Electronic device and method for simplifying text entry using a soft keyboard
First Claim
1. A method for simplifying text entry in an electronic device having a display operable to display a cursor and a soft keyboard, the soft keyboard comprising keys, said method comprising:
- receiving a cursor control signal representing movement of said cursor on said display;
determining a cursor velocity in response to said cursor control signal, the cursor velocity represented by a cursor movement vector having a magnitude and a direction;
predicting from amongst a set of potential target keys, one key as likely to be next selected as a target key when said cursor velocity is greater than zero, the set of potential target keys including a) a first key that is an immediate neighbor to a current key on which said cursor is positioned and b) a second key that is not a neighbor to the current key on which said cursor is positioned, and wherein said first and said second keys are located in a direction that is defined by said cursor movement vector and within an angular tolerance of the direction; and
enlarging said target key on the display relative to others of said keys, which remain unenlarged.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic device predicts a target key on a soft keyboard for selection by a user and enlarges the target key to make it easier for the user to select the target key. The electronic device includes a display that displays a cursor and keys that constitute a soft keyboard and a cursor control device for controlling movement of the cursor on the display. The electronic device further includes a processor operable to receive a cursor control signal representing movement of the cursor on the display from the cursor control device. In response to the cursor control signal, the processor predicts one of the keys likely to be next selected as the target key and enlarges the target key relative to other keys on the display.
65 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for simplifying text entry in an electronic device having a display operable to display a cursor and a soft keyboard, the soft keyboard comprising keys, said method comprising:
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receiving a cursor control signal representing movement of said cursor on said display; determining a cursor velocity in response to said cursor control signal, the cursor velocity represented by a cursor movement vector having a magnitude and a direction; predicting from amongst a set of potential target keys, one key as likely to be next selected as a target key when said cursor velocity is greater than zero, the set of potential target keys including a) a first key that is an immediate neighbor to a current key on which said cursor is positioned and b) a second key that is not a neighbor to the current key on which said cursor is positioned, and wherein said first and said second keys are located in a direction that is defined by said cursor movement vector and within an angular tolerance of the direction; and enlarging said target key on the display relative to others of said keys, which remain unenlarged. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An electronic device, comprising:
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a display operable to display a cursor and keys constituting a soft keyboard; a cursor control device for controlling movement of said cursor on said display; and a processor operable to receive a cursor control signal from said cursor control device, said cursor control signal representing movement of said cursor on said display, and use said cursor control signal to determine a cursor velocity for predicting from amongst a set of potential target keys, one key as likely to be next selected as a target key when said cursor velocity is greater than zero, the set of potential target keys including a) a first key that is an immediate neighbor to a current key on which said cursor is positioned and b) a second key that is not a neighbor to the current key on which said cursor is positioned, and wherein said first and said second keys are located within an angular tolerance of a direction that is defined by a cursor movement vector, wherein said processor is further operable to enlarge said target key relative to others of said keys. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 20)
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17. A method for text entry into an electronic device incorporating a display on which is displayed a soft keyboard, the method comprising:
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receiving a cursor control signal operable to control the position of a cursor upon the soft keyboard; detecting from the cursor control signal, a direction and a magnitude of movement of the cursor; detecting from the cursor control signal, a slowing down of the cursor indicative of the cursor approaching a target key on the soft keyboard; determining a key center vector that represents the magnitude and the direction of a straight line connecting a current position of the cursor to a first target key; providing an angular tolerance φ
around the key center vector, the angular tolerance φ
being used to identify a set of potential target keys comprising a) a first key that is an immediate neighbor to a current key that corresponds to the current position of the cursor, and b) a second key that is not a neighbor to the current key, wherein said first and said second keys are located in a direction that is in substantial alignment with said key center vector and within said angular tolerance;identifying the target key from the set of potential target keys; enlarging the target key relative to other keys on the soft keyboard; and reducing in size, a neighboring key of the enlarged target key. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification