PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING SAME

• US 20100299641A1
• Filed: 05/21/2009
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Research In Motion Limited (Blackberry Limited)
• Original Assignee: Research In Motion Limited (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Cundill, Andrew Philip
• Application Number:
  US12/470,059
• Publication Number:
  US 20100299641A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/863
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A method of controlling a portable electronic device having a touch-sensitive display includes rendering content on the touch-sensitive display, detecting a first touch at a first location on the touch-sensitive display, detecting a second touch at a second location on the touch-sensitive display during the first touch, determining an area having a boundary defined by the first location and the second location, when a zoom selection is detected, performing a zooming operation by expanding rendered content in at least the area.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a portable electronic device having a touch-sensitive display, the method comprising:

rendering information on the touch-sensitive display;

detecting a first touch at a first location on the touch-sensitive display;

detecting a second touch at a second location on the touch-sensitive display during the first touch;

determining, based at least in part on the first location and the second location, an area having at least one boundary;

when zoom selection is detected, performing a zoom by expanding at least some of the information rendered from the area.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein performing a zoom comprises centering the area on the touch-sensitive display.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the area comprises determining a rectangular area extrapolated from the first location and the second location.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first location and the second location are diagonally opposing corners of a rectangle.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein expanding at least some of the information rendered comprises expanding the information rendered within a rectangle by expanding all boundaries of the area by one factor.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein expanding information rendered comprises expanding the information rendered in the area to fill available display area of the touch-sensitive display.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein zooming comprises zooming more information than the information rendered from the area.

8. The method according to claim 1, comprising cropping the information rendered from at least two opposing sides of the rectangle.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising detecting a change in the first location and determining the area based on the changed first location prior to performing the zoom.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising detecting a change in the second location and determining the area based on the changed second location prior to performing the zoom.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the zoom selection comprises an input from a switch actuated by movement of the touch-sensitive display.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the zoom selection comprises determining that a force imparted on the touch-sensitive display exceeds a threshold force.

13. A computer-readable medium having computer-readable code embodied therein, the computer-readable code executable by a processor of a portable electronic device to perform the method of claim 1.

14. A portable electronic device comprising:

a touch-sensitive display;

a processor operably connected to the touch-sensitive display,

a memory device storing computer-readable program code executable by the processor to cause the electronic device to;

render information on the touch-sensitive display,

detect a first touch at a first location and a second touch at a second location on the touch-sensitive display,

determine an area based on the first location and the second location,

when a zoom selection is detected, zoom at least some of the information rendered from the area.