Method for generating text in a handheld electronic device and a handheld electronic device incorporating the same

• US 20060247916A1
• Filed: 04/29/2005
• Published: 11/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Griffin, Jason T., Fux, Vadim
• Granted Patent: US 7,620,540 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/454 Multi-language systems; Localisation; Internationalisation

Abstract

Incoming e-mails, instant messages, SMS, and MMS, are scanned for new language objects such as words, abbreviations, text shortcuts and, in appropriate languages, ideograms, that are placed in a list for use by a text input process of a handheld electronic device to facilitate the generation of text.

Claims

1. A method of entering text into a handheld electronic device having at least one application for receiving text from sources external to the handheld electronic device and a text input process that accesses at least one list of stored language objects to facilitate generation of text, the method comprising:

processing received text received from an external source comprising scanning the received text for any new language object not in any list of stored language objects; and

adding the new language object to the at least one list of stored language objects for use by the text input process in generating text.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the language objects are selected from a group comprising:

words, abbreviations, text shortcuts and ideograms.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the received text further comprises selecting a selected new language object for removal from the at least one list of stored language objects.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the at least one list of stored language objects comprises a new list in which the new language objects are stored, the new list having a selected capacity and the selected new language object is removed from the new list to make room for a latest new language object when the selected capacity is reached.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one application for receiving text from a source external to the handheld electronic device comprises an e-mail application and the received text comprises received e-mail messages.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the handheld electronic device comprises input keys at least some of which input multiple linguistic elements used by the text input process to generate the language objects, and wherein the text input process determines from a sequence of inputs from the input keys an intended language object, and the at least one list of stored language units comprises a first list containing language objects and a new list in which the new language objects are stored, the text input process having a preference rule for taking language objects from the first list and the new list to generate text.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the first list has a frequency of use associated with each language object stored in the first list, the text input process associates a frequency of use with each of the new language objects stored in the new list and the preference rule uses the frequencies of use of the language objects in the first list and the new list in selecting language objects to use in generating the text.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the new list has a selected capacity for storing new language objects and the processing of received text further comprises removing from the new list a new language object with the lowest frequency of use to make room for a latest new language object when the selected capacity of the new list is reached.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the at least one application for receiving text from sources external to the handheld electronic device comprises an e-mail application and the received text comprises received e-mail messages.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the language objects are selected from a group comprising words, abbreviations, text shortcuts and ideograms.

11. A handheld electronic device comprising:

a plurality of applications that utilize text and at least one of which application receives text from a source external to the handheld electronic device;

an input device through which a user inputs linguistic elements for generating text;

an input system comprising;

a first list storing language objects;

a new list storing new language objects; and

a text input processor comprising processing means selecting from received text from the source external to the handheld electronic device new language objects not in the first list or the new list and adding such new language objects to the new list, and means using selected language objects stored in the first list and the new list to generate the desired text from the linguistic elements input through the user interface; and

output means presenting the desired text to the user.

12. The handheld electronic device of claim 11 wherein the new list has a certain capacity and the processing means comprises means removing a selected new language object from the new list to make room for a latest new language object not in any list when the certain capacity is reached.

13. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the processing means assigns a frequency of use to each new language object when added to the new list and subsequently adjusts that frequency of use, and the means removing the selected new language object from the new list selects as the new language object to be removed the new language object in the new list with the lowest frequency of use.

14. The handheld electronic device of claim 13 wherein the at least one application receiving text from a source outside the handheld electronic device is an e-mail application scanned for new language objects.

15. The handheld electronic device of claim 14 wherein the language objects are selected from a group comprising:

words, abbreviations, text shortcuts and ideograms.