Handheld Electronic Device and Associated Method Employing a Multiple-Axis Input Device and Elevating the Priority of Certain Text Disambiguation Results When Entering Text into a Special Input Field

• US 20080012830A1
• Filed: 07/31/2007
• Published: 01/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Elizarov, Michael, Fux, Vadim, Kolomiets, Sergey
• Granted Patent: US 8,154,518 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/169
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques

Abstract

A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. If a field into which text is being entered is determined to be a special input field, a disambiguated result can be sought first from a predetermined data source prior to seeking results from other data sources on the device.

Claims

1. A method of disambiguating an input into a handheld electronic device that comprises an input apparatus comprising a plurality of input members including a multiple-axis input device, an output apparatus, and a memory having stored therein a plurality of objects, the memory comprising a plurality of data sources each having a number of the objects stored therein, at least some of the input members each having a plurality of characters assigned thereto, the method comprising:

detecting an input from the multiple-axis input device and, responsive thereto, moving an input focus to an input field;

detecting an ambiguous input into the input field;

determining that the input field is a special input field and, responsive thereto, identifying a predetermined data source from the plurality of data sources for analysis substantially prior to analysis of the other data sources to obtain a proposed disambiguation result.

2. The method claim 1 wherein the objects comprise a plurality of language objects and a plurality of frequency objects, at least some of the language objects each being associated with an associated frequency object, and further comprising:

generating a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input;

forming a first result by identifying in the first data source for each of at least some of the prefix objects a corresponding language object with which is associated a frequency object having a frequency value;

making a determination that the quantity of the prefix objects in the first result is less than a predetermined quantity;

responsive to the determination, forming a second result by identifying in the second data source for each of at least some of the prefix objects a corresponding language object with which is associated a frequency object having a frequency value; and

outputting in a list the prefix objects of the first result and at least some of the prefix objects of the second result.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising outputting in the list:

the prefix objects of the first result organized in descending order of frequency value, and

the at least some of the prefix objects of the second result organized in descending order of frequency value.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising outputting the prefix objects of the first result at a position of higher priority in the list than any of the prefix objects of the second result.

5. The method claim 1, further comprising detecting a rotational input from the multiple-axis input device as being the input from the multiple-axis input device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting an input from a touch screen display as being the input from the multiple-axis input device.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising outputting on the touch screen display a depiction representative of the multiple-axis input device.

8. A handheld electronic device comprising:

a processor apparatus comprising a processor and a memory having stored therein a plurality of objects;

an input apparatus being structured to provide input to the processor apparatus and comprising a plurality of input members including a multiple-axis input device, at least some of the input members each having a plurality of characters assigned thereto;

an output apparatus structured to receive output signals from the processor apparatus;

the memory comprising a plurality of data sources each including a number of the objects;

the memory further having stored therein a number of routines which, when executed on the processor, cause the handheld electronic device to perform operations comprising;

detecting an input from the multiple-axis input device and, responsive thereto, moving an input focus to an input field;

detecting an ambiguous input into the input field;

determining that the input field is a special input field and, responsive thereto, identifying a predetermined data source from the plurality of data sources for analysis substantially prior to analysis of the other data sources to obtain a proposed disambiguation result.

9. The handheld electronic device of claim 8 wherein the operations further comprise detecting a rotational input from the multiple-axis input device as being the input from the multiple-axis input device.

10. The handheld electronic device of claim 8 wherein at least one of the input and the output apparatus comprises at least a component of a touch screen display, and wherein the operations further comprise detecting an input from the at least component of the touch screen display as being the input from the multiple-axis input device.