Method and apparatus for use of rotational user inputs
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A portable media player, comprising:
- a storage device that stores media content for each of a plurality of media items;
a display screen that displays a portion of the media items at a time;
a user input device having an exposed upper surface that enables a user of said portable media player to at least identify a particular media item from the media items being displayed through a rotational action with respect to the exposed upper surface of said user input device, wherein said user input device comprises a rotary dial and a button, and wherein the button is provided at the center of the rotary dial; and
a processor operatively connected to said storage device and said user input device, said processor controls said portable media player to play the media content of the particular media item that was identified using said user input device,wherein, responsive to the rotational action with respect to the exposed upper surface of said user input device, visual feedback is provided on said display screen.
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Abstract
Improved approaches for users of computing devices to interact with graphical user interfaces are described. According to one aspect, a rotational user action supplied by a user at a user input device is transformed into linear action with respect to a graphical user interface. According to another aspect, a portion of an extended list of items is displayed by a graphical user interface and, through rotational user actions at a user input device, the portion of the list being displayed can be varied with welcomed ease of use. Although the type of computing device can vary, the improved approaches are particularly well-suited for use with a portable media player.
539 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A portable media player, comprising:
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a storage device that stores media content for each of a plurality of media items; a display screen that displays a portion of the media items at a time; a user input device having an exposed upper surface that enables a user of said portable media player to at least identify a particular media item from the media items being displayed through a rotational action with respect to the exposed upper surface of said user input device, wherein said user input device comprises a rotary dial and a button, and wherein the button is provided at the center of the rotary dial; and a processor operatively connected to said storage device and said user input device, said processor controls said portable media player to play the media content of the particular media item that was identified using said user input device, wherein, responsive to the rotational action with respect to the exposed upper surface of said user input device, visual feedback is provided on said display screen. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 44)
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13. A method for interacting with a graphical user interface produced on a display device of a computing device, the computing device also having a rotational input device with an exposed upper surface and the computing device further having a button disposed within a periphery of the exposed upper surface, said method comprising:
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detecting a rotational movement associated with a user input action with respect to the exposed upper surface of the rotational input device, the rotational input device producing annular-based output signals corresponding to the rotational movement; converting the annular-based output signals from the rotational input device that correspond to the rotational movement into a linear movement; and applying the linear movement to at least one object of the graphical user interface being produced on the display device to provide visual feedback correlated to the rotational movement associated with the user input action on the display device; detecting a user input action with respect to the button; and processing the user input action with respect to the button. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer readable medium including at least computer program code for interacting with a graphical user interface produced on a display device of a computing device, the computing device also having a user input device, the user input device including a rotational input unit and a button, said computer readable medium including at least:
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computer program code for receiving a rotational movement associated with a user input action by a user via the rotational input unit, the user input action being through interaction with the user input device, wherein only a single finger of the user need be used to provide the rotational movement via the user input action with the user input device, and the single finger can be used to complete one or more revolutions of the user input device without lifting the finger from the user input device; computer program code for converting the rotational movement into a linear movement; computer program code for applying the linear movement to at least one object of the graphical user interface being produced on the display device, wherein the linear movement being applied to the at least one object of the graphical user interface provides visual feedback correlated to the rotational movement associated with the user input action on the display device; and computer program code for detecting a user input action with respect to the button; and computer program code for processing the user input action with respect to the button. - View Dependent Claims (45)
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30. A portable media player, comprising:
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a storage device that stores media content for each of a plurality of media items; a display screen that displays a portion of the media items at a time; a user input device having an exposed upper surface that enables a user of said portable media player to at least identify a particular media item from the media items being displayed through a rotational action with respect to the exposed upper surface of said user input device, wherein said user input device comprises a touch pad capable of rotational sensing, wherein said user input device further comprises a button separate from said touch pad, and wherein said button is provided at the center of said touch pad; and a processor operatively connected to said storage device and said user input device, said processor controls said portable media player to play the media content of the particular media item that was identified using said user input device, wherein, responsive to the rotational action with respect to the exposed upper surface of said user input device, visual feedback is provided on said display screen. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification