Card Metaphor For Activities In A Computing Device
First Claim
1. A system for navigating among a plurality of open activities in an electronic device, the activities being ordered in a sequence, comprising:
- a processor, for running at least two activities concurrently;
a display screen, coupled to the processor, having at least three modes,wherein;
in a first display mode, the display screen displays a user interface for a single one of the activities;
in a second display mode, the display screen displays;
a first card having focus and corresponding to a first activity, the first card being displayed at a first size; and
adjacent to the first card, a portion of at least a second card comprising output for at least a second activity, wherein the first and second activities are adjacent to one another in the sequence; and
in a third display mode, the display screen displays;
at least two cards adjacent to one another in the sequence, each card comprising output for an activity, the cards being displayed at a second size smaller than the first size; and
adjacent to at least one of the displayed cards, a portion of another card comprising output for an activity; and
an input device, coupled to the processor, for receiving user input;
wherein;
responsive to user input indicating a mode switch, the display screen switches from one of the display modes to another of the display modes; and
in at least the second and third display modes, responsive to user input indicating a switch to another card, the display screen repositions the cards.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In various embodiments, a card metaphor is established, in which each activity can be represented within an area of the screen referred to as a card. In various embodiments, any of several display modes are available for viewing, interacting with, manipulating, initiating, and dismissing cards. A persistent positional relationship can be established among cards, represented by a one-dimensional sequence. Newly opened cards are generally placed at the end of the sequence, although a new card that bears a relationship to an already open card may, in some embodiments, be placed adjacent to the already open card. In various embodiments, cards may be grouped, with such groups being represented as stacks of cards or by other visually distinctive means.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system for navigating among a plurality of open activities in an electronic device, the activities being ordered in a sequence, comprising:
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a processor, for running at least two activities concurrently; a display screen, coupled to the processor, having at least three modes, wherein; in a first display mode, the display screen displays a user interface for a single one of the activities; in a second display mode, the display screen displays; a first card having focus and corresponding to a first activity, the first card being displayed at a first size; and adjacent to the first card, a portion of at least a second card comprising output for at least a second activity, wherein the first and second activities are adjacent to one another in the sequence; and in a third display mode, the display screen displays; at least two cards adjacent to one another in the sequence, each card comprising output for an activity, the cards being displayed at a second size smaller than the first size; and adjacent to at least one of the displayed cards, a portion of another card comprising output for an activity; and an input device, coupled to the processor, for receiving user input; wherein; responsive to user input indicating a mode switch, the display screen switches from one of the display modes to another of the display modes; and in at least the second and third display modes, responsive to user input indicating a switch to another card, the display screen repositions the cards. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for displaying a sequence of cards comprising output for open activities in an electronic device, the sequence of cards having a beginning and an end, the system comprising:
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a processor, for running at least two activities concurrently; a display screen, coupled to the processor, having at least two modes, wherein; in a first display mode, the display screen displays output corresponding to a single one of the activities; and in a second display mode, the display screen displays; a first card having focus and comprising output for a first activity; and adjacent to the first card, a portion of at least a second card comprising output for at least a second activity, wherein the first and second cards are adjacent to one another in the sequence; and an input device, coupled to the processor, for receiving user input; wherein; responsive to a command to launch an activity that is not currently running; the processor launches the activity and adds a corresponding card to the end of the sequence of cards; and the display screen changes focus to the added card; and responsive to a command to launch an activity that is currently running; the display screen changes focus to a card corresponding to the activity specified by the command. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A system for displaying a sequence of cards comprising output for open activities in an electronic device, the sequence of cards having a beginning and an end, the system comprising:
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a processor, for running at least two activities concurrently; a display screen, coupled to the processor, having at least two modes, wherein; in a first display mode, the display screen displays output corresponding to a single one of the activities; and in a second display mode, the display screen displays; a first card having focus and comprising output for a first activity; and adjacent to the first card, a portion of at least a second card comprising output for at least a second activity, wherein the first and second cards are adjacent to one another in the sequence; and an input device, coupled to the processor, for receiving user input; wherein; the processor is adapted to add a new card to the sequence of cards, by; responsive to the new card being unrelated to an open activity, adding the new card to the end of the sequence of cards; and responsive to the new card being related to an open activity, adding the new card to the sequence of cards at a position adjacent to a card corresponding to the related open activity; and responsive to the processor adding a new card, the display screen changes focus to the new card.
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23. A system for displaying cards for a plurality of open activities in an electronic device, the activities being ordered in a sequence, the system comprising:
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a processor, for running at least two activities concurrently, and for establishing a card sequence, the card sequence comprising a plurality of cards in a defined order, wherein each card in the sequence comprises a user interface corresponding to one of the activities, and wherein one of the cards in the sequence has focus, and wherein at least one card group is defined as comprising a subset of the cards; a display screen, coupled to the processor, the display screen having at least two modes, wherein; in a first display mode, the display screen displays a user interface for a single one of the activities; and in a second display mode, responsive to the card having focus being a member of a card group, the display screen displays a representation of the card group comprising the card having focus; and in the second display mode, responsive to the card having focus not being a member of a card group, the display screen displays the card having focus; and an input device, coupled to the processor, for receiving user input; wherein; responsive to user input indicating a mode switch, the display screen switches from one of the display modes to another of the display modes; and responsive to user input indicating a switch to another card, the display screen repositions the cards and the processor changes focus to another card. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A system for displaying cards for a plurality of open activities in an electronic device, the activities being ordered in a sequence, the system comprising:
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a processor, for running at least two activities concurrently, and for establishing a card sequence, the card sequence comprising a plurality of cards in a defined order, wherein each card in the sequence comprises a user interface corresponding to one of the activities, and wherein one of the cards in the sequence has focus, and wherein at least one card group is defined as comprising a subset of the cards; a display screen, coupled to the processor, for displaying at least one card, the display screen having at least two modes, wherein; in a first display mode, the display screen displays a user interface for a single one of the activities; and in a second display mode, the display screen displays the card having focus and at least a portion of at least one card adjacent to the card having focus; and an input device, coupled to the processor, for receiving user input; wherein; in at least one of the display modes, the display screen displays at least one card belonging to a card group in a visually distinctive manner with respect to at least one card not belonging to a card group; responsive to user input indicating a mode switch, the display screen switches from one of the display modes to another of the display modes; and responsive to user input indicating a switch to another card, the display screen repositions the cards and the processor changes focus to another card. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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Specification