METHOD AND HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING A GRAPHIC USER INTERFACE WITH EFFICIENT ORIENTATION SENSOR USE
First Claim
1. A method of rendering a graphical user interface (GUI) on a portable electronic device, comprising:
- displaying a user interface screen of a foreground application on a display screen of the portable electronic device in a first screen orientation;
receiving a device orientation event notification from an orientation sensor of the portable electronic device, the device orientation event notification specifying a device orientation;
determining a preferred screen orientation associated with the device orientation;
determining whether the preferred screen orientation matches a screen orientation rule for the foreground application; and
re-displaying the user interface screen on the display screen in accordance with the preferred screen orientation when the preferred screen orientation matches the screen orientation rule for the foreground application only when it differs from the first screen orientation.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and handheld electronic device having a graphic user interface with efficient orientation sensor input use are provided. In accordance with one embodiment, there is provided a method of rendering a graphical user interface (GUI) on a portable electronic device, comprising: displaying a user interface screen of a foreground application on a display screen of the portable electronic device in a first screen orientation; receiving a device orientation event notification from an orientation sensor of the portable electronic device, the device orientation event notification specifying a device orientation; determining a preferred screen orientation associated with the device orientation; determining whether the preferred screen orientation matches a screen orientation rule for the foreground application; and re-displaying the user interface screen on the display screen in accordance with the preferred screen orientation when the preferred screen orientation matches the screen orientation rule for the foreground application only when it differs from the first screen orientation.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of rendering a graphical user interface (GUI) on a portable electronic device, comprising:
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displaying a user interface screen of a foreground application on a display screen of the portable electronic device in a first screen orientation; receiving a device orientation event notification from an orientation sensor of the portable electronic device, the device orientation event notification specifying a device orientation; determining a preferred screen orientation associated with the device orientation; determining whether the preferred screen orientation matches a screen orientation rule for the foreground application; and re-displaying the user interface screen on the display screen in accordance with the preferred screen orientation when the preferred screen orientation matches the screen orientation rule for the foreground application only when it differs from the first screen orientation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of rendering a graphical user interface (GUI) on a portable electronic device, comprising:
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displaying a user interface screen of a foreground application on a display screen of the portable electronic device in a first screen orientation; receiving input to change the foreground application from a first application to a second application; determining whether the first screen orientation matches a screen orientation rule for the second application; displaying a user interface screen of the second application in accordance with first screen orientation when it matches the screen orientation rule for the second application; and displaying a user interface screen of the second application in accordance with an alternate screen orientation specified by the second application when the first screen orientation does not match the screen orientation rule for the second application.
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12. A method of controlling an orientation sensor of a portable electronic device, the method comprising:
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monitoring for a trigger condition for initiating a low power mode in which a backlight of a display screen of the portable electronic device is deactivated; and discontinuing the sending of device orientation event notifications to a user interface manager when the backlight of the display screen of the portable electronic device is deactivated. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A portable electronic device, comprising:
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a processor; a display screen connected to the processor; an orientation sensor connected to the processor; wherein the processor is configured for;
causing a user interface screen of a foreground application to be displayed on the display screen in a first screen orientation;
receiving a device orientation event notification from the orientation sensor, the device orientation event notification specifying a device orientation;
determining a preferred screen orientation associated with the device orientation;
determining whether the preferred screen orientation matches a screen orientation rule for the foreground application;
causing the user interface screen to be re-displayed in accordance with the preferred screen orientation when the preferred screen orientation matches the screen orientation rule for the foreground application only when it differs from the first screen orientation. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A portable electronic device, comprising:
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a processor; a display screen connected to the processor; an orientation sensor connected to the processor; wherein the processor is configured for;
causing a user interface screen of a foreground application to be displayed on the display screen in a first screen orientation;
receiving input to change the foreground application from a first application to a second application;
determining whether the first screen orientation matches a screen orientation rule for the second application;
causing a user interface screen for the second application to be displayed in accordance with first screen orientation when it matches the screen orientation rule for the second application; and
causing a user interface screen for the second application to be displayed in accordance with an alternate screen orientation specified by the second application when the first screen orientation does not match the screen orientation rule for the second application.
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23. A method of controlling an orientation sensor of a portable electronic device, the method comprising:
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monitoring for a trigger condition for initiating a low power mode in which a backlight of a display screen of the portable electronic device is deactivated; and discontinuing the sending of device orientation event notifications to a user interface manager when the backlight of the display screen of the portable electronic device is deactivated. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification