Synaptics extends multitouch Gesture Suite to Linux, Chrome OS included

Well, it had to happen at some point. After eons of watching Mac OS and Windows users swiping away nonchalantly on their touchpads, Linux laptop buyers can now also join the multitouch fray. Synaptics has announced official Gesture Suite support for a wide range of Linux-based OS flavors -- Fedora, Ubuntu, RedFlag, SuSE, and Xandros get name-dropped, while future support for Chrome OS is promised -- which will all benefit from its set of multi-fingered touch and swipe responses. The infamous pinch-to-zoom is quite naturally included in the Suite, which will come bundled with new installations of those operating systems. We're not seeing any mention of a downloadable update as yet, but we imagine that'll be corrected in due course, whether by the company itself or the resourceful Linux community. Full PR after the break.

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Synaptics Gesture Suite(TM) Now Available for Popular Linux Operating Systems

Wider Availability of Industry-Leading TouchPad(TM) Gestures Empowers PC OEMs to Leverage Synaptics' Advanced Gesture Capabilities in Linux-based Operating Systems

SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Synaptics Inc. (Nasdaq: SYNA), a leading developer of human interface solutions for mobile computing, communications, and entertainment devices, today announced the extension of its industry-leading Synaptics Gesture Suite™ to the Linux operating system environment. This release extends the Synaptics Gesture Suite-which includes sophisticated multi-finger gestures-to OEMs that offer Linux-based solutions.

Synaptics is a recognized leader in the mobile computing and handheld human interface areas, with more than 700 million devices shipped since 1995. Synaptics has a strong leadership position in the Microsoft Windows-based TouchPad™ market and Synaptics Gesture Suite (SGS™)-currently available on a majority of Synaptics TouchPads delivered to PC OEMs around the world-allows users to enhance their productivity with thousands of Microsoft Windows-based applications available today. Today's announcement extends the industry's broadest gesture suite across a wide range of leading Linux operating systems.

"The Synaptics Gesture Suite for Linux enables our OEMs to leverage a broad range of gesture capabilities across Linux operating systems, and offers extensibility into new Linux flavors such as Google Chrome OS and additional support for touch-enabled remote control devices," said Ted Theocheung, head of Synaptics PC and digital home products & ecosystem. "SGS ensures optimized interoperability of gestures, minimal gesture interpretations errors, and proven usability performance across the widest range of TouchPad sizes from small remote controls and netbooks to large powerhouse notebook PCs, as well as customization capabilities to OEMs' exacting specifications."

Supported Linux operating systems include Fedora, Millos Linpus, Red Flag, SLED 11 (SuSE), Ubuntu, and Xandros. SGS for Linux (SGS-L) supports a wide range of pointing enhancements and gestures including two-finger scrolling, PinchZoom, TwistRotate, PivotRotate™, three-finger flick, three-finger press, Momentum™, and ChiralScrolling. Bundled with Synaptics' enhanced driver interface, SGS-L is provided free of charge to Synaptics OEM/ODM partners when ordered with Synaptics TouchPad and ClickPad™ products.

Synaptics Gesture Suite for Linux (SGS-L) helps manufacturers bring new interactivity and productivity to their notebook PC systems and other peripheral devices that use Synaptics TouchPads. To find out more about Synaptics Gesture Suite for Linux, please contact your Synaptics sales representative or visit www.synaptics.com/go/SGSL .

About Synaptics

Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA) is a leading developer of human interface solutions for the mobile computing, communications, and entertainment industries. The company creates interface solutions for a variety of devices including notebook PCs, PC peripherals, digital music players, and mobile phones. The TouchPad™, Synaptics' flagship product, is integrated into a majority of today's notebook computers. Consumer electronics and computing manufacturers use Synaptics' solutions to enrich the interaction between humans and intelligent devices through improved usability, functionality, and industrial design. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. www.synaptics.com

Synaptics, TouchPad, ClickPad, Synaptics Gesture Suite, SGS, Momentum, PivotRotate, and the Synaptics logo are trademarks of Synaptics in the United States and/or other countries.

All other marks are the property of their respective owners.