MULTITASKING VIEWS FOR SMALL SCREEN DEVICES

• US 20100138784A1
• Filed: 11/28/2008
• Published: 06/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Colley, Ashley
• Application Number:
  US12/325,032
• Publication Number:
  US 20100138784A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/810
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04807 Pen manipulated menu
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0485 Centering horizontally or vertically
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/363 Graphics controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications

Abstract

A system and method that includes providing content items to be displayed on a display of a device, determining a relevance of each content item with respect to each other content item, and organizing the content items on the display of the device along a scattered continuum, wherein more contextually relevant content is located closer to a center area of the display and less contextually relevant content is located away from the center area.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing content items to be displayed on a display of a device;

determining a relevance of each content item with respect to each other content item; and

organizing the content items on the display of the device along a continuum, wherein more contextually relevant content is located closer to a center area of the display and less contextually relevant content is located away from the center area.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting an activation of a contextually relevant content view function; and

changing a view on the display from a current content view to the contextually relevant content view.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein more contextually relevant content comprises open applications, active notifications and location related information and less contextually relevant content comprises recent applications, recent content, people and webpages.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring more contextually relevant content in a concentric manner around a center region of the display, and less contextually relevant content around the more contextually relevant content.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising that more contextually relevant content is highlighted in relation to less contextually relevant content.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising marking open applications as more contextually relevant content and marking recently closed applications as less contextually relevant content.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising enabling selection of any one of a more contextually relevant content item or less contextually relevant content item, and opening an active view to a selected more contextually relevant content item or less contextually relevant content item.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising that selection of a more contextually relevant content opens the active view of a corresponding application and selection of a less contextually relevant content opens a corresponding application.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising detecting a closing of a more contextually relevant content item, reclassifying the closed content item as a less contextually relevant content, and re-positioning the reclassified content to a point farther away from the center area.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying related content on the display and grouping related content in close proximity to each other.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising that a most currently active application is represented by an application icon located in an approximate center of a display area.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising continuously rotating each of the content items in and out of the view, to bring content items not currently in a view of the display into the view.

20. A computer program product comprising computer readable code means stored in a memory, the computer program product being configured to execute the method steps according to claim 1.

13. An apparatus comprising:

a display;

at least one processor configured to run at least one content item and present the at least one content item on the display;

a relevance determination module configured to determine a relevance of the at least one content item relative to at least one other content item; and

a relevance positioning module configured to align each content item along a general continuum based upon the determined relevance, where more contextually relevant content is positioned closer to a center area of a view on the display than less contextually relevant content.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising a contextual relevance content activation device that is configured to, when activated, generate a contextually relevant content view wherein a last state of the apparatus comprises a most contextually relevant content item and is positioned by the relevance positioning module in a center of the view.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising a relevance view movement module configured to pan all content items in the view in and out of the display area relative to a movement of a currently displayed content item that is selected and moved about the display area.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising a marking module configured mark all content items depending upon the determined relevance, and cause each displayed content item to flutter at a frequency that varies in relation to the determined relevance.

17. A user interface comprising:

a first content item presented on a display of the user interface, the first content item be designated as a most contextually relevant content item and positioned in an approximate center area of a view including a plurality of contextually relevant content items; and

at least one other content item presented on a display of the user interface, the at least one other content item being positioned along a scattered continuum of contextually relevant content items, wherein more contextually relevant content items are positioned closer to the first content item and less contextually relevant content items are positioned farther away from the first content item.

18. The user interface of claim 17 further comprising that the first content item is a link to a last view state of a device prior to activation of a contextual relevant content view mode.

19. The user interface of claim 17 further comprising that the first content item and the at least one other content item are movable, and wherein the view including a plurality of contextually relevant content items can be re-positioned to bring contextually relevant content items not currently in a viewing area of the display into the viewing area.