Hand held remote control device having an improved user interface
First Claim
1. A method for displaying operational mode information to a user of a universal remote control, comprising:
- displaying to the user in a circular queue arrangement iconic representations of every home appliance which the universal remote control is setup to control;
accepting input from the user indicating one of the home appliances which the user desires to control; and
displaying the iconic representation of the home appliances such that the iconic representation of the home appliance indicated by the user is moved to a predetermined position in the circular queue arrangement relative to the remaining iconic representation and is given an appearance distinct from the appearance of the remaining iconic representations within the circular queue arrangement to thereby indicate to the user the current operational mode of the universal remote control.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A user interface for displaying graphical operational mode information to a user of a universal remote control. The user interface displays to the user in a circular queue arrangement iconic representations of every home appliance which the universal remote control is setup to control. The user may then interact with the user interface to select an iconic representation of the one of the home appliances which the user desires to control. In response to this selection, the user interface will display the iconic representation of the home appliances such that the iconic representation of the home appliance indicated by the user is moved to a predetermined position in the circular queue arrangement relative to the remaining iconic representations and/or is given an appearance distinct from the appearance of the remaining iconic representations within the circular queue arrangement. In this manner, the user interface indicates to the user the current operational mode of the universal remote control.
-
Citations
27 Claims
-
1. A method for displaying operational mode information to a user of a universal remote control, comprising:
-
displaying to the user in a circular queue arrangement iconic representations of every home appliance which the universal remote control is setup to control;
accepting input from the user indicating one of the home appliances which the user desires to control; and
displaying the iconic representation of the home appliances such that the iconic representation of the home appliance indicated by the user is moved to a predetermined position in the circular queue arrangement relative to the remaining iconic representation and is given an appearance distinct from the appearance of the remaining iconic representations within the circular queue arrangement to thereby indicate to the user the current operational mode of the universal remote control. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method for displaying operational mode information to a user of a universal remote control device, comprising:
-
displaying to the user in a ring-shaped, circular queue iconic representations of every home appliance which the universal remote control is setup to control;
accepting input from the user indicating one of the home appliances which the user desires to control; and
in response to the input, moving the iconic representations within the displayed ring-shaped, circular queue until the iconic representation of the home appliance indicated by the user is moved to the top of the ring-shaped, circular queue such that the iconic representation of the home appliance are gradually increased in size as the iconic representations are moved towards the top of the ring-shaped, circular queue and the iconic representations are gradually decreased in size until the iconic representations have the same size relative to the remaining iconic representations within the ring-shaped, circular queue as the iconic representations are moved away from the top of the ring-shaped, circular queue.
-
-
11. In a universal remote control, a readable media having instructions for displaying operational mode information to a user of the universal remote control, the instructions performing steps comprising:
-
displaying to the user in a circular queue arrangement iconic representations of every home appliance which the universal remote control is setup to control;
accepting input from the user indicating one of the home appliances which the user desires to control; and
displaying the iconic representation of the home appliances such that the iconic representation of the home appliance indicated by the user is moved to a predetermined position in the circular queue arrangement relative to the remaining iconic representation and is given an appearance distinct from the appearance of the remaining iconic representations within the circular queue arrangement to thereby indicate to the user the current operational mode of the universal remote control. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A readable media having instructions for displaying operational mode information to a user of a universal remote control device, the instructions performing steps comprising:
-
displaying to the user in a ring-shaped, circular queue iconic representations of every home appliance which the universal remote control is setup to control;
accepting input from the user indicating one of the home appliances which the user desires to control; and
in response to the input, moving the iconic representations within the displayed ring-shaped, circular queue until the iconic representation of the home appliance indicated by the user is moved to the top of the ring-shaped, circular queue such that the iconic representation of the home appliance are gradually increased in size as the iconic representations are moved towards the top of the ring-shaped, circular queue and the iconic representations are gradually decreased in size until the iconic representations have the same size relative to the remaining iconic representations within the ring-shaped, circular queue as the iconic representations are moved away from the top of the ring-shaped, circular queue.
-
-
21. A method of using a remote control to provide relevant content to a user, comprising:
-
displaying to the user a list of favorites associated with a device to be controlled;
accepting input by which the user selects one of the favorites from the list of favorites; and
transmitting command codes to the device to be controlled to cause the device to be controlled to access the user selected favorite and, simultaneously, retrieving and displaying Web content associated with the user selected favorite. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
-
-
24. A method of using a remote control to provide relevant content to a user, comprising:
-
displaying to the user a list of modes indicative of devices that can be controlled;
accepting input by which the user selects one of the modes from the list of modes; and
causing the remote control to access command codes capable of controlling a device setup to correspond to the user selected mode and, simultaneously, retrieving and displaying Web content associated with the user selected mode. - View Dependent Claims (25)
-
-
26. A remote control, comprising:
-
a memory in which is stored a plurality of command codes;
a transmission circuit by which a select one or more of the command codes are transmitted to one or more appliances; and
a plurality of hard keys which are activatable to cause one or more of the command codes to be selected from the memory and provided to the transmission circuit for transmission to the one or more appliances;
wherein the plurality of hard keys are arranged in a circular pattern to provide a user with a familiar metaphor. - View Dependent Claims (27)
-
Specification