SYSTEM AND METHOD OF NAVIGATING THROUGH NOTIFICATIONS

• US 20090222748A1
• Filed: 02/29/2008
• Published: 09/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Lejeune, Jeffrey David, Vuong, Thanh Vinh, Mujkic, Alen, Bocking, Andrew Douglas
• Granted Patent: US 8,875,042 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/165 the additional display being small, e.g. for presenting status information
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/16 including more than one display unit

Abstract

A method for navigating through notifications on a wireless device having a primary user interface shown on a primary display and a secondary user interface shown on a secondary display, the method comprising the steps of: generating a notification at the wireless device, the notification being associated with an event; detecting if the secondary user interface is being shown; indicating the notification on the secondary user interface if the secondary user interface is being shown; displaying a preview of the event on the secondary user interface in response to a selection of the notification in a preview mode; and closing the preview of the event on the secondary user interface in response to a deselection of the notification and bringing the secondary user interface out of the preview mode; wherein the notification is still maintained after displaying the preview of the associated event.

Claims

1. A method for navigating through notifications on a wireless device having a primary user interface shown on a primary display and a secondary user interface shown on a secondary display, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a notification at the wireless device, the notification being associated with an event;

detecting if the secondary user interface is being shown;

indicating the notification on the secondary user interface if the secondary user interface is being shown;

displaying a preview of the event on the secondary user interface in a preview mode, in response to a selection of the notification; and

closing the preview of the event on the secondary user interface in response to a deselection of the notification and bringing the secondary user interface out of the preview mode;

wherein the notification is still maintained after displaying the preview of the associated event.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein if the secondary user interface is displaying a preview of an older event when a notification of a newer event is generated, then the preview of the newer event is displayed after notification of the older event is deselected.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the wireless device selects the notification for a predetermined time period after generating the notification and the wireless device deselects the notification when the predetermined time period expires.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the event is associated with a contact and the notification is displayed in association with the contact.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the preview includes information selected from the group consisting of:

a sender name, a sender number, a picture, an event title, a message subject, an event type, and at least a portion of event contents.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of signaling generation of the notification to the user using a vibratory cue or an auditory cue.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein there is a plurality of notifications, further comprising the steps of:

displaying a preview of an event associated with a first notification on the secondary user interface in the preview mode;

providing an option to navigate from the preview of the event associated with the first notification to a preview of an event for a second notification;

deselecting the first notification and selecting the second notification if the option is selected, the secondary user interface being maintained in the preview mode; and

displaying the preview of the event associated with the second notification on the secondary user interface in the preview mode.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the events are associated with respective contacts, and an option is provided to navigate among previews of events associated with a single contact while the secondary user interface is maintained in the preview mode.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the associated event is selected from the group consisting of:

an incoming email, an incoming text message, an incoming short message service message, an incoming multimedia messaging service message, an incoming instant message, an incoming voice mail, an incoming phone call, a calendar event, a task reminder, or an alarm.

10. A wireless device for navigating through notifications, the wireless device comprising:

a microprocessor for controlling the operation of the wireless device;

a first input device coupled to the microprocessor for accepting an input;

a first display device for showing a primary user interface and a second display device for showing a secondary user interface, the first display device and the second display device being coupled to the microprocessor for communicating an output to the user;

a communications subsystem coupled to the microprocessor for communicating with a communications network;

a memory coupled to the microprocessor; and

a storage device coupled to the microprocessor;

the wireless device including a notification handling module resident in the memory for execution by the microprocessor, the notification handling module being configured to;

generate a notification at the wireless device, the notification being associated with an event;

detect if the secondary user interface is being shown;

indicate the notification on the secondary user interface if the secondary user interface is being shown;

display a preview of the event on the secondary user interface in a preview mode, in response to a selection of the notification; and

close the preview of the event on the secondary user interface in response to a deselection of the notification and bringing the secondary user interface out of the preview mode;

wherein the notification is still maintained after displaying the preview of the associated event.

11. The wireless device of claim 10 wherein if the secondary user interface is displaying a preview of an older event when a notification of a newer event is generated, then the preview of the newer event is displayed after notification of the older event is deselected.

12. The wireless device of claim 10 wherein the wireless device selects the notification for a predetermined time period after generating the notification and the wireless device deselects the notification when the predetermined time period expires.

13. The wireless device of claim 10 wherein the event is associated with a contact and the notification is displayed in association with the contact.

14. The wireless device of claim 10 wherein the preview includes information selected from the group consisting of:

a sender name, a sender number, a picture, an event title, a message subject, an event type, and at least a portion of event contents.

15. The wireless device of claim 10 wherein the notification handling module is further configured to signal generation of the notification to the user using a vibratory cue or an auditory cue.

16. The wireless device of claim 10 wherein there is a plurality of notifications, and the notification handling module is further configured to:

display a preview of an event associated with a first notification on the secondary user interface in the preview mode;

provide an option to navigate from the preview of the event associated with the first notification to a preview of an event for a second notification;

deselect the first notification and select the second notification if the option is selected, the secondary user interface being maintained in the preview mode; and

display the preview of the event associated with the second notification on the secondary user interface in the preview mode.

17. The wireless device of claim 16 wherein the events are associated with respective contacts, and an option is provided to navigate among previews for events associated with a single contact while the secondary user interface is maintained in the preview mode.

18. The wireless device of claim 10 wherein the associated event is selected from the group consisting of:

an incoming email, an incoming text message, an incoming short message service message, an incoming multimedia messaging service message, an incoming instant message, an incoming voice mail, an incoming phone call, a calendar event, a task reminder, or an alarm.

19. A computer program product having a computer readable medium tangibly embodying code for navigating through notifications in a mobile communication device, the device having a primary user interface shown on a primary display and a secondary user interface shown on a secondary display, the computer program product comprising:

code for generating a notification at the wireless device, the notification being associated with an event;

code for detecting if the secondary user interface is being shown;

code for indicating the notification on the secondary user interface if the secondary user interface is being shown;

code for displaying a preview of the event on the secondary user interface in a preview mode, in response to a selection of the notification; and

code for closing the preview of the event on the secondary user interface in response to a deselection of the notification and bringing the secondary user interface out of the preview mode;

wherein the notification is still maintained after displaying the preview of the associated event.

20. A method of handling a notification on a wireless device having a primary user interface shown on a primary display and a secondary user interface shown on a secondary display, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a notification at the wireless device, the notification being associated with an event;

displaying the notification on the primary or secondary user interface;

dismissing the notification after acknowledgement of the event;

flagging the notification as an event reminder on the primary user interface; and

redisplaying the notification as the event reminder on the secondary user interface.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the event reminder is shown on the secondary user interface until deactivation by the user or the device.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the deactivation comprises acknowledgement of viewing the event reminder.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein the event reminder is selected from the group consisting of:

an icon, a logo, colored text, fonted text, and an audible cue.