Method for text entry in an electronic device

• US 20020116528A1
• Filed: 06/29/2001
• Published: 08/22/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Vale, Peter O.
• Granted Patent: US 7,392,326 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/245
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/137 Hierarchical processing, e.g. outlines

Abstract

A method for text entry in an electronic device is disclosed. As a user enters text, such as a URL, into a handheld device the entered text is matched to previously visited URLs and these matched URLs are displayed in a list. The entered text may also be matched to any stored list of URLs or text. Typically, the matching searches for any instances of the entered text no matter the location of the entered text in the matched string. If one of the listed URLs is the URL desired by the user, then the user may select that URL and navigate a web browser to the URL without entering any more text. One of the items in the list may be the entered text with an automatically added prefix and suffix. These features significantly reduce the difficulty of entering URLs, especially on a device with limited input capabilities.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for entering an address into a web browser of a mobile device, comprising the steps of:

receiving at least one character of text;

determining whether the at least one character of text is a single word; and

if so, then displaying a list in the web browser with a list item wherein the list item comprises the at least one character of text with an automatic prefix added before the at least one character of text and an automatic suffix added after the at least one character of text.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatic prefix is “

www.”

.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the automatic suffix is “

.com”

.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the mobile device is a wireless telephone.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the at least one character of text matches any previous addresses entered into the web browser; and

if so, then displaying the possible matches as list items in the list.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of determining whether the at least one character of text matches any previous addresses entered into the web browser comprises searching the addresses of any previously viewed URLs in the browser'"'"'s history, cache, or recently entered addresses for potential matches.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the user is ready to navigate to the URL defined by the at least one character of text; and

if so, then navigating the web browser to display a page defined by the at least one character of text.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least one character of text is displayed in an address field.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

determining whether one of the list items in the list has been selected by the user; and

if so, then navigating the web browser to display a page located at an address defined by the selected list item.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising the steps of:

if one of the list items in the list has not been selected by the user, then receiving another character of text.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one character of text is received in response to a user selecting keys on a keypad of a wireless telephone.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatic prefix and the automatic suffix may be modified to a desired prefix and a desired suffix.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the automatic prefix and automatic suffix are modified by receiving input from a user requesting that the automatic prefix be set to a first string and that the automatic suffix be set to a second string.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the automatic prefix and the automatic suffix are stored in a registry.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the plurality of addresses comprises at least one address found by searching a memory location in the electronic device and to find the at least one address with the at least one character of text.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the memory location is a history folder in a web browser program module of the electronic device.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein the selection list is a selection list in a web browser program module and the combined address and the plurality of addresses comprise URLs for Internet addresses.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

receiving an input selecting the at least one character of text and navigating the web browser program module to view a web page located at an address defined by the at least one character of text.

20. The method of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

receiving an input selecting the combined address and navigating the web browser program module to view a web page located at the combined address.

21. The method of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

receiving an input selecting one of the plurality of addresses and navigating the web browser program module to view a web page located at the one of the plurality of addresses.

15. A computer-implemented method for text entry in an electronic device comprising computer-executable instructions which when executed, are operable to perform the steps of:

receiving at least one character of text; and

determining whether the at least one character of text is a single word and, if so, then adding a prefix and a suffix to the at least one character of text to form a combined address and displaying the combined address as an entry in a selection list comprising a plurality of addresses.