Quote:
Originally Posted by BWinmill
Interesting. I seem to recall seeing demos of surface devices that used two fingers for zoom and rotate. Sure, it wasn't a pinch. But that was mostly due to the size of the device. The implementation in software should be similar.
|
The Microsoft tabletops?
They can use pinch to zoom at will: cross-license.
Lost in all the angst is that utillity patents are expected to be licensed. Companies can be sued for *not* licensing them. What most companies due is they cross-license each other's portfolios. So patenting something doesn't mean nobody else can use it; all it means is they can't use it for free. But the payment doesn't have to be cash. In fact, except for patent trolls or when dealing with newcomers to the industry (like B&N) without patents, most major companies prefer to cross-license. (Ideas are more valuable than coin.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-licensing
Anyway, pinch-to-zoom is easily replaceable. Google has a patent application from 2009 for a spiral-to-zoom gesture. It is even single-touch so it would work beautifully with the cheapest android gadgets with pressure touchscreens.
http://www.google.com/patents/US20110029917
I had a notebook PC that came with a utility that let you use gestures on a touch pad that used spiral zoom quite effectively.