Navigation and selection control for a hand-held portable computer
First Claim
1. A system, comprising:
- a hand-held portable electronic device having a small form factor, wherein the electronic device includes;
a display screen;
a control integrated with the electronic device to enable control over navigation and selection within the display screen, wherein a first type of user actuation of the control performs the navigation and wherein a second type of user actuation of the control performs the selection; and
software to enable operation of the control in conjunction with a pre-existing application installed in the electronic device, wherein the software includes;
a proxying service component to receive codes corresponding to the first and second types of user actuation of the control;
a pre-existing handler associated with the pre-existing application, wherein the pre-existing handler can be selected by the proxying service component to receive information associated with the received code; and
application-related information and user-configuration information that can be correlated by the pre-existing handler with the received code to determine at least one corresponding command for the pre-existing application;
wherein the software enables a user to configure the operation of the control for the pre-existing application; and
wherein the software enables extension of the operation of the control to an additional application to be installed in the electronic device without modification of code for the pre-existing and additional applications, the additional application without modification being usable with both the portable electronic device having the small form factor and another electronic device having a larger form factor relative to the portable electronic device;
wherein the extension of the operation of the control to the additional application includes installing an additional handler that is different from the pre-existing handler,wherein the additional handler is registered with the proxying service component during installation; and
wherein the additional handler enables the proxying service component to interact with the additional application without modification of the code of the additional application.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hand-held portable computer is provided with a control wheel to accelerate navigation and selection that is otherwise difficult due to the small form factor of the portable computer. The wheel is turned in a first or in a second direction to scroll through an on-screen menu. The wheel is pressed to select a particular item from the on-screen menu for execution. Context-sensitivity is provided in that the underlying software determines which menu to display or command to execute, in response to dialing or clicking the wheel, based on which application and pane are currently active and based on which item in the pane is currently selected. User-configurability and extensibility to additional applications are provided, without modification of the underlying software application code.
71 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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a hand-held portable electronic device having a small form factor, wherein the electronic device includes; a display screen; a control integrated with the electronic device to enable control over navigation and selection within the display screen, wherein a first type of user actuation of the control performs the navigation and wherein a second type of user actuation of the control performs the selection; and software to enable operation of the control in conjunction with a pre-existing application installed in the electronic device, wherein the software includes; a proxying service component to receive codes corresponding to the first and second types of user actuation of the control; a pre-existing handler associated with the pre-existing application, wherein the pre-existing handler can be selected by the proxying service component to receive information associated with the received code; and application-related information and user-configuration information that can be correlated by the pre-existing handler with the received code to determine at least one corresponding command for the pre-existing application; wherein the software enables a user to configure the operation of the control for the pre-existing application; and wherein the software enables extension of the operation of the control to an additional application to be installed in the electronic device without modification of code for the pre-existing and additional applications, the additional application without modification being usable with both the portable electronic device having the small form factor and another electronic device having a larger form factor relative to the portable electronic device; wherein the extension of the operation of the control to the additional application includes installing an additional handler that is different from the pre-existing handler, wherein the additional handler is registered with the proxying service component during installation; and wherein the additional handler enables the proxying service component to interact with the additional application without modification of the code of the additional application. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 27)
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13. A hand-held portable apparatus having a small form factor, the apparatus comprising:
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a display screen; a control usable with a user interface that can be presented on the display screen; software to enable operation of the control in conjunction with a pre-existing installed application associated with the user interface, in a manner that enables user-configuration over the operation of the control and that enables extension of the control to an additional application to be installed, without modification of code for the pre-existing and additional applications; wherein the software includes; a proxying service component to receive codes corresponding to actuation of the control; and a plurality of handlers associated with a corresponding plurality of installed application, wherein at least one of the handlers can be selected by the proxying service component to receive information associated with a received code and related to operation of its associated application; wherein the extension of the control to the additional application includes an installation of an additional handler that is registered with the proxying service component, wherein the additional handler enables the proxying service component to interact with the additional application without modification of the code of the additional application; the additional application being usable with both the apparatus having the small form factor and another electronic device having a larger form factor relative to the apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 28)
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17. A method usable with a hand-held portable electronic device having a small form factor, the method comprising:
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presenting a user interface on a display screen of the portable electronic device; enabling control over navigation and selection within the user interface by using a control present on said portable electronic device that is separate from a keypad of the electronic device, wherein a first type of user actuation of the control performs the navigation and wherein a second type of user actuation of the control performs the selection; and on said portable electronic device, operating the control in conjunction with a pre-existing application installed in said portable electronic device and associated with the user interface, including enabling user-configuration over the operation of the control and enabling extension of the operation of the control to an additional application to be installed in the electronic device, substantially without modification of code for the pre-existing and additional applications; the additional application being usable with both the portable electronic device having the small form factor and another electronic device having a larger form factor relative to the portable electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 26, 29)
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21. An article of manufacture, comprising:
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a machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon to; control navigation and selection within a user interface of a portable electronic device by using a control wheel of the portable electronic device that is separate from a keypad of the portable electronic device, wherein a first type of user actuation of the wheel performs the navigation and wherein a second type of user actuation of the wheel performs the selection, the portable electronic device having a small form factor; on the portable electronic device, operate the wheel in conjunction with a pre-existing application installed in the portable electronic device and associated with the user interface, including instructions to enable user-configuration over the operation of the wheel and to enable extension of the operation of the wheel to an additional application to be installed in the portable electronic device, substantially without modification of code for the pre-existing and additional applications; and wherein the instructions to enable extension of the operation of the wheel include a handler that is associated with the additional application, wherein the handler is installed into the machine-readable medium and registered with a proxying service component during installation to enable the proxying service component to interact with the additional application substantially without modification of the code for the additional application, the handler and the proxying service component being present in the portable electronic device, the additional application being usable with both the portable electronic device having the small form factor and another electronic device having a larger form factor relative to the portable electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 30)
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Specification