Method and apparatus for accessing a contacts database and telephone services

• US 7,007,239 B1
• Filed: 10/14/2001
• Issued: 02/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Palm, Inc. (TCL Technology Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Hawkins, Jeffrey Charles, Haitani, Robert Yuj
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Application Number:
  US09/977,871
• Time in Patent Office: 1,598 Days
• Field of Search: 345/781, 707/3, 707/7, 707/5, 707/104.1, 359/356, 715/780, 715/864, 715/963, 715/776, 715/781, 715/779, 715/777, 715/840, 715/968, 715/835, 455/414, 455/418, 455/564, 455/344, 379/90.01, 379/93.17, 379/93.19, 379/93.23
• US Class Current: 715/780
• 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 1/0235 Slidable or telescopic telephones, i.e. with a relative translation movement of the body parts; Telephones using a combination of translation and other relative motions of the body parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0254 comprising one or a plurality of mechanically detachable modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27453 Directories allowing storage of additional subscriber data, e.g. metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2746 Sorting, e.g. according to history or frequency of use
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2748 by matching character strings
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/56 Arrangements for indicating or recording the called number at the calling subscriber's set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/57 Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set at the operator set in a manual exchange H04M5/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72433 for voice messaging, e.g. dictaphones for answering incoming calls H04M1/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/04 the ringing-current being generated at the substations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs logging of telephone numbers H04M1/56, H04M1/57
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99937 Sorting

Abstract

Sophisticated computer-enhanced mobile telephones require intuitive user interfaces in order to allow a user to take advantage of all the available features. The present invention discloses an intuitive telephone system user interface that provides both simple familiar and new powerful user interfaces to the user. In one embodiment, the user is presented with four permanently available user interface views and a fifth user interface view that is available when there is an active telephone call. The first permanently available view is a dial pad view that is similar to a common touch tone dial pad. A second permanently available view is a speed dial view that allows users to easily create their own customized speed dial buttons that are easy to navigate between and can be edited at any time. The third view is the call history view that displays a list of previous incoming, outgoing, or missed calls and may be filtered as desired by the user. The final permanently available view is a contacts view that provides a filtering mechanism that allows the user to quickly search through a large personal contacts database. The fifth user interface view is the active call view that displays a set of command buttons for accessing advanced telephone features during a telephone call such as hold, three way calling, DTMF touch tones, hang-up, speakerphone, etc.

Claims

1. A method for selecting a desired subset from a list of names in a computer system, each of said names comprising a first name and a last name, said method comprising:

accepting a first desired letter input;

selecting a first subset from said list of names comprising names having a first name beginning with said first desired letter;

accepting a second desired letter input; and

selecting a second subset from said first subset that have

a first name beginning with said first desired letter and a last name beginning with said second desired letter.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, said method further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of said first subset after selecting said first subset from said list of names.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1, said method further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of said second subset after selecting said second subset from said first subset.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1, said method further comprising:

accepting a next desired letter input; and

selecting a next subset from a previous subset that have

a first name beginning with said first desired letter and a last name beginning with said second desired letter and said next desired letter.

5. The method as set forth in claim 4, said method further comprising:

repeating said steps of accepting a next desired letter input and selecting a next subset.

6. The method as set forth in claim 4, said method further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of said next subset after selecting said next subset from said previous subset.

7. The method as set forth in claim 6, said method further comprising:

repeating said steps of accepting a next desired letter input, selecting a next subset, and displaying said next subset.

8. The method as set forth in claim 4, said method further comprising:

accepting a user input deleting said next desired letter; and

selecting said second subset from said first subset that have

a first name beginning with said first desired letter and a last name beginning with said second desired letter.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, said method further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of said second subset after selecting said second subset from said first subset.

10. A method for providing an intuitive interface to a wireless telecommunication system, said method comprising:

displaying a first button for selecting a telephone dial pad interface for dialing a telephone number;

displaying a second button for selecting a speed dial interface for dialing a telephone number from a list of speed dial numbers;

displaying a third button for selecting call history interface for dialing a telephone number from a call history list;

displaying a fourth button for selecting a contact list interface for dialing a telephone number from a contact list;

receiving a first input selection of a first particular button from a user;

displaying a first particular interface corresponding to said first particular button; and

continuing to display said first, second, third, and fourth buttons while said first particular interface is displayed.

11. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein said contact list comprises a list of names and telephone numbers, said names comprising a first name and a last name, said method further comprising:

accepting a first desired letter input from said user;

selecting a first subset from said list of names comprising names having a first name beginning with said first desired letter or a last name beginning with said first desired letter;

accepting a second desired letter input from said user; and

selecting a second subset from said first subset that have

a first name beginning with said first desired letter and said second desired letter, or

a last name beginning with said first desired letter and said second desired letter, or

a first name beginning with said first desired letter and a last name beginning with said second desired letter.

12. The method as set forth in claim 11, said method further comprising;

displaying at least a portion of said first subset after selecting said first subset from said list of names.

13. The method as set forth in claim 11, said method further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of said second subset after selecting said second subset from said first subset.

