Radiotelephones having contact-sensitive user interfaces and methods of operating same
CAFCFirst Claim
1. A radiotelephone, comprising:
- a housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces adjoining respective opposite edges of the front surface and extending from the respective opposite edges of the front surface to respective opposite edges of the rear surface, the housing configured to be held in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm;
a radiotelephone communications transceiver, supported by the housing;
a display, supported by the housing, that displays an image at the front surface of the housing;
a contact-sensitive transducer, supported by the housing and having a contact-sensitive surface disposed at at least one of the first and second side surfaces, which produces an output signal that characterizes contact of an object along the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and
a controller, responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver, which controls at least one of the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver according to the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer.
0 Assignments
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A radiotelephone includes a housing, and a radiotelephone communications transceiver and display are attached to the housing. A contact-sensitive transducer such as a resistive transducer, a capacitive transducer or a semiconductive transducer, is attached to the housing and produces an output signal that characterizes contact with a contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer. A controller is responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver, and controls at least one of the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver according to the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer. The controller, responsive to the contact-sensitive transducer, may determine a position of contact along an axis of the contact-sensitive transducer. A graphical object is selectively displayed based on the determined position of contact to thereby identify the graphical object, e.g., by highlighting one of a plurality of displayed graphical objects or by displaying a cursor that indicates one of a plurality of displayed graphical objects. In yet another embodiment, the controller is configured to cause the display or the radiotelephone communications transceiver to perform a plurality of actions. An action of the plurality of actions may be associated with an identified graphical object, and the controller may initiate the action associated with the identified graphical object in response to, for example, detection of a momentary contact of an object with the contact-sensitive transducer.
-
Citations
36 Claims
-
1. A radiotelephone, comprising:
-
a housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces adjoining respective opposite edges of the front surface and extending from the respective opposite edges of the front surface to respective opposite edges of the rear surface, the housing configured to be held in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm;
a radiotelephone communications transceiver, supported by the housing;
a display, supported by the housing, that displays an image at the front surface of the housing;
a contact-sensitive transducer, supported by the housing and having a contact-sensitive surface disposed at at least one of the first and second side surfaces, which produces an output signal that characterizes contact of an object along the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and
a controller, responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver, which controls at least one of the display and the radiotelephone communications transceiver according to the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. An apparatus, comprising:
-
a housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces adjoining respective opposite edges of the front surface and extending from the respective opposite edges of the front surface to respective opposite edges of the rear surface, the housing configured to be held in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm;
a display, supported by the housing, that displays an image at the front surface of the housing;
a contact-sensitive transducer, supported by the housing and having a contact-sensitive surface disposed at at least one of the first and second side surfaces, which produces an output signal that characterizes contact of an object along the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and
a controller, responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display, which is configured to control the display according to the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. An apparatus, comprising:
-
a housing;
a display, supported by the housing, that displays an image at a front surface of the housing;
a contact-sensitive transducer, supported by the housing, which produces an output signal that characterizes contact of an object along the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer; and
a controller, responsive to the output signal and operatively associated with the display, which scrolls displayed rows along an axis of the display based on the output signal of the contact-sensitive transducer. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
-
-
33. In an apparatus including a housing having a front surface, a rear surface and first and second side surfaces adjoining respective opposite edges of the front surface and extending from the respective opposite edges of the front surface to respective opposite edges of the rear surface, a display that displays an image at the front surface, and a controller that controls the display, a method of providing user input comprising the steps of:
-
holding the housing in a user'"'"'s hand such that the rear surface confronts the user'"'"'s palm and the display projects away from the user'"'"'s palm; and
providing user input to the controller using a contact-sensitive transducer having a contact-sensitive surface disposed at at least one of the first and second side surfaces of the housing, the transducer being operable to produce an output signal that characterizes contact with the contact-sensitive surface of the contact-sensitive transducer. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
-
Specification