The absence of multitouch on the Google Nexus One has proved a frustrating limitation for many owners – and an arbitrary one, too, since the HTC hardware itself certainly supports recognizing more than one point of touchscreen contact.  Happily what Google won’t deliver, hacked ROMs will, and cyanogen has released a hack that enables multitouch in the Nexus One’s browser.

Actually, it’s more interesting than that, as the crafty tinkerer has made sure that his multitouch framework will work not only in the browser but be potentially recognized by other applications.  That paves the way for pinch-zoom and other multitouch gesture support elsewhere across the system – Google Maps, we’re looking at you – if developers decide to get their hands dirty and mod them.

Installation instructions (and the ROM files themselves) are here; be sure to back up your bookmarks first, though, as loading the hack will delete them and your browser settings.  cyanogen says the mod will be rolled into an upcoming ROM designed for the Nexus One.