14. The method as set forth in claim 11, said method further comprising:

accepting a next desired letter input; and

selecting a next subset from a previous subset that have

a first name beginning with said first desired letter, said second desired letter, and said next desired letter, or

a last name beginning with said first desired letter, said second desired letter, and said next desired letter, or

a first name beginning with said first desired letter and a last name beginning with said second desired letter and said next desired letter.

15. The method as set forth in claim 14, said method further comprising:

repeating said steps of accepting a next desired letter input and selecting a next subset.

16. The method as set forth in claim 14, said method further comprising:

displaying at least a portion of said next subset after selecting said next subset from said previous subset.

17. The method as set forth in claim 16, said method further comprising:

repeating said steps of accepting a next desired letter input, selecting a next subset, and displaying said next subset.

18. The method as set forth in claim 14, said method further comprising:

accepting a user input deleting said next desired letter; and

selecting said second subset from said first subset that have

a first name beginning with said first desired letter and said second desired letter, or

a last name beginning with said first desired letter and said second desired letter, or

a first name beginning with said first desired letter and a last name beginning with said second desired letter.

19. The method as claimed in claim 10, said method further comprising:

displaying an active call interface when said user initiates an outgoing call or receives an incoming call; and

displaying a fifth button for selecting the active call interface, the fifth button being displayed only as long as said outgoing or incoming call is active.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19 wherein said active call interface comprises a hold button to place said outgoing or incoming call on hold.

21. The method as claimed in claim 19 wherein said active call interface comprises a hang up button to hang up said outgoing or incoming call.

22. The method as claimed in claim 19 wherein said active call interface comprises an answer button to answer said incoming call.

23. The method as claimed in claim 19 further comprising:

continuing to display said first, second, third, and fourth buttons while said active call interface is displayed.

24. The method as claimed in claim 10 further comprising:

after continuing to display said first, second, third, and fourth buttons, receiving a second input selection of a second particular button from a user; and

displaying a second particular interface corresponding to said second particular button, wherein said second particular interface is displayed without requiring further input from said user.

25. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein input is received from said user through a digitizer pad that covers said interfaces.

26. A computer system comprising:

one or more memory devices that store a set of instructions and a collection of records, wherein each record has associated with it at least one of a first name and a last name; and

one or more processors that are configured to retrieve instructions in the set of instructions from the one or more memory devices in order to;

accept a first desired letter as a first input;

select a first subset of records from the collection of records, each record in the first subset having at least one of the first name or the last name beginning with said first desired letter;

accept a second desired letter as a second input; and

select a second subset of records from either the collection of records or from the first subset of records;

wherein the instructions stored in the one or more memory devices enable the one or more processors to select each record in the second subset based on any one or more of (i) the first name beginning with said first desired letter and the last name beginning with said second desired letter;

(ii) the first name beginning with said first desired letter followed by the second desired letter; and

(iii) the last name beginning with said first desired letter followed by the second desired letter.

27. The computer system of claim 26, wherein the computer system includes a display, and wherin the one or more processors are configured to provide on the display at least a portion of said first subset of records after selecting said first subset.

28. The computer system of claim 26, further comprising a display, and wherein the one or more processors are configurd to provide on the display at least a portion of said second subset of record after selecting said second subset.

29. The computer system of claim 26, wherein the one or more processors are programmed to:

accept a next desired letter as a next input; and

select a next subset from one of the first subset of records, the second subset of records, or the collection of records, wherein each record in the next subset is selected for having one of (i) one of the first name or last name beginning with the first desired letter and the other of the first name or last name beginning with the second desired letter followed by the next desired letter input, or (ii) one of the first name or last name beginning with the first desired letter, followed by the second desired letter, followed by the next desired letter.

30. The computer system of claim 29, further comprising a display, and wherein the one or more processors are programmed to provide on the display at least a portion of said next subset after selecting said next subset.

31. The computer system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

accept a user input deleting said next desired letter; and

responsive to accepting the user input deleting said next desired letter, select a second subset of records from either the collection of records or from the first subset of records, wherein each record in the second subset is selected for having one of (i) the first name beginning with said first desired letter and the last name beginning with said second desired letter;

(ii) the first name beginning with said first desired letter followed by the second desired letter;

or (iii) the last name beginning with said first desired letter followed by the second desired letter.

32. The computer system of claim 29, further comprising a display, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to provide on the display at least a portion of said second subset after selecting said second subset.

33. The computer system of claim 26, wherein the computer system corresponds to a portable computing device.

34. The computer system of claim 33, wherein the computer system corresponds to a portable computing device with cellular communication capabilities.

35. The computer systemof claim 34, further comprising:

one or more cellular telephone mechanisms to enable a user to place or receive a cellular telephone call; and

wherein the one or more processors are configured to;

accept an input to identify a single record in the second subset;

identify a phone number contained in the record; and

initiate a cellular phone call to the identified phone number using the one or more cellular telephone mechanisms.

36. The computer system of claim 35, wherein the one or more processors are configured to identify the phone number contained in the record based on a user-selection of data contained in the single record.

37. The computer system of claim 36, wherein the one or more processors are configured to initiate the cellular phone call in response to a user-action.