U.S. patent application number 14/456977 was filed with the patent office on 2014-11-27 for mobile telephone with improved man machine interface.
The applicant listed for this patent is Motorola Mobility LLC. Invention is credited to Christopher De Bast.
Application Number | 20140351759 14/456977 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 9886012 |
Filed Date | 2014-11-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140351759 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
De Bast; Christopher |
November 27, 2014 |
MOBILE TELEPHONE WITH IMPROVED MAN MACHINE INTERFACE
Abstract
The present invention envisages a GSM mobile telephone in which
a line of icons is displayed on a display. As a user navigates
through the displayed line of icons, the positions of the icons
alter so that the selectable icon moves to the head of the line.
This approach makes it very clear (i) which icon is selectable at
any time and (ii) where that icon sits in relation to other icons
at the same functional level (e.g. only first level icons will be
present in one line). First level icons typically relate to the
following functions: phonebook; messages; call register; counters;
call diversion; telephone settings; network details; voice mail and
IrDA activation.
Inventors: |
De Bast; Christopher;
(Buckinghamshire, GB) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Motorola Mobility LLC |
Libertyville |
IL |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
9886012 |
Appl. No.: |
14/456977 |
Filed: |
August 11, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12109089 |
Apr 24, 2008 |
8812057 |
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14456977 |
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11646356 |
Dec 28, 2006 |
7624357 |
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12109089 |
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10203714 |
Mar 3, 2003 |
7283845 |
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PCT/GB01/00665 |
Feb 16, 2001 |
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11646356 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/829 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 1/72547 20130101;
G06T 13/80 20130101; G06F 3/0338 20130101; H04M 1/72522 20130101;
H04M 1/72583 20130101; G06F 3/04842 20130101; G06F 3/0482 20130101;
G06F 3/04817 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/829 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/0484 20060101
G06F003/0484; G06F 3/0481 20060101 G06F003/0481; H04M 1/725
20060101 H04M001/725 |
Claims
1. A handheld communications device, comprising: a memory in which
a first set of at least three icons are stored, each one of the at
least three icons in the first set being associated with a
function, wherein text associated with each one of the first set of
icons also is stored in the memory; a display coupled to the
memory; a circuit coupled to the display and the memory, the
circuit being adapted to cause each icon in the first set of icons
to be shown on the display in an array in which the at least three
icons in the first set of icons are in a particular relationship
with respect to each other, a first one of the icons in the first
set of icons being shown as a selectable icon with the text
associated therewith being shown at a fixed location on the
display; and a selection device coupled to the circuit, the circuit
being adapted to receive user input from the selection device to
navigate through the array of the first set of icons and thereby
cause different ones of the first set of icons to be shown on the
display as the selectable icon and to cause the text associated
with the one of the first set of icons that is shown as the
selectable icon to be shown at the fixed location on the display,
wherein the selection device is adapted to be actuated in at least
first and second ways so that, when the circuit receives an input
that the selection device has been actuated in the first way, the
position of the selectable icon in the array defined by the first
set of icons is moved in a first direction with respect to the
array and so that, when the circuit receives an input that the
selection device has been actuated in the second way, the position
of the selectable icon in the array defined by the first set of
icons is moved in a second direction with respect to the array that
that is opposite to the first direction, wherein, when a particular
one of the at least three icons in the first set is shown as the
selectable icon, and when the circuit receives an input that the
selection device has been actuated to select the selectable icon, a
second set of at least two icons is shown on the display, each of
the second set of at least two icons being associated with a
function that is related to but at a lower level than the function
associated with that of the selected selectable icon, wherein, when
the second set of icons is shown on the display, one of the second
set of icons is shown as the selectable icon without substantially
increasing its size with respect to any other icon in the second
set of icons, with the text associated therewith being shown at a
specific location on the display device, wherein, after the second
set of icons is shown on the display, and when the circuit receives
an input that the selection device has been actuated in the first
way, the position of the selectable icon in the array defined by
the second set of icons is moved in a first direction with respect
to the array and so that, when the circuit receives an input that
the selection device has been actuated in the second way, the
position of the selectable icon in the array defined by the second
set of icons is moved in a second direction with respect to the
array that is opposite to the first direction, and wherein, after
the selection device has been used to select one of the second set
of icons that is shown as the selectable icon, a third level
function comprising at least one text sequence is shown on the
display.
2. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein the
handheld communications device comprises a cellular telephone.
3. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein the
specific location and the fixed location are the same location.
4. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein the
position of the selectable icon on the display device does not
change as a user manipulates the selection device to navigate
through the array defined by the first set of icons.
5. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein the
position of the selectable icon on the display device does not
change as a user manipulates the selection device to navigate
through the array defined by the second set of icons.
6. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein, when the
first set of icons is shown on the display and whenever the
selection device is actuated in either the first or second
direction, the position on the display of the icons of the first
set of icons moves with respect to the display.
7. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein, when the
second set of icons is shown on the display and whenever the
selection device is actuated in either the first or second
direction, the position on the display of the icons of the second
set of icons moves with respect to the display.
8. The handheld communication device of claim 1, wherein the array
formed by the first set of icons comprises a linear array.
9. The handheld communication device of claim 1, wherein, when the
first set of icons is being shown on the display, the position of
the selectable icon is the array defined by the first set of icons
can be moved only in the first and second linear directions.
10. The handheld communication device of claim 1, wherein the array
in which the first set of icons is shown on the display comprises a
generally non-circular array.
11. The handheld communication device of claim 10, wherein, when
the first set of icons is shown on the display, at least three of
the icons in the first set of icons are collinear with respect to
each other.
12. The handheld communication device of claim 1, wherein the
selection device is adapted to be moved in first and second
directions.
13. The handheld communication device of claim 12, wherein, when
the circuit receives an input that the selection device has been
moved in the first direction, the position of the selectable icon
in the array defined by the first set of icons is moved in a first
direction with respect to the array and so that, when the circuit
receives an input that the selection device has been moved in the
second direction, the position of the selectable icon in the array
defined by the first set of icons is moved in a second direction
with respect to the array that that is opposite to the first
direction.
14. The handheld communication device of claim 13, wherein the
first direction in which the selectable icon is moved in the array
of the first set of icons comprises a linear direction.
15. The handheld communication device of claim 13, wherein the
second direction in which the selectable icon is moved in the array
of the first set of icons comprises a linear direction.
16. The handheld communication device of claim 13, wherein, when
the circuit receives an input that the selection device has been
moved in the first direction, the position of the selectable icon
in the array defined by the second set of icons is moved in a first
direction with respect to the array and so that, when the circuit
receives an input that the selection device has been moved in the
second direction, the position of the selectable icon in the array
defined by the second set of icons is moved in a second direction
with respect to the array that that is opposite to the first
direction.
17. The handheld communication device of claim 16, wherein the
first direction in which the selectable icon is moved in the array
of the second set of icons comprises a linear direction.
18. The handheld communication device of claim 16, wherein the
second direction in which the selectable icon is moved in the array
of the second set of icons comprises a linear direction.
19. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein, when
the first set of icons is shown on the display, none of the first
set of icons overlap any other of the first set of icons.
20. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein, when
the circuit receives an input from the selection device to navigate
through the array of the first set of icons, different ones of the
first set of icons are shown on the display as the selectable icon
without substantially increasing the size of any icon.
21. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein, when
the circuit receives an input from the selection device to navigate
through the array of the second set of icons, different ones of the
second set of icons are shown on the display as the selectable icon
without substantially increasing the size of any icon.
22. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein, when
the second set of icons are shown on the display, they are shown in
a linear array.
23. The handheld communications device of claim 1, wherein, when
the second set of icons are shown on the display, none of the
second set of icons overlap any other of the second set of icons.
Description
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 12/109,089, filed Apr. 24, 2008, which is a divisional of
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/646,356 filed Dec. 28, 2006,
which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/203,714 filed
Mar. 3, 2003, which claims the benefit of international application
no. PCT/GB01/00665, filed Feb. 16, 2001.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to a mobile telephone and in
particular to a mobile telephone with an improved man machine
interface. The term `mobile telephone` used in this patent
specification should be expansively construed to cover any kind of
mobile device with communications capabilities and includes radio
telephones, smart phones, communicators, and wireless information
devices. It includes devices able to communicate using not only
mobile radio such as GSM or UMTS, but also any other kind of
wireless communications system, such as Bluetooth.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
[0003] One of the problems facing the designers of mobile telephone
user interfaces (often called `man machine interfaces` or `MMIs`)
is how to allow the user to comprehend the internal status of the
mobile telephone. For example, to select or initiate a function
(e.g. to open an address book function, enter a PIN security number
or to alter the ring melody) a user has to understand that the
status of the telephone is such that the function can be selected
or initiated. A closely related problem is how to enable a user to
confidently alter the internal status of the phone. This process
can be thought of as the problem of how to enable a user to
confidently navigate through the feature set of the telephone.
Because many quite intricate operations have to be mastered early
on for most mobile telephone users (setting security codes,
altering ring melodies etc.), it is particularly important to
facilitate the task of navigating to and activating features in the
required way.
[0004] In addition, mobile telephones offer a very wide (and ever
increasing) range of functions. The design of an effective MMI
which can be (a) easily navigated by novices yet is (b) flexible
enough to enable a large number of functions to be included, is a
very challenging task In fact, it is widely acknowledged that few
mobile telephone owners regularly use any but the most basic
telephone features because current MMIs are difficult to fully
understand. Hence, the technical problem of effectively enabling
the user to understand the internal status of the mobile telephone
has to date been inadequately addressed.
[0005] One of the reasons why many conventional MMIs are inadequate
is that mobile telephones are small handheld devices which
generally include small display screens. The size of display
screens, even for PDA type devices, is far too small to handle a
rich and effective MMI, such as the Apple Macintosh Operating
System MMI. As a consequence, MMI designers have tended to use text
based MMIs, even though the superiority of graphical user
interfaces has long been accepted in the desktop computing
environment.
[0006] Conventionally, the small display size has also meant that
several hierarchies of functions have to be offered to a user: the
interface can be thought of as having many layers, with the user
having to first locate the correct top level function and then,
within that function, progressively drill down (sometimes through 3
or more layers) to complete the required task. Hence, for example,
if a user wishes to enter a new telephone number into an address
book stored on the mobile phone, he has to locate a top level
function, typically called `Address Book`. He then selects that
function and is presented with a list of second level functions
relevant to the `Address book` top level function. These second
level functions typically include options for reading the contents
of the Address Book, entering a new number and password protecting
access to the address book. Say the user selects the option for
entering a new number; he then is presented with a third level
screen display asking him to complete various fields with the
contact information.
[0007] With pure text based, multi-level MMIs, it can be very
difficult for users to build up an understanding of the structure
of the MMI; without understanding, it is very difficult to navigate
extensively.
[0008] Very recently, some manufacturers have introduced GSM mobile
telephones which are beginning to move away from the text only MMI.
For example, the Philips Xenium telephone can display several icons
on screen: Nokia and Mitsubishi have GSM telephones which can
display one icon on a screen at a time. Reference may also be made
to some PC operating systems and applications, in which a
contextual help system is used: when the user places the mouse
arrow over an icon, folder etc. for more than a couple of seconds,
a help call-out or balloon appears with an explanation of the
function of the icon, folder etc.
[0009] It is particularly important that the physical device(s)
used to control navigation are not only easy to operate but also
that the way in which they are controlled intuitively matches up
with the navigation tasks to be accomplished. Conventionally, these
navigation devices are 4 separate buttons (for example, for Up,
Down, Accept and Reject). A user has to carefully select the
correct button. That generally means that the user has to take his
eyes off the screen. In some devices, a single rocker switch will
overlie 4 separate buttons. But rocker switches can also require a
user to take his eyes off the screen and instead concentrate on
selecting and using the navigation button correctly. That in turn
makes it far harder, especially for the inexperienced user, to
follow and concentrate on the MMI. Where the MMI is difficult to
follow anyway (as with text based, multi-level conventional GSM
telephones, for example), navigation devices which require a user
to take his eyes off the screen can be difficult to use.
STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention,
a mobile telephone comprises:
[0011] (i) computing means for storing representations of one or
more icons; and a
[0012] (ii) display operable to be controlled by the computing
means to display one or more icons characterized in that the
display is operable to show an array of several icons, the
arrangement of the array altering as a user navigates through the
array in a manner that visually indicates that the status of the
computing means is such that the function associated with a single
icon can be selected or initiated.
[0013] Typically, there will be an array which is a linear array of
icons. A single icon is then distinguishable from the other icons
by, for example, being at a prominent position within the array,
such as at one end or the middle of the array. A circular array is
also a possible option. The function associated with that single
icon can be readily selected or initiated using a navigation tool
such as a joystick. The icon itself can be thought of as being
`selectable`. The selectable icon may also have displayed in
proximity to it a word or words describing the function of the icon
to (i) give it even greater prominence and (ii) to make its
function explicitly clear.
[0014] The icons in the array may be animated so that their
positions on the display alter as a user navigates through them.
For example, the icons in the linear array can be animated to
appear to move forward along the line of the array as different
icons become selectable, i.e. as the user navigates along the
line.
[0015] Preferably, selecting an icon in an array causes some or all
of the other icons in the array to alter in appearance and/or
position. The alteration may be an animation in which the other
icons appear to twist or revolve and turn into different icons.
This may act as an indication that one is changing levels (e.g.
from a top level function to a second level function) and aids
understanding of the MML
[0016] The present invention envisages a GSM mobile telephone
embodiment in which a line of icons is displayed on a display: one
of the icons is clearly selectable by for example being at the head
of the line and being the only icon with explanatory text
associated with it, typically in a balloon format. As a user
navigates through the displayed line of icons, the identity of the
selectable icon changes; this is reflected in the positions of the
icons altering so that the selectable icon moves to the head of the
line. This approach makes it very clear (i) which icon is
selectable at any time and (ii) where that icon sits in relation to
other icons at the same functional level (e.g. only first level
icons will be present in one line). First level icons typically
relate to the following functions: phonebook; messages; call
register; counters; call diversion; telephone settings; network
details; tools; voice mail and IrDA activation.
[0017] A zoom (i.e. magnification) function is preferably also
provided by which a user can cause the size of the icon and/or the
word or words explaining the function of that icon displayed on the
display to be altered. The zoom function may be controlled by a
volume up and a volume down button.
[0018] In one embodiment, the data representing an icon is stored
in memory; the same data can be used to display the icon at normal
size (typically 16.times.16 pixels) and also at one or more
different sizes, such as an extended size (64.times.64). This
scalability removes the need to store multiple representations in
memory and therefore saves memory; instead a software algorithm
alters the displayed size of the icon.
[0019] In another aspect, there is provided a mobile telephone
comprising:
[0020] computing means for storing representations of one or more
icons: and a
[0021] display operable to be controlled by the computing means to
display one or more icons;
[0022] characterized in that the display is operable to show an
array of several icons, the appearance and/or position of some or
all of the icons in the array altering as a user selects an icon to
visually indicate that the status of the computing means is
changing.
[0023] The alteration may be an animation in which some or all of
the icons appear to twist or revolve and turn into different
icons.
[0024] In a final aspect, there is provided a mobile telephone in
which the idle screen alternates with an alert screen, each screen
appearing for a pre-determined time. This leads to the layout of
the idle screen not being cluttered with any kind of alert
messages: conventionally, an alert message will be included
together with the idle screen (e.g. `I missed call`; `You have a
SMS`), but that clutters the screen and can obscure important
branding information. In the present embodiment, the idle screen is
shown for 5 seconds, and then an alert screen for 5 seconds if
there are any alerts. The screens alternate until the user reads or
reviews the alert screen in some way. Accessing the alert screen
can take the user directly to the menu(s) which allow the user to
respond to the alert. Hence, if the alert is that a SMS message has
come in, once the user has seen that alert screen, is he offered a
direct route into reading the message and/or responding to the
message.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] The invention will be further described with reference to
the accompanying drawings in which:
[0026] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a mobile telephone in accordance
with the present invention;
[0027] FIG. 2 is a side view of a mobile telephone in accordance
with the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the possible movement which a
joystick may make;
[0029] FIG. 4 is a screen shot showing a top level screen;
[0030] FIG. 5 is a screen shot showing the top level screen
displayed when a user navigates down one step through the top level
screen functions shown in FIG. 4;
[0031] FIG. 6 is a screen shot showing the second level screen
displayed when a user navigates one step deeper into the Phone Book
function shown as selected in FIG. 4;
[0032] FIG. 7 is a screen shot showing the second level screen
displayed when a user navigates down one step through the second
level screen functions shown in FIG. 6 (i.e. down through the Phone
Book functions);
[0033] FIG. 8 is a screen shot showing the second level screen
displayed when a user navigates down one further step through the
second level Phone Book functions shown in FIG. 7;
[0034] FIG. 9 is a screen shot showing the second level screen
displayed when a user navigates up one step through the second
level Phone Book functions shown in FIG. 8;
[0035] FIG. 10 is a schematic showing the effect of zooming on icon
size;
[0036] FIG. 11 is a schematic showing the effect of zooming on menu
text size;
[0037] FIG. 12 is a schematic showing the effect of zooming on
message text size;
[0038] FIG. 13 is a screen shot showing how the idle screen
alternates with the alert
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0039] Referring now to FIG. 1, a GSM mobile telephone is shown
generally at 1. It includes the conventional features of a display
2, a start call button 4, an end call button 3 and numeric keys
indicated generally at 6. Start call button 4 is commonly labeled
with a green telephone handset shown off-hook or marked with the
word `SEND`. End call button 3 is commonly labeled with a red
telephone handset shown on-hook or marked with the word `END`. In
addition, it also includes a joystick 5, which can be more clearly
seen in FIG. 2 as comprising a short cylindrical member up standing
from the front face of the telephone 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the
joystick can be readily pushed by a user in one of 4 different
directions. Joysticks of this kind are available from ITT Canon
(ref. TPA 413G).
[0040] The MMI allows fast, intuitive navigation to take place.
That is best appreciated from FIGS. 4 to 9. FIG. 4 is a screen shot
showing a top level screen; the Phone Book icon is readily
understood by a user to have been reached since it is (a) at the
top of its line, (b) is coupled with the cartoon style call out
including the explanatory text `Phone Book` and (c) no other icons
include explanatory text. Hence the user is informed that the
internal status of the telephone is such that Phone Book functions
can be selected. (From a theoretical perspective, the mobile
telephone can be though of as a state machine; effectively
representing the actual state to a user and enabling the user to
alter the condition of the state machine is the task of the
MMI).
[0041] In FIG. 4, the next icon down the line is a telephone with
an arrow. This represents the `Diversion` function. To reach the
Diversion function, the user nudges the joystick down. FIG. 5 shows
the result: the Diversion function is shown at the top of the line,
accompanied by a call out balloon stating `Diversion`. Coupling the
downwards nudge of the joystick with moving downwards through a
line of icons makes navigation easily understood and readily
achieved without any need for the user to takes his eyes off the
display.
[0042] Returning to FIG. 1, the Phone Book function can be selected
by simply nudging the joystick to the right; this takes the user to
the Phone Book related features depicted in FIG. 6--a second level
set of functions/features. The user is going deeper into the levels
now, so that a nudge to the right is a natural way of expressing
this movement. Each of the four top level icons appear to twist
around through 180 degrees when the joystick is nudged to the
right. Four icons appear to continue twisting around, but these are
now icons of the second level functions related to the Phone Book
function. These 4 new icons appear to rotate through 180 degrees to
yield the FIG. 6 display.
[0043] FIG. 6 shows that the `Consult` feature has been reached
since the associated icon plus call out is at the top of the line.
The `Consult` feature can be selected simply by nudging the
joystick to the right again. A phone book would then be displayed.
If a different Phone Book feature is needed, then the user has to
navigate down the list of second level Phone Book icons. One nudge
down of the joystick takes the user to the display shown in FIG. 7:
the feature `Draft` has now moved to the top of the line and is
accompanied by the call out `Draft`. This icon, plus the other
icons further down, appear to move up the line. The `Draft`
function can be readily selected with a nudge to the right. A
further nudge down however takes the user down the line of Phone
Book features to yield the FIG. 8 display, in which the `Own
number` feature has been reached. Moving up through the second
level Phone book features is achieved through nudging the joystick
up, as shown in FIG. 9. Returning to the top level screen (i.e. as
depicted in FIG. 4) is achieved through nudging the joystick to the
left
[0044] Appendix 1 shows a more comprehensive list of the icons
and/or words displayed on the display 2 for different levels. It
therefore lists the features and functions which can be navigated
to and from using the joystick. As explained above; a nudge to the
right takes one down into a deeper level of the system (e.g. across
a row from top to second level). The higher level icons twist
around to reveal the icons of the lower level functions. Nudging
left takes one up a level (e.g. across a row from third level to
second level). The lower level icons twist around to reveal the
icons of the higher level functions. Nudging down takes one down
through the items at the same level (down a column) that are
associated with the same immediately higher level function. The
icons in the line appear to move upwards. Nudging up takes one up
through the items at the same level (up a column) that are
associated with the same immediately higher level function. The
icons in the line appears to move downwards.
[0045] A zoom function is also provided by which a user can cause
the size of the icon and/or the word or words explaining the
function of that icon displayed on the display to be altered. The
zoom function is controlled by a volume up (FIG. 1; at 7) and a
volume down button (FIG. 1, at 8). The user can zoom in and out as
shown in FIG. 10; in addition the user can select that the word or
words explaining the function of one or more icons is/are not
displayed (FIG. 10, bottom right). This gives an uncluttered look
to the display which can be more appealing to a more experienced
user. Also; it liberates screen space for more icons which again
can be appealing to more experienced users. Another earlier use of
the volume controls to control a zoom function may be useful even
where icons are not associated with any kind of explanatory text at
all and such an embodiment is within the scope of a further aspect
of the invention.
[0046] FIG. 10 also shows how icons can be made to overlap, thereby
allowing more icons to fit onto a display without destroying
legibility. This purely text based implementation is illustrated at
FIG. 11 for menu navigation. Zooming is also very useful when
reading, text, such as in a SMS message. This is shown in FIG.
12.
[0047] Again, the use of the volume controls for zooming is
intuitive, removes the need for additional zoom-specific keys and
therefore saves cost and reduces the apparent complexity of the
telephone. Arranging for the zoom In and zoom Out functions to be
controlled by the volume keys is also attractive since it enables a
user to perform a zoom at any stage in the navigation process
(except during a call or in idle, where speaker and ringer are
respectively managed by these keys). This is particularly helpful
in enabling an inexperienced user to experiment with and therefore
learn the structure of the navigation system.
[0048] The zoom function may alter in dependence on the selected
mode or function of the mobile telephone to give one or more zoom
settings optimized for the selected mode or function. For example,
when editing text, the zoom can magnify an amount that is most
relevant to seeing text clearly (and multiple zoom settings can be
provided and accessed through multiple nudges of the zoom button).
A different zoom amount may be appropriate for zooming into the
normal icon based menus, and another for zooming into text only
menus. The zoom function works particularly well with the mobile
telephone of the first aspect of the present invention.
[0049] The data representing an icon is stored in memory; the same
data can be used to display the icon at normal size (typically
16.times.16 pixels) and also at one or more different sizes, such
as an extended size (64.times.64) using a software algorithm. This
scalability removes the need to store multiple representations in
memory, which is a valuable resource.
[0050] FIG. 13 shows the idle screen: the idle screen alternates
with an alert screen, such as a Missed SMS screen, or a Voice Mail
screen or a Missed Call Alert. This leads to the layout of the idle
screen not being cluttered with any kind of alert messages:
conventionally, an alert message will be included together with the
idle screen (e.g. 1 missed call`; `You have a SMS`), but that
clutters the screen and can obscure important branding information.
In the present embodiment, the idle screen is shown for 5 seconds,
and then an alert screen for 5 seconds if there are any alerts, as
illustrated in FIG. 13. The screens alternate until the user reads
or reviews the alert screen by pressing OK on the joystick. The
phone will then display a static alert screen with one icon for
every pending event (missed call, received SMS, . . . ). In FIG.
13, the alert screen shows the Missed Call icon. This can be
accompanied with the words "Missed Call`.
[0051] Accessing the alert screen can take the user directly to the
menu(s) which allow the user to respond to the alert. Hence, if the
alert is that a SMS message has come in, once the user has seen
that alert screen, is he offered a direct route into reading the
message and/or responding to the message.
TABLE-US-00001 APPENDIX 1 Second level functions Third level
functions Fourth level functions Top level (all icons are task
(Words only, unless (Words only, unless functions specific)
otherwise stated) otherwise stated) Phone Book Icon + word Open up
address book Icon + words `Consult` `Phone Book" Icon + word
`Draft` Enter Name Icon + word `Own Display Own Number Number` Icon
+ word Display storage info `Capacity` Icon + word Enter
restriction PIN `Restrict` Icon + word Enter your business
`Business Card` card details Message Icon + Icon + word `Write
Create New Write Message word "Messages` Message` User pre-defined
Select a pre-defined message Icon + words `In List in-coming Box`
messages Icon + words `Out List outgoing messages Box` Icon + words
Displays storage info Capacity Icon + word Service Center Message
Center Number `Settings` Validity Period Select validity period
option Message type Select message type (e.g., fax, email, x400,
standard text, telex Delivery Report Select `on` or `off` options
Reply via same Select `on` or `off` options Melody Select Melody
option Icon + words `Cell Receive CB Select cell broadcast `on`
Broadcast` or `off` Call Register Icon + words `Missed Lists missed
calls Icon + words Calls` "Call Register` Icon + words Lists
received calls `Received calls` Icon + words `Dialled Lists dialed
calls Send message to; Call calls` number; Forward calls to; Save
number; Options to select; then takes you to appropriate screen
Icon + words `Delete` Lists Missed calls, Received calls, Dialed
Calls, All calls Counters Icon + Icon + word `Time` Last call; all
calls out; Display time count data word `Counters` all calls in;
Clear timers Divert Icon + Unconditional; all Activate; de-activate
and Voice, fax, data all options word `Divert` unanswered; ifbusy,
if status check to select, then takes you to no reply; if not phone
book to select number Settings icon + Icon + word List of various
language word `Settings` Language` options to select Icon + words
`Alert Icon + words All cases; number stored; tones` `Melodies`
Number not stored; messages; Alarm to be Icon + words `Key On, Off
and DTMF tones to Tones` be selected Icon + words `Deep On or off
to be selected Silent` Icon + words `Ringer 3 ranges to be selected
Volume` Icon +words `Auto key On or off to be selected lock` Icon +
word Change PIN and Enter PIN required `Security` Disable PIN
options Icon + word `Time & Displays time and Date Alter time
and date Date` Icon + word `Auto- On or off to be selected answer`
Icon + word Lists hot keys `Hot keys` Icon + word Select 1-3
contrast `Contrast` scale Network Icon + Icon +word barring Select
outgoing, incoming, word `Network` `Services` barring password Call
waiting Activate, de-activate, status check Identification See call
ID; call incognito; see connected ID; connect incognito; status
check Auto-redial On or off to be selected Change network Preferred
networks Lists preferred networks Registration mode Lists
automatic, manual, force network Demonstration Give a demo of the
Icon + word phone "Demonstration` Tools Icon + word `Tools` IrDA
Icon + words `IrDA Activation` indicates data missing or illegible
when filed
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