The G1 generally gets good reviews but one of the things reviewers note, across the board, is the absence of multi-touch support. A coder named Ryan Gardner has solved that problem. He authored an app that proves the G1 hardware will support the ability to use two fingers at once.

See for yourself in the video below. Gardner promises to post the app as soon as he finishes tidying up the code. Now the question remains, why wasn’t it already implemented by the original G1 software coders? Curious. Curious indeed.

HP has finally formally announced the long-rumored multi-touch TouchSmart tx2 convertible tablet. The unit will be the world’s first multi-touch consumer notebook. It boasts a 12.1-inch swivel display which is LED-backlit. The tx2 comes pre-installed with Windows Vista. It also comes with a bezel-mounted fingerprint reader, an integrated webcam with microphone, Bluetooth, WiFi, stereo speakers, a multicard reader and a LightScribe SuperMulti DVD burner. HP has also loaded it with an AMD Turion X2 dual-core processor, MediaSmart 2.0 software, a VGA output, Ethernet, and at least one USB port. According to sources, they should be going on sale at the HP website any day now. The company has issued no word on pricing.

Some of the gurus in the #android IRC channel and RyeBrye, have discovered a hidden multi-touch feature in the G1. After careful examination of the commented-out code in the phone’s touchscreen driver, some were able to re-enable some multi-touch gestures.

According to Gizmodo, this isn’t the first time that HTC has shipped a phone with hidden multi-touch, but definitely a nice bonus.

Hopefully since Android is open-source, maybe someone out there in the dev space will find and enable all the hidden features of the operating system and phone.

Google has released a custom multitouch version of their popular Google Earth service for the Apple iPhone. Early reviews tout the program for it’s tactile inventiveness, giving users control of zooming, twirling and panning all with some quick finger flicks. It also uses the built-in accelerometer, so you can also pan and tilt.Google has also overlaid areas of interest with Wikipedia and Panoramio. These overlays pop up with information or photos in an in-app browser. It seems to pack quite a punch for an iPhone application. Some reviewers have said it’s even better than the desktop version.

And the best part? It’s free. Head on over to iTunes to try it out.

Microsoft has announced that it’s Surface Multi-touch computer will be considerately more expensive than previously thought. An earlier press release listed the computer with a $10,000 retail tag, however that figure will end up closer to $13,500. That steep price even takes into account a 10 percent discount.

Microsoft Surface is a Multi-touch product from Microsoft. The computer was developed as a software and hardware combination that allows a user to manipulate digital content by way of natural motion, hand gestures, or physical objects. The official release date is early 2010.