Speaking of the iPhone and multi-touch, the experimental Freewins plug-in shows some of the promise of Compiz Fusion & open-source hardware accelerated graphics. Someone has posted a demo on YouTube (complete with the over-the-top Bitter Sweet Symphony theme-music):
While I have reservations as to the usability of pseudo 3d interfaces it is still a positive sign that research is ongoing and the results are being released as open-source.