METHOD AND ARRANGMENT FOR A PRIMARY ACTIONS MENU FOR APPLICATIONS WITH SEQUENTIALLY LINKED PAGES ON A HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20070192750A1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Published: 08/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Tysowski, Piotr Konrad, Lee, Matthew Richard
• Granted Patent: US 8,689,138 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/864
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed that provides for displaying on the screen of a handheld electronic device, an extended menu or a short menu, which is a subset of the corresponding extended menu. The system and method include a first page of a plurality of sequentially linked pages being displayed on a screen. If the next page of the sequentially linked page is designated through use of the auxiliary user input device and no menu is displayed, the user may initiate an ambiguous request. Various short menus are provided with their respective menu items being dependent and adjustable based upon the position of a cursor on the display page, the currently opened application, and/or the previous selections. Further, a selection from the short menu is capable of displaying the extended menu corresponding thereto.

Claims

1. A method for progressively displaying, for user viewing, sequential pages on a handheld electronic device, said method comprising:

displaying a first page of a plurality of sequentially linked pages on a display screen of a handheld electronic device; and

causing display of a next page of the sequentially linked pages on the display screen of the handheld electronic device by successively actuating an auxiliary user input device on the handheld electronic device multiple times.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said multiple times that the auxiliary user input device is actuated is twice.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said auxiliary user input device is a navigation tool that controls movement of a cursor on the screen of the handheld electronic device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said navigation tool is a trackball.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

actuating the auxiliary user input device an initial time while the first page is displayed and thereby requesting display of a menu of options corresponding to the displayed page; and

displaying in response to the initial actuation of the auxiliary user input device an abbreviated menu having a short list of menu items which is a subset of a full list of menu items of an extended menu associated with the displayed first page, said short list of menu items comprising a next-page option that is default-selected so that subsequent actuation of the auxiliary user input device causes display of the next page of the sequentially linked pages on the display screen of the handheld electronic device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the short list of menu options fills a substantial entirety of the display screen.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said handheld electronic device is a wireless handheld communication device that transmits data to, and receives data from a communication network utilizing radio frequency signals.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said handheld electronic device is sized to be cradled in the palm of a user'"'"'s hand.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a width of said handheld electronic device measures between approximately two and approximately three inches thereby facilitating the device being palm cradled.

10. A handheld electronic device programmed to display, upon multiple actuations of an auxiliary user input device, sequential pages for user viewing on a display screen of the device, said handheld electronic device comprising:

a display screen on which a first page of a plurality of sequentially linked pages is displayed;

a keyboard located below said display screen and configured to accommodate textual input to the handheld electronic device; and

a microprocessor having a control program associated therewith for controlling operation of said handheld electronic device, said control program configured to display a next page of the sequentially linked pages on the display screen based upon successive multiple actuations of an auxiliary user input device on the handheld electronic device.

11. The handheld electronic device of claim 10, wherein said multiple actuations of the auxiliary user input device number two.

12. The handheld electronic device of claim 10, wherein said auxiliary user input device is a navigation tool that controls movement of a cursor on the screen of the handheld electronic device.

13. The handheld electronic device of claim 12, wherein said navigation tool is a trackball.

14. The handheld electronic device of claim 10, wherein said microprocessor is further configured to process an initial actuation of the auxiliary user input device while the first page is displayed and said microprocessor displays an abbreviated menu having a short list of menu items which is a subset of a full list of menu items of an extended menu associated with the displayed first page and the user-selectable actions of said short list of menu options having been assessed a higher probability for being user-selected than at least some of the user-selectable actions of the full menu of options that are not included in said short list of menu options, wherein said short list of menu options comprises a next page option that is default-selected so that subsequent actuation of the auxiliary user input device causes display of the next page of the sequentially linked pages on the display screen of the handheld electronic device.

15. The handheld electronic device of claim 14, wherein the short list of menu options fills a substantial entirety of the display screen.

16. The handheld electronic device of claim 10, wherein said handheld electronic device is a wireless handheld communication device that transmits data to, and receives data from a communication network utilizing radio frequency signals.

17. The handheld electronic device of claim 10, wherein said handheld electronic device is sized to be cradled in the palm of a user'"'"'s hand.

18. The handheld electronic device of claim 11, wherein said handheld electronic device is longer than wide.

19. The handheld electronic device of claim 18, wherein the width of said handheld electronic device measures between approximately two and approximately three inches thereby facilitating the device being palm cradled.

20. A processing subsystem configured to be installed in a handheld electronic device comprising a user interface including a display and a keyboard having a plurality of input keys with which letters are associated, said processing subsystem comprising:

operating system software that controls operation of an incorporating electronic device and said operating system software is programmed to control operation of said handheld electronic device, said operating system software is configured to display a next page of sequentially linked pages on the display screen based upon successive multiple actuations of an auxiliary user input device on the handheld electronic device, said operating system software is further configured to process an initial actuation of the auxiliary user input device while the first page is displayed and to display an abbreviated menu having a short list of menu items which is a subset of a full list of menu items of an extended menu associated with the displayed first page, wherein said short list of menu options comprises a next page option that is default-selected so that subsequent actuation of the auxiliary user input device causes display of the next page of the sequentially linked pages on the display screen of the handheld electronic device.