Method for generating text that meets specified characteristics in a handheld electronic device and a handheld electronic device incorporating the same

• US 20060247917A1
• 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: 2015825 Ontario Incorporated
• Inventors: Fux, Vadim, Kolomiets, Sergey
• Granted Patent: US 7,548,849 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/242 Dictionaries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/274 Converting codes to words; Guess-ahead of partial word inputs

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 objects not in any list of stored language objects; and

identifying any of the new language objects that fail to meet a number of specified characteristics that are at least partially determinative of at least a first predetermined language.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said identifying comprises determining that a ratio of the quantity of new language objects in at least a segment of the received text with the quantity of language objects in the at least a segment of the received text exceeds a predetermined threshold.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, responsive to said determining, identifying at least a first new language object on the basis that the at least a first new language object is in a language other than the at least a first predetermined language.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein each new language object comprises a number of linguistic elements, wherein the handheld electronic device has a list of predetermined linguistic elements that correspond with the at least a first predetermined language, and wherein said identifying at least a first new language object comprises determining that the at least a first new language object comprises at least a first linguistic element different than the predetermined linguistic elements in the list.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said identifying comprises identifying at least a first new language object on the basis that the at least a first new language object is in a language other than at least a first predetermined language.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein each new language object comprises a number of linguistic elements, wherein the handheld electronic device has a list of predetermined linguistic elements that correspond with the at least a first predetermined language, and wherein said identifying at least a first new language object comprises determining that the at least a first new language object comprises at least a first linguistic element different than the predetermined linguistic elements in the list.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining that in at least a first segment, the quantity of new language objects compared with the quantity of language objects exceeds a predetermined threshold.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising identifying at least a first new language object on the basis that the at least a first new language object is in a language other than at least a first predetermined language

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining that a ratio of identified new language objects to new language objects exceeds a predetermined threshold and, responsive thereto, ignoring all of the new language objects.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding any new language object that has not been identified to the at least one list of stored language objects for use by the text input process in generating text.

11. A handheld electronic device comprising:

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

a user interface through which a user inputs linguistic elements for generating text;

a text generator comprising;

a first list storing language objects;

a new list storing new language objects; and

a text input processor comprising means selecting from among language objects in received text from the source external to the handheld electronic device new language objects not in the first list or the new list and identifying any of the new language objects that fail to meet a number of specified characteristics that are at least partially determinative of a language, 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 text generator is adapted to determine that a ratio of the quantity of new language objects in at least a segment of the received text with the quantity of language objects in the at least a segment of the received text exceeds a predetermined threshold.

13. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the text generator is adapted to identify at least a first new language object on the basis that the at least a first new language object is in a language other than at least a first predetermined language.

14. The handheld electronic device of claim 13 wherein each new language object comprises a number of linguistic elements, wherein the handheld electronic device has a list of predetermined linguistic elements that correspond with the at least a first predetermined language, and wherein the text generator is adapted to determine that the at least a first new language object comprises at least a first linguistic element different than the predetermined linguistic elements in the list.

15. The handheld electronic device of claim 11, wherein the text generator is adapted to identify at least a first new language object on the basis that the at least a first new language object is in a language other than at least a first predetermined language.

16. The handheld electronic device of claim 15 wherein each new language object comprises a number of linguistic elements, wherein the handheld electronic device has a list of predetermined linguistic elements that correspond with the at least a first predetermined language, and wherein the text generator is adapted to determine that the at least a first new language object comprises at least a first linguistic element different than the predetermined linguistic elements in the list.

17. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the text generator is adapted to determine that in at least a first segment, the quantity of new language objects compared with the quantity of language objects exceeds a predetermined threshold.

18. The handheld electronic device of claim 17 wherein the text generator is adapted to identify at least a first new language object on the basis that the at least a first new language object is in a language other than at least a first predetermined language.

19. The handheld electronic device of claim 18 wherein the text generator is adapted to determine that a ratio of identified new language objects to new language objects exceeds a predetermined threshold and, responsive thereto, the text generator is adapted to ignore all of the new language objects.

20. The handheld electronic device of claim 11 wherein the text generator is adapted to add any new language object that has not been identified to the at least one list of stored language objects for use by the text input process in generating text.