Help Samsung Moment multi-touch?

[glomgold]

Hello everyone!

I currently own a Palm Pre and I'm ready to ditch it for an Android device. Don't get me wrong, webOS is clean and has a lot of potential, but for now...lacking would be a good (albeit understated) word to describe it. I want to jump the Pre ship for the Samsung Moment, but one thing I keep reading about the Moment is bothering me - everyone says it doesn't have multi-touch. However, I recently read that multi-touch is something Android doesn't yet support. This knowledge was previously unbeknownst to me since I haven't used an Android device since the G1 first launched. Since the Moment uses a standard Android build, the OS wouldn't allow multi-touch even if the phone were capable of it. So my question is:

Does anyone know whether or not the Moment is capable of multi-touch?

If it's simple a shortcoming of Android, I can deal with it since I know Android 2.0 should finally support it.

TIA!

 

[Naresh]

Samsung Moment will be available from sprint only form Nov 1
It has a Touchscreen with touch-pad and a Full QWERTY Keyboard

Samsung Moment, the Android phone will be available beginning Nov. 1 | Gizmoji - the Gadget Blog

 

[johnbarry3434]

Hello everyone!

I currently own a Palm Pre and I'm ready to ditch it for an Android device. Don't get me wrong, webOS is clean and has a lot of potential, but for now...lacking would be a good (albeit understated) word to describe it. I want to jump the Pre ship for the Samsung Moment, but one thing I keep reading about the Moment is bothering me - everyone says it doesn't have multi-touch. However, I recently read that multi-touch is something Android doesn't yet support. This knowledge was previously unbeknownst to me since I haven't used an Android device since the G1 first launched. Since the Moment uses a standard Android build, the OS wouldn't allow multi-touch even if the phone were capable of it. So my question is:

Does anyone know whether or not the Moment is capable of multi-touch?

If it's simple a shortcoming of Android, I can deal with it since I know Android 2.0 should finally support it.

TIA!

Good choice on ditching the Pre, Android has much greater potential and is already better in my opinion than the webOS. The answer is a definite yes, the Moment is completely capable of multi-touch and, when updated, will have a little taste of multi touch from the reports on Android 2.0. Still no pinch and zoom yet however with the new version of the OS. Things like double tap to zoom in on maps have been reported to be included. Here's a boy genius report link about Android 2.0:

BGR Android 2.0 Screenshot Walkthrough

 

[glomgold]

OK cool, thank you guys. Lack of multi-touch wouldn't have completely killed the appeal of the Moment/Android for me, it just seems like a feature that every touchscreen device should have nowadays. A lot of Hero fans from the news story comments I've been reading have said the Moment wont have multi-touch, which really confused me.

Now the only thing I'm somewhat concerned about is that I keep hearing Samsung doesn't support their phones I was planning on rooting any Android device I got, but it really irks me when companies don't support their products. I'll still check out the Moment and decide whether now's the time to jump over to Droid or not.

 

[mujiber]

No, the Samsung Moment will NOT support multi-touch like the Pre. Contrary to what else was said on this forum, Android 2.0 will NOT support multitouch - unfortunately. How do I know? Because the new Motorola Droid phone is running Android 2.0 and there have been several reviews already, that described all of the new updates - multitouch is not supported in Android 2.0 Eclair... I'm not sure why not.

See here:

First pics of Motorola Droid with Android 2.0 build (maybe) | Ed Burnette’s Dev Connection | ZDNet.com

 

[rcyphermd]

I just switched from the Pre to Hero and am VERY happy. Sorry for the stupid question, but what exactly is multitouch mean? Does hero do it?

Thanks for helping a non-geek understand.

 

[mujiber]

Multitouch means you can use more than one finger to perform certain actions - like pinching to zoom in while browsing the web. Android does not support it at all at the moment, however, HTC in making the hero, created a unique UI (user interface) that overlays on top of the Android base, and the UI from HTC does actually support multitouch.

I personally am still unsure which phone to switch to. I am debating between the pre, the hero, and the moment. The Hero has the slowest processor of them all, but the hardware seems sturdily built, which is my concern with the Pre. The moment looks like a great phone, but I keep hearing that Samsung doesn't support their phones - so it would blow if I bought the Moment and Samsung never released Android 2.0 (or any later versions) because their service blows. Who knows.

 

[rcyphermd]

I had the Pre. I thought it was a great phone with HUGE potential. Loved the webos concept. Not enough apps yet for medical professional and a very slow calendar caused me to switch the hero. I am very happy with it.

And thanks for the explanation!

 

[forty2]

Not enough apps yet for medical professional and a very slow calendar caused me to switch the hero.

Funny, since Android is the only smartphone platform that Epocrates still hasn't offered support for and that's the only med program that really matters. Of course you can always access the html version and there are rumors that Android support is on the way, but I'm just saying...

 

[rcyphermd]

actually I like Davis drug guide as well as epocrates. So I am quite content. Just not having to deal with the pre's constant lag is a relief. How Palm could screw up all its good PIMS is beyond my understanding. As others have said, they are going after apple's customers, not business/RIMs clients.

 

[aznsmith]

this article says that the Moment has a resistive touchscreen. I'm not sure what that will do to the multitouch functionality.

 

[johnbarry3434]

Resistive touchscreens are fully capable of multitouch.

 

[GalaxyMeh]

I personally am still unsure which phone to switch to. I am debating between the pre, the hero, and the moment.

How about the Galaxy? This HTC Hero vs. Samsung Galaxy comparison may help.

As for Samsung not supporting their phones... they have put out firmware updates a quite a fast pace, averaging at least one per month. There is also the GalaxHero ROM which drakaz works on, and which has had a final release last week.

 

[johnbarry3434]

Sounds like samsung supports their devices to me.

 

[glomgold]

Vincent Nguyen over at Slash Gear got confirmation directly from Samsung that the Samsung Moment is a resistive touchscreen device, not capacitive. That's very disappointing, and this news officially removes this phone from my list of potential upgrades. I'd really like to get an Android device, but since I'm not a huge fan of the Hero look, I might be stuck with my Pre

Here's what Vincent posted:

Just got confirmation from Samsung:

“Hey Vincent,
The Moment’s display is resistive and is plastic.



Thanks,
Brett – MWW PR for Samsung”


Here's a link to the article: Samsung Moment first-impressions - SlashGear


The above text is located in the comments section.

_____

 

[pwabbit]

That would be sad if the Moment has a resistance screen. The capacitive screen is so much more responsive (IMHO). The screen would be a deal breaker for me. The Sprint Hero with its multi-touch/capacitive screen is sounding like a better choice.

 

[Deleted User]

All of the videos of people using the Moment don't make it look resistive to me. The guy from Slashgear couldn't figure it out for himself what kind of screen it was, I don't think I'll be listening to him no matter what someone from Samsung tells him.

When I see a video of a stylus working on the screen, I'll believe it.

 

[aznsmith]

All of the videos of people using the Moment don't make it look resistive to me. The guy from Slashgear couldn't figure it out for himself what kind of screen it was, I don't think I'll be listening to him no matter what someone from Samsung tells him.

When I see a video of a stylus working on the screen, I'll believe it.

His first assumption was that the screen was resistive. He just wanted to get written proof of it because everyone thought it was capacitive.

 

[Deleted User]

His first assumption was that the screen was resistive. He just wanted to get written proof of it because everyone thought it was capacitive.

Whats there to assume about? Pick up a stylus... does it work? If yes... resistive, if no... capacitive.

I would be REALLY disappointed if this were resistive.

 

[glomgold]

Just because the guy is kind of dumb and couldn't figure out if the phone is resistive or capacitive on his own, that doesn't take away the fact that the Samsung rep said it's a resistive screen. Also, in all the spec lists I've seen for this phone, the touchscreen is never listed as capacitive.

If the screen is indeed resistive, I'm going to be disappointed big time.

 

[Deleted User]

Mobileburn's review states it is capacitive. I went back and looked at all the videos too, and unless Samsung developed an amazing resistive touchscreen technology without us realising, it's capacitive.

The quote from Samsung is from a PR rep, and I don't trust those any further than I can throw 'em.

 

[aznsmith]

I hope it's capacitive, so it'll make a better choice if i decide to exchange my hero for the moment. although, there's another side of me that wants it to be resistive, so i'll keep my hero without regrets.

 

[GalaxyMeh]

Sounds like samsung supports their devices to me.

Maybe they do so in terms of firmware updates, but the included software, Samsung New PC Studio, is a joke. WTF, I paid $600 for a device and can't synchronize it with my PC? This is ridiculous. The iPhone is a terribly closed device, but Apple at least made sure that everything works and works well.

I don't want to use Google Calendar or some online service to synch my private contacts and appointments from Outlook. I have the phone connected to the PC - let me synch them! WTF.

 

[Edaze55]

Maybe they do so in terms of firmware updates, but the included software, Samsung New PC Studio, is a joke. WTF, I paid $600 for a device and can't synchronize it with my PC? This is ridiculous. The iPhone is a terribly closed device, but Apple at least made sure that everything works and works well.

I don't want to use Google Calendar or some online service to synch my private contacts and appointments from Outlook. I have the phone connected to the PC - let me synch them! WTF.

LOL Really? You mean like how they removed tethering from iPhones on carriers that didnt support it?

Im sorry, but if I buy a device, I dont care if its a phone or a camera or a remote control, I dont believe that the manufacturer should be telling me how I can use my phone. I never understood why people accepted this "practice" from Apple.

Can you imagine the outrage if Microsoft did anything like this? Yet people accept it when Apple does it?

The real reason the device works so well is because they dont allow you to see behind the curtain. So to speak. If they allowed true multitasking on the phone, Im sure you would see an entirely different iPhone.

Furthermore, Apple controls both the OS and the device. The same cant really be said for Samsung & Android. The lack of ability to sync with Outlook is Androids shortcoming and therefore lies on the shoulders of Google rather than Samsung, IMO.

 

[forty2]

FYI - The SlashGear review has been updated with confirmation that the screen is in fact capacitive.