Making a phone call from an electronic device having an address list or a call history list

• US 7,664,485 B2
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Issued: 02/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Access Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Palmsource Incorporated (Access Company Limited)
• Inventors: Vialle, Benoit, Twerdahl, Tim, Robertson, Ryan, Maes, Stephane
• Primary Examiner(s): Cumming; William D
• Application Number:
  US11/927,698
• Publication Number:
  US 20080051074A1
• Time in Patent Office: 840 Days
• Field of Search: 455/406, 455/408, 455/410, 455/412.1, 455/414.1, 455/414.3, 455/415, 455/557, 455/569.2, 455/420, 455/422.1, 455/435.1, 455/426, 455/456.3, 455/466, 455/556, 455/566, 455/418, 370/335, 370/352, 379/201.01, 379/88.02, 379/140, 345/156, 715/207, 715/501.1, 709/204, 709/223, 707/3, 707/102, 439/152, 705/39, 705/40, 705/64
• US Class Current: 455/408
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2747 Scrolling on a display
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/06 Recording class or number of calling , i.e. A-party or called party , i.e. B-party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs

Abstract

A method and apparatus of managing a phone device of a personal digital assistant (PDA) is provided. In one example of the present invention, the PDA retrieves a call history list from a stored memory location, the call history list including a call history list record. The PDA then displays at least a portion of the call history list on a screen of the PDA. The call history list preferably includes phone numbers and names associated with those phone numbers. In another example, the method further includes displaying call details of a selected call history list record. The call details preferably includes a date, a timestamp, and a duration.

Claims

1. An electronic device for initiating phone calls, comprising:

a processor adapted to execute a telephone communication program in which a set of calls lists is generated, the set of calls lists including at least one of a call history list, a missed calls list, an incoming calls list, an outgoing calls list, a received calls list and an address list, each of the calls lists including a set of records having at least one of a name and a number;

a memory unit adapted to store the set of calls lists; and

a display screen structure having a tap recognizer, the tap recognizer being adapted to detect a first tap type and a second tap type, the display screen structure being coupled to the processor for displaying the set of calls lists such that each of the calls lists in the set is selectable by a user,

wherein;

when a calls list is selected in the display screen structure by the user, the processor is adapted to retrieve the calls list from the memory unit and cause the display screen structure to display at least a portion of the records in the selected calls list; and

when the tap recognizer detects;

the first tap type on a number in a specific record of the selected list, the processor causes a first set of information related the specific record to be shown on the display screen structure;

the first tap type on a name in a specific record of the displayed selected list, the processor causes a second set of information related the specific record to be shown on the display screen structure; and

the second tap type on a display name or number in a specific record of the displayed selected list, the processor initiates a phone call according to the number of the specific record.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first set of information obtained by a first tap type on a number in the specific record includes a set of phone numbers associated with the specific record.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the display screen structure displays the first set of information in the form of a drop down menu.

4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the drop down menu is positioned at the display number of the specific record with the selected list shown in the background.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second set of information obtained by a first tap type on a name in the specific record includes information associated with the selected call list.

6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein when the selected call list comprises a call history list including a number of calls, and the second set of information associated with a specific call record includes a summary of the call.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the summary of the call includes a name, a date, a time, and a call duration.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a portable computer.

9. A method of managing an electronic device having telephone communication capability, the method comprising the steps of:

displaying on a display screen a set of selectable call lists including at least one of, a call history list, a missed calls list, an incoming calls list, an outgoing calls list, a received calls list, and an address list;

retrieving call records associated with a selected call list, each of the call records including at least one of a number and a name;

displaying at least one of the number and name in the call records of at least a portion of the selected call list, each of the call records being selectable by tapping on the display screen;

detecting one of a first type of tapping and a second type of tapping on a call record on the display screen;

upon detection of the first type of tapping, displaying a first set of information related to the call record if the tapping is detected at the number, and displaying a second set of information if the tapping is detected at the name on the display screen; and

upon detection of the second type of tapping on the display screen, initiating a phone call according to the number in the tapped call record.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first set of information comprises a set of phone numbers associated with the tapped call record.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first set of information is provided in the form of a drop down menu.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the second set of information comprises information related to the selected list.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein if the selected call list is a call history list, and the second set of information comprises a summary of the call in the tapped call record.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the summary comprises a name, a date, a time and a duration of the call in the tapped call record.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein if the selected call list is a call history list, the second set of information comprises a summary of the call in the tapped call record.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the summary comprises a name, a date, a time and a duration of the call in the tapped call record.

15. A computer readable medium having stored instructions that when executed on a processor of a computer system having a touch-sensitive display screen, implements a method of managing an electronic device adapted for telephone communication, the method comprising:

displaying on the display screen a set of selectable call lists including at least one of a call history list, missed, incoming, outgoing, and received call lists and an address list;

retrieving call records associated with a selected call list, each of the call records including at least a number and a name;

displaying at least the number and name in the call records of at least a portion of the selected list, each of the call records being selectable by tapping on the display screen;

detecting one of a first type of tapping and a second type of tapping on a call record on the display screen;

upon detection of the first type of tapping, displaying a first set of information related to the call record if the tapping is detected at the number, and a second set of information if the tapping is detected at the name on the display screen; and

upon detection of the second type of tapping on the display screen, initiating a phone call according to the number in the tapped call record.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first set of information comprises a set of phone numbers associated with the tapped call record.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the first set of information is provided in the form of a drop down menu.

20. A method of managing an electronic device having phone functionality and a screen including a tap recognizer, the method comprising:

retrieving a call history list from a stored memory location, the call history list comprising a plurality of call history list records; and

displaying at least two call history list records from the plurality of call history records on a screen of the electronic device;

tapping the screen to select a call history list record from the displayed list records; and

initiating a call according to the tapped call history list record.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the call history list record comprises an address.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the address includes a name and a phone number associated with the name.

23. The method of claim 22, further including the steps of:

tapping an address; and

displaying phone number details of a selected address, the phone number details including the phone number and at least one other phone number.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the call history list record includes a phone number and a name associated with the phone number.

25. The method of claim 20, further including displaying call details of a selected call history record, the call details including a date, a timestamp, and a duration.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein the call history record is configured to identify any of an incoming, an outgoing, a missed, and a received call.

27. The method of claim 20, further comprising initiating a phone call in a phone network, wherein the phone call is configured to attempt to contact a device associated with a phone number associated with a selected list record.

28. The method of claim 20, wherein the tap recognizer senses a selection on the screen.

30. The method according to claim 28, wherein the touch sensitive display is part of a handheld computer.

29. A method of managing a phone device of an electronic device, comprising:

retrieving a list of call records from a stored memory location;

displaying said list of call records on a touch sensitive display in a tabular format displaying at least one of a name field and a number field for each displayed record; and

displaying a first set of information related to a specific call record upon performance of a first tap type on the number field of the specific record; and

displaying a second set of information different from the first set of information and related to the specific record upon performance of first tap type on the name field of the specific record.