METHOD FOR PROVIDING A USER WITH A FAST CONTROL USER INTERFACE, AND ASSOCIATED ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20110316870A1
• Filed: 06/07/2010
• Published: 12/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte. Ltd. (MediaTek, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte. Ltd. (MediaTek, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jiang, Chun
• Application Number:
  US12/812,235
• Publication Number:
  US 20110316870A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/589
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/023 Arrangements for converting discrete items of information into a coded form, e.g. arrangements for interpreting keyboard generated codes as alphanumeric codes, operand codes or instruction codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03 Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form

Abstract

A method for providing a user with a fast control user interface includes: providing the user with a plurality of keys/buttons for selecting one of a plurality of display regions on a screen, where each display region corresponds to at least one associated key/button of the keys/buttons; and when a specific key/button of the keys/buttons is pressed, selecting/highlighting a specific display region corresponding to the specific key/button for further operations. An associated electronic device is further provided, where the electronic device includes: an interface circuit arranged to receive signals directly/indirectly from the plurality of keys/buttons, where the electronic device or at least one accessory thereof provides the user with the plurality of keys/buttons for selecting one of the plurality of display regions on the screen; and a control circuit arranged to provide the user with the fast control user interface.

Claims

1. A method for providing a user with a fast control user interface, the method being applied to an electronic device, the method comprising:

providing the user with a plurality of keys/buttons for selecting one of a plurality of display regions on a screen, wherein each display region corresponds to at least one associated key/button of the keys/buttons; and

when a specific key/button of the keys/buttons is pressed, selecting/highlighting a specific display region corresponding to the specific key/button for further operations.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the user with a set of keys/buttons for selecting one of a plurality of sub-regions of the specific display region, wherein the set of keys/buttons are not necessarily to be the same as the plurality of keys/buttons, and each sub-region corresponds to at least one associated key/button of the set of keys/buttons; and

when a key/button of the set of keys/buttons is pressed, selecting/highlighting a specific sub-region corresponding to the key/button of the set of keys/buttons for further operations.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the set of keys/buttons comprise at least one portion of the plurality of keys/buttons.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of selecting/highlighting the specific display region corresponding to the specific key/button for further operations further comprises:

highlighting the specific display region corresponding to the specific key/button by highlighting one or more selectable items of the specific display region.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the specific key/button is pressed, performing a zoom in operation by enlarging contents of the specific display region for the user'"'"'s convenience.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

with regard to the respective display regions, providing the user with associated visual indexes displayed on the screen, wherein the visual indexes respectively correspond to the keys/buttons.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the visual indexes depict numbers, characters, and/or symbols represented by the keys/buttons, respectively.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the visual indexes respectively depict colors of the keys/buttons, colors of respective surroundings of the keys/buttons, colors of labels of the keys/buttons, colors of marks of the keys/buttons, colors of light emitted from the keys/buttons, and/or colors of light emitted from respective surroundings of the keys/buttons.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a geographic arrangement of the display regions corresponds to an arrangement of the keys/buttons.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a geographic arrangement of the display regions corresponds to an arrangement of webpage contents displayed on the screen.

11. An electronic device, comprising:

a control circuit arranged to control operations of the electronic device and to provide a user with a fast control user interface; and

an interface circuit arranged to receive signals directly/indirectly from a plurality of keys/buttons and to notify the control circuit of user activities accordingly, wherein the electronic device or at least one accessory thereof provides the user with the plurality of keys/buttons for selecting one of a plurality of display regions on a screen, and each display region corresponds to at least one associated key/button of the keys/buttons;

wherein when a specific key/button of the keys/buttons is pressed, the control circuit selects/highlights a specific display region corresponding to the specific key/button for further operations.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the electronic device or the accessory thereof further provides the user with a set of keys/buttons for selecting one of a plurality of sub-regions of the specific display region, the set of keys/buttons are not necessarily to be the same as the plurality of keys/buttons, and each sub-region corresponds to at least one associated key/button of the set of keys/buttons;

and when a key/button of the set of keys/buttons is pressed, the control circuit selects/highlights a specific sub-region corresponding to the key/button of the set of keys/buttons for further operations.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the set of keys/buttons comprise at least one portion of the plurality of keys/buttons.

14. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein when the specific key/button of the keys/buttons is pressed, the control circuit highlights the specific display region corresponding to the specific key/button by highlighting one or more selectable items of the specific display region.

15. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein when the specific key/button is pressed, the control circuit performs a zoom in operation by enlarging contents of the specific display region for the user'"'"'s convenience.

16. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein with regard to the respective display regions, the control circuit provides the user with associated visual indexes displayed on the screen;

and the visual indexes respectively correspond to the keys/buttons.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the visual indexes depict numbers, characters, and/or symbols represented by the keys/buttons, respectively.

18. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the visual indexes respectively depict colors of the keys/buttons, colors of respective surroundings of the keys/buttons, colors of labels of the keys/buttons, colors of marks of the keys/buttons, colors of light emitted from the keys/buttons, and/or colors of light emitted from respective surroundings of the keys/buttons.

19. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein a geographic arrangement of the display regions corresponds to an arrangement of the keys/buttons.

20. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein a geographic arrangement of the display regions corresponds to an arrangement of webpage contents displayed on the screen.