Firefox 4 Beta Adds Multi-touch Support [VIDEOS]

 By 
Ben Parr
 on 
Firefox 4 Beta Adds Multi-touch Support [VIDEOS]

Mozilla has released the newest version of the Firefox 4 Beta, which not only includes hundreds of bug fixes, but also adds long-awaited multi-touch functionality to the browser.

Firefox 4 Beta Version 3 comes with three main updates from its predecessor. First, it addresses several hundred bugs and exploits. Second, it includes a JavaScript update that allows Firefox to execute graphics and animations (heavy in numeric code) with more efficiency. Finally, it allows web authors to monitor and accept touch events (aka, it enables multi-touch functionality).

It's not as if Firefox 4 magically turns your monitor into a touchscreen, though. This is just the addition of support for multi-touch functionality; it's up to developers and web companies to implement touch events on their websites. It's also only available for Windows 7 for now; sorry Mac users.

Despite these restrictions, there's a lot to be excited about when it comes to multi-touch in Firefox 4. Firefox's Felipe Gomes and Paul Rouget have produced some videos that demonstrate just what you can do with the new multi-touch API:

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