MOBILE INFOMATION TERMINAL

• US 20110138278A1
• Filed: 10/20/2009
• Published: 06/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Miyata, Yuhsuke
• Application Number:
  US13/057,539
• Publication Number:
  US 20110138278A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/702
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1622 with enclosures rotating around an axis perpendicular to the plane they define or with ball-joint coupling, e.g. PDA with display enclosure orientation changeable between portrait and landscape by rotation with respect to a coplanar body enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1677 for detecting open or closed state or particular intermediate positions assumed by movable parts of the enclosure, e.g. detection of display lid position with respect to main body in a laptop, detection of opening of the cover of battery compartment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• 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: H04M 1/021 using combined folding and rotation motions combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0214 Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72427 for supporting games or graphical animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons

Abstract

To provide a mobile information terminal that makes it easy to view a menu screen including many thumbnail images and improves operability at the time of selecting a thumbnail image.

The mobile information terminal is configured to be provided with: a thumbnail menu display part 22 that sterically arranges many thumbnail images 12 in the same direction in a virtual space to display the thumbnail images 12 on a thumbnail screen 3a as if the thumbnail images 12 are viewed from an oblique direction; a slide operation detection part 23 that detects a slide operation on a pad surface of a touch pad 8; a pointer display part 24 that, on the basis of the slide operation, moves a pointer 14 on the thumbnail screen 3a; and a thumbnail selection part 26 that, on the basis of a decision operation by a user, selects a thumbnail image 12 at a position of the pointer 14.

Claims

1. A mobile information terminal comprising:

thumbnail menu display means adapted to sterically arrange many thumbnail images in a same direction in a virtual space to display the thumbnail images on a menu screen as if the thumbnail images are viewed from an oblique direction;

slide operation detection means adapted to detect a slide operation on a pad surface;

pointer display means adapted to, on a basis of the slide operation, move a pointer on the menu screen; and

thumbnail selection means adapted to, on a basis of a decision operation by a user, select the thumbnail image at a position of the pointer.

2. The mobile information terminal according to claim 1, comprising

menu screen scroll means adapted to move the currently displayed thumbnail image in a front-back direction in the virtual space to scroll the menu screen, wherein

the thumbnail menu display means displays the thumbnail image in a forefront stage behind the thumbnail image in a rearmost stage.

3. The mobile information terminal according to claim 1, comprising:

a display on which the menu screen is displayed; and

terminal state determination means adapted to determine whether the display is in a vertically long state or a horizontally long state, wherein

the thumbnail menu display means adjusts an interval between thumbnail images in front and rear stages on a basis of a result of a determination by the terminal state determination means.

4. The mobile information terminal according to claim 1, wherein

the thumbnail menu display means adjusts, on a basis of a user operation, a size of the thumbnail image currently displayed in a forefront stage.

5. The mobile information terminal according to claim 1, wherein

when the thumbnail menu display means displays respective thumbnail images with adding common background plates, the thumbnail menu display means arranges the thumbnail image currently displayed in a forefront stage in a center of the background plate, and arranges the thumbnail image currently displayed in a second or subsequent stage with displacing the thumbnail image to an end part of the background stage.

6. The mobile information terminal according to claim 1, comprising

focus display means adapted to focus-display the thumbnail image selected by the thumbnail selection means, wherein

the thumbnail menu display means changes a viewpoint such that the focus-displayed thumbnail image is positioned on a front side.

7. A mobile information terminal comprising:

thumbnail menu display means adapted to sterically arrange many thumbnail images in a same direction in a virtual space to display the thumbnail images on a menu screen as if the thumbnail images are viewed from an oblique direction;

touch operation detection means adapted to detect a touch operation onto the menu screen; and

thumbnail selection means adapted to, on a basis of a result of a detection of the touch operation, select the thumbnail image.