SLATE COMPUTER WITH TACTILE HOME KEYS
First Claim
1. Slate computer comprising:
- a housing;
a processor in the housing;
a touch sensitive screen on the housing and communicating with the processor, the screen defining at least part of a surface of the computer; and
plural discrete areas on the surface, the discrete areas having different tactile characteristics than the surface, the discrete areas being arranged on the surface to mimic home keys of a keyboard, the slate computer having no physical keyboard.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Fingertip-sized discrete areas are provided on a slate computer and have different tactile characteristics than the remainder of the surface on which they are disposed. The discrete areas are arranged to mimic home keys of a keyboard and each discrete area corresponds to a respective home key. In this way, a user is given tactile feedback of when fingers are properly placed in the home position, with home key finger placement triggering the presentation of a full keyboard on screen. Other embodiments do not use tactilely distinct keys, with simultaneous placement of two or more fingers on the computer triggering display of the virtual keyboard.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. Slate computer comprising:
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a housing; a processor in the housing; a touch sensitive screen on the housing and communicating with the processor, the screen defining at least part of a surface of the computer; and plural discrete areas on the surface, the discrete areas having different tactile characteristics than the surface, the discrete areas being arranged on the surface to mimic home keys of a keyboard, the slate computer having no physical keyboard. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Computer comprising:
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processor; housing bearing the processor; touch sensitive screen on the housing communicating with the processor; and plural discrete areas on the screen, each discrete area being tactilely discriminable from areas of the screen outside the discrete areas. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. Method comprising:
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providing a touch sensitive computer screen on a computer; defining how many of plural discrete areas on the computer must be touched simultaneously to indicate a desire to display an image of a keyboard, the computer not having a physical keyboard; and presenting an image of a keyboard on the screen in response to sensing pressure on all of the plural areas. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification