Electronic device and method of controlling a display

• US 8,902,182 B2
• Filed: 02/24/2012
• Issued: 12/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Rydenhag, Daniel Tobias, Lessing, Robert Simon, Lindsay, Donald James, Kaiser, Devin Jay
• Primary Examiner(s): Hicks, Charles V
• Application Number:
  US13/404,651
• Publication Number:
  US 20130227495A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,012 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector

Abstract

A method comprises detecting, by a portable electronic device having a display, a gesture, selecting a category of selectable items based on the gesture. The method further comprises identifying one or more selectable items within the selected category to be displayed, and displaying the one or more selectable items.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting, by a portable electronic device having a display, a gesture having a start location on at least one of the display or a non-display area adjacent the display and proceeding in one of a plurality of directions, at least a portion of the detected gesture to cause at least one of unlocking the device or waking the device from a low-power condition;

selecting, based on the gesture, a category of selectable items from a plurality of categories, each of the plurality of categories defined by a characteristic unique to the selectable items of each category, and wherein each category from the plurality of categories is associated with a respective one of the plurality of directions;

identifying, based on a selection criteria, one or more selectable items within the selected category to be displayed; and

displaying the one or more selectable items in response to receiving the detected gesture for unlocking the device or waking the device from a low power condition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable electronic device is operable in at least one of a low-power condition and a locked condition.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the gesture comprises at least one of a gesture detected by a touch-sensitive display and a 3D spatial gesture.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a direction of movement of the gesture away from the start location.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein detecting the direction of movement of the gesture comprises detecting a first section of the gesture and a second section of the gesture as the gesture progresses from the first section to the second section.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first section of the gesture comprises a single pointing gesture.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein detecting the gesture comprises detecting continuous movement from the first section to the second section.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

detecting a change in direction of the movement of the gesture from the first section to the second section; and

triggering the selecting a category of selectable items based on the detected change in direction.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a direction of movement of the gesture, and wherein displaying the one or more selectable items comprises animating the one or more selectable items, wherein the animation is aligned with the detected direction of the gesture.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected category of selectable items is selected from a group comprising notifications, communications, application icons, and widgets.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein when the selected category is selected to be notifications, the method further comprises identifying at least one notification and an associated informational icon for each notification identified.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one notification comprises at least one of an email notification, a text message notification, and a calendar event.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one notification comprises a device condition of the portable electronic device.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising categorizing the at least one notification into one of two or more privacy categories, and varying an amount of additional information displayed in connection with the at least one notification in dependence on the identified privacy category.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein each of the two or more privacy categories are selected to be one of a secure category and a non-secure category.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising displaying one or more of sender details and content details for each notification identified as belonging to a non-secure category.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein when the portable electronic device is in a locked condition, the method further comprising displaying one or more of sender details and content details for each notification identified as belonging to a non-secure category.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein in response to selection of a selectable item, the method comprises displaying the selectable item in an associated application.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein selection of a selectable item comprises detecting continuation of the gesture to an area displaying the selected selectable item.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein when the portable electronic device is in a locked condition, and when a selectable item has been selected, displaying an unlock option, and subsequently displaying the selected item upon successful authentication via the unlock option.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising returning the portable electronic device to the low power condition when the gesture is discontinued or reverses a direction toward the start location of the gesture.

22. The method of claim 2, wherein no information is displayed on the display during the low-power condition.

23. The method of claim 10, wherein when the selected category of selectable items comprises widgets, the method comprises displaying a widget interface for displaying additional information.

24. The method of claim 10, wherein when the selected category of selectable items comprises application icons, the method comprises selecting a subset of application icons based on one or more selection criteria selected from a group comprising:

recently used, most popular, recently added, and user-defined favorites; and

displaying the subset of application icons.

25. The method of claim 5, further comprising, when the portable electronic device is in a low-power condition and in response to detecting a first section of the gesture:

identifying any informational icons to be displayed; and

progressively illuminating the display while displaying the identified informational icons.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein progressively illuminating occurs while the gesture is detected.

27. An electronic device configured to perform the method of claim 1 and comprising a touch-sensitive display that detects the gesture.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable code executable by at least one processor of a portable electronic device to perform the method of claim 1.

29. The method of claim 5, further comprising unlocking or waking the device in response to detecting a first direction of the gesture and displaying a first category of the selectable items in response to detecting a second direