INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE

• US 20090153489A1
• Filed: 12/08/2008
• Published: 06/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: ENDO, Kentaro, MURAKAMI, Keiichi, OOI, Noriko
• Granted Patent: US 8,508,473 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0202 Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the input device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/23 Construction or mounting of dials or of equivalent devices; Means for facilitating the use thereof by improving visibility H04M1/22
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device which is capable of suitably switching between hardware buttons and an electrostatic pad such as a touch panel, depending on the operating circumstances of a user. In a cellular phone, judgment is made as to an application, which is an operation target for the user, and, in accordance with the application judged, an input device control section is able to switch between accepting inputs from an electrostatic pad input acceptance section and accepting inputs from a hardware button input acceptance section, depending on the application thus judged by a CPU.

Claims

1. An information processing device, comprising:

an electrostatic pad which accepts input from a user;

hardware buttons which are disposed to be stacked below the electrostatic pad and accept input from the user;

judgment means for judging an application which constitutes a user operation target; and

switching means for switching between accepting input from the electrostatic pad and accepting input from the hardware buttons, depending on the application judged by the judgment means.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising:

display means for displaying an operation screen on which a pointer can be operated by means of the input accepted by the electrostatic pad; and

detection means for detecting that the pointer, which is operated by means of the electrostatic pad, is pointing to a predetermined object among objects which are displayed on the operation screen displayed by the display means, wherein

in cases where the predetermined object is detected by the detection means, the switching means switches the electrostatic pad to an OFF state in which input from the electrostatic pad are not accepted and switches the hardware buttons to an ON state in which input from the hardware buttons are accepted.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the display means produces a display indicating whether the electrostatic pad or the hardware buttons are in an ON state.

4. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the electrostatic pad and the hardware buttons are constituted by transparent members, and the display means is disposed to be stacked below the electrostatic pad and the hardware buttons.