Over the last couple years, pinch-to-zoom has become a vital feature for any self-respecting smartphone, but Samsung thinks it has a better idea.
While using the web browser in Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S II smartphone, users will be able to zoom by holding two fingers on the screen and moving the phone closer and farther from their heads. The above video, recorded at CTIA 2011 by Android Community, shows this clever zoom method in action.
When I showed the video to my Techland colleagues, Matt Peckham made a good point: Shouldn’t the screen zoom in when you move the phone farther away, thus making the text larger, instead of the other way around? It’s hard to say without actually trying it out, but I’m also a little worried that the whole routine would look silly to anyone who happens to be watching.
So maybe this method — let’s call it “pull-to-zoom” — is just a gimmick, but as long as pinch-to-zoom is part of the Galaxy S II as well, I’m okay with that.
(via MobileCrunch)