Mobile terminal device and program selection method
First Claim
1. A portable terminal apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of operation buttons;
a link information storage that stores information about linkage between the operation buttons and programs to be activated by selection of the operation buttons, respectively; and
wherein, when a plurality of the operation buttons are selected simultaneously or within a prescribed time period, which is indicative of contemporaneous activation of a plurality of programs associated with the plurality of the operation buttons if those buttons are selected during that time period, the programs linked with the respective selected operation buttons are configured to be displayed contemporaneously in a plurality of divided sections of a display screen, respectively, andwherein, when an interval between a selection of a first operation button and a selection of a second operation button exceeds the prescribed time period, the display screen is configured to display the program linked with the later-selected second operation button over a display of the program linked with the first operation button.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A portable terminal apparatus which can select terminal operations such as the activation of programs, the switching of the programs and the ending of the programs with a reduced number of times of operation of the operation buttons is provided.
The portable terminal apparatus includes link information storage means 14 for storing therein a linkage table containing information about the linkage between operation buttons to be selected by a user and programs to be activated by the selection of the operation buttons, and an activation program monitor part 14 for dynamically monitoring the operation states of two or more programs activated at a terminal end, wherein the operation button having emitted its backlight according to the monitoring result obtained by the activation program monitor part 14 can be selected by the user, so that the programs linked to the respective operation buttons can be easily activated, switched and ended.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. A portable terminal apparatus, comprising:
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a plurality of operation buttons; a link information storage that stores information about linkage between the operation buttons and programs to be activated by selection of the operation buttons, respectively; and wherein, when a plurality of the operation buttons are selected simultaneously or within a prescribed time period, which is indicative of contemporaneous activation of a plurality of programs associated with the plurality of the operation buttons if those buttons are selected during that time period, the programs linked with the respective selected operation buttons are configured to be displayed contemporaneously in a plurality of divided sections of a display screen, respectively, and wherein, when an interval between a selection of a first operation button and a selection of a second operation button exceeds the prescribed time period, the display screen is configured to display the program linked with the later-selected second operation button over a display of the program linked with the first operation button. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of contemporaneously displaying a plurality of programs in a plurality of divided sections of a display screen of a portable terminal apparatus, respectively, the method comprising:
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detecting a selection of a first one of a plurality of operation buttons provided on a portable terminal apparatus, wherein the plurality of operation buttons are associated with a plurality of programs, respectively; activating a first one of the plurality of programs that is associated with the selected first operation button; if detecting a selection of a second one of the plurality of operation buttons within a prescribed time period from the time when the selection of the first operation button was detected; activating a second one of the plurality of programs that is associated with the selected second operation button; and contemporaneously displaying the activated first and second programs in two divided sections of a display screen, respectively; and if detecting a selection of a second one of the plurality of operation buttons outside the prescribed time period from the time when the selection of the first operation button was detected; activating a second one of the plurality of programs that is associated with the selected second operation button that was detected outside the prescribed time period; and displaying the activated second program on the display screen over a display of the first program on the display screen. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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Specification