch SCREEN. I know I could do the hack, but it seems pointless without being able to pivot that bitch into a proper tablet.
  • blakeage, on 03/27/2008, -2/+1Ack, who wants to use those touchpads anyway....
  • fudgebrown, on 03/27/2008, -2/+2Apple's patent lawyers FTW.
  • ahvi, on 03/27/2008, -1/+3Well, I know where part of my economic incentive package is going.
  • sdlvx, on 03/27/2008, -5/+4Does anyone else find it humorous that Apple seems to think that two buttons on a mouse are too complicated, but it's OK to make it so you need two fingers to use the trackpad? It all seems kind of hypocritical to me. I'd much rather zooming in worked with one finger on the side scrollbar, but whatever.

    And stop bitching about Apple's Lawyers. Having a copyright on pinching is a lame copyright. Think about it for a minute. Apple owns the rights to pinching a screen and having it do something. I've used it before, it's an insanely over-rated feature.

    That's not creativity or anything unique, it's using the patent system to bully other companies, like what you want to do with Asus.

    And wake up, Apple would never sue Asus, because Asus makes all the Macbooks that aren't the pro-versions. What are they going to do? Sue Asus and have Sony or Dell make their laptops? Ha!
  • SwedishNinja, on 03/27/2008, -0/+2Do we really need the qualifier of "MacBook Air style"? God damn it's like arguing what will be the next "iPod Killer" all over again.
  • briguymaine, on 03/27/2008, -0/+5Anybody have a EEE PC? Is it any good? I need something for my wife.
    • RetepNamenots, on 03/27/2008, -0/+3I've got the current 7" version. The only criticism that I would have would be the screen size; so if you waited until the 900 comes out, it will be perfect.

      It's silent, so light, so small, good quality.... the OS is fine for web browsing/document writing/emailing...

      It's got more than 1 usb port...
      • briguymaine, on 03/27/2008, -0/+3cool, she just wants something for web browsing and email via gmail. I am a mac guy but I can't see buying her a macbook!
      • pathy, on 03/27/2008, -0/+4Just to give my own experience with it,

        The screen *size* for me is fine - The problem I have is the resolution. A few programs are just difficult to run on it. The 9" will almost definitely fix that.
        • briguymaine, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1that's what I'm concerned about too, thanks for your input.
    • Solertia, on 03/27/2008, -1/+1I'd recommend the Asus Eee Kitchen, it has everything she would need.
  • WomensUnderwear, on 03/27/2008, -3/+1asus are 'improving' the wrong things - users wanted xp sp3, 8-12gb ssd, 2gb ram, bigger screen, higher res, no ugly bezel, lighter, faster, tougher, price tag of 400 bucks max, available april

    asus started down this route then had a massive brain fart - chances are the end product will cost 650 minimum, arrive in november with a 4gb ssd crammed with *****, 1gb max ram, stupid fugly tiny touchpad, ridiculous doomed-to-fail botched touchscreen, 29-day warranty, candy pink/lime green case and the ones that didnt break within 3 weeks get recalled in december after apple launches huge lawsuit
    • gzusfreak, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1I would absolutely love to see you build a machine with those specs you just mentioned all for $400. Since you aren't though, how about you take a back seat and ignore what Asus is doing instead of bashing them.
    • pathy, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1The SSD is going to be bigger. It'll be able to have 1GB of RAM, the screen is as big as it needs to be (With the 9"), the res is higher on the 9", the bezel is gone, it's nearly impossible to make the thing lighter, it will be faster as time goes on (Is the Intel Atom being used in the 900s?), pricing is a tricky thing but for a machine this size it's acceptable.

      The initial OS on the original came with a lot of unneeded programs, but they were still useful now and again. Hardly *****.
  • Kelmon, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1Nice. While it's good that the Eee has this function I have to confess that I expect to see this on all laptops. I've not had the opportunity to try the multi-touch gestures for zooming, etc. but have been used to multi-touch for scrolling for years and I definitely wouldn't buy another laptop without it. Frankly, it drives me nuts when I use a laptop that doesn't have this function as it's part of my "memory muscle" for working with a computer.
  • eldridgea, on 03/27/2008, -1/+1From the comments:
    "I would ask "copyright infringement?" but then I saw the right click button."
  • TnTBass, on 03/27/2008, -0/+2These laptops offer so much for so few $$$ why would you complain when they add more features?
    Its like getting a cool Christmas present that wasn't on your Christmas list, then throwing a tantrum about not getting the gift you want.
  • SuperSunny, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1I get the feeling it's not going to be the same, and it's not truly a fully defined multi-touch surface.
  • ChanM, on 03/27/2008, -0/+0Out of all the motherboard brands I use to build PC I find that ASUS is the most reliable. Not one has ever been DOA and have been working great. I feel this product will be no different my only concern is price. If this device going to cost over 500 dollars it may put off alot of people. For another hundred dollars you can practically buy yourself a laptop.
  • z3r0c0O1, on 03/27/2008, -3/+1Lawsuit from Apple coming in...3...2...1...
  • PhireN, on 03/27/2008, -1/+1All modern synaptic touchpads support multi-touch (not sure about other bands). But there isn't any driver support for windows.

    Linux and MacOS X do have driver support.
  • dreadheadted, on 03/29/2008, -0/+0I love technology.
  • peachy12, on 03/31/2008, -0/+0i find it amusing that the vast majority of people are commenting on the technical stuff rather than the strangely suggestive pictures
  • tastyPill, on 04/07/2008, -0/+0Eee could not be compared to the Macbopk Air..
    But many people say it's much better: http://www.maconair.com/macbook_air_vs_asus_eee
    I just can not understand that. The macBook Air is a real laptop, an actual computer. The EEE PC is just a device for educational puposes... not a real computer
  • runelgna, on 05/03/2008, -0/+0here is the review of Asus Eee Pc 900
    http://laptopadvisor.blogspot.com/2008/05/asus-eee ...
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