Method for navigation between elements on a page of content in a handheld device

• US 20040210851A1
• Filed: 04/15/2003
• Published: 10/21/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Premchandran, Girish, Thakkar, Vishal
• Granted Patent: US 7,571,393 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/851
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04892 Arrangements for controlling cursor position based on codes indicative of cursor displacements from one discrete location to another, e.g. using cursor control keys associated to different directions or using the tab key arrangements for controlling cursor position based on coordinate signals G06F3/038

Abstract

A method for navigating between elements on a page of content using an input in a handheld device. The method includes receiving an input corresponding to a navigation direction, determining an element that is radially closest to a current focus element in the navigation direction, and setting the element as the next current focus element. The input may be received from a four-way directional pad associated with the handheld device.

Claims

1. A method for navigating among elements on a page of content, a portion of the content being presented on a display, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving an input corresponding to a navigation direction;

determining an element that is radially closest to a current focus element in the navigation direction; and

setting the element as the next current focus element.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when plural elements are radially closest to the current focus element, said determining includes determining which element of the plural elements is closest to a line intersecting the current focus element in the navigation direction.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the line intersects a midpoint of the current focus element.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the input is from a directional pad.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the directional pad is a four-way directional pad.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said determining includes identifying all elements in a region corresponding to the navigation direction and determining a radial distance between a midpoint of each element in the region corresponding to the navigation direction and a midpoint of the current focus element.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the region is defined according to the navigation direction.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the region is bounded by a line intersecting the midpoint of the current focus element and perpendicular to the navigation direction, and second and third lines parallel to the navigation direction and spaced from a line intersecting the midpoint of the current focus element in the navigation direction.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the size of the region is user controllable.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the size of the region is a function of the content.

11. The method according to claim 6, wherein no content other than content on the display falls within the region.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the page of content is from a browser application.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the page of content is from a word processing application or an email application.

14. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 1.

15. The method according to claim 1, further including the step of modifying the content presented on the display responsive to the input.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the modified content presented on the display includes the next current focus element.

17. A method for navigating among elements of a page of content using a handheld computing device including a display and a directional pad, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a directional pad navigation input corresponding to a navigation direction;

identifying an element that is radially closest to a midpoint of a current focus element in the navigation direction; and

setting the element identified as the next current focus element.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein said identifying includes comparing radial distances between the midpoint of the current focus element and a midpoint of any element within a navigation region to determine which element is radially closest to the midpoint of the current focus element.

26. The method according to claim 17, where the current focus element is not displayed on the display when receiving the directional pad navigation input.

27. The method according to claim 17, wherein the page of content is from a browser application.

28. The method according to claim 17, wherein the page of content is from a word processing application or an email application.

29. The method according to claim 17, wherein the directional pad is a four-way directional pad.

30. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 17.

31. The method according to claim 17, wherein the handheld computing device includes a mobile phone.

19. The method according to claim 19, wherein when said comparing determines that at least two elements are radially equidistant from and closest to the midpoint of the current focus element, determining which element of the at least two elements is closest to a line intersecting the midpoint of the current focus element in the navigation direction.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the navigation region is defined according to the navigation direction.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the navigation region is bounded by a line intersecting the midpoint of the current focus element and perpendicular to the navigation direction, and second and third lines parallel to the navigation direction and spaced from a line intersecting the midpoint of the current focus element in the navigation direction.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein the size of the navigation region is user controllable.

23. The method according to claim 20, wherein the size of the navigation region is a function of the content.

24. The method according to claim 20, wherein the maximum size of the navigation region is equal to the dimensions of the display.

25. The method according to claim 20, wherein no content other than content on the display falls within the navigation region.

32. A method for navigating among elements of a page of content using a handheld computing device including a display and an input device, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a navigation input corresponding to a navigation direction; and

determining whether any elements are located in a navigation region corresponding to the navigation direction;

wherein if at least one element is located in the navigation region corresponding to the navigation direction,

identifying an element that is radially closest to a midpoint of a current focus element in the navigation direction, and

setting the element identified as radially closest to the midpoint of the current focus element as the next current focus element.

33. The method according to claim 32, further including maintaining the current focus element if no elements are located in the navigation region corresponding to the navigation direction.

34. The method according to claim 32, displaying different content on the display responsive to receiving the navigation input.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein the different content presented on the display responsive to the navigation input excludes the current focus element.

36. The method according to claim 34, wherein the different content presented on the display responsive to the navigation input includes an element different from the current focus element.

37. The method according to claim 34, wherein the different content presented on the display responsive to the navigation input includes the next current focus element.

38. The method according to claim 34, wherein the next current focus element is displayed on the display when receiving the navigation input.

39. The method according to claim 32, wherein the current focus element is not displayed on the display when receiving the navigation input.

40. The method according to claim 32, wherein the input is from a directional pad.

41. The method according to claim 40, wherein the directional pad is a four-way directional pad.

42. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 32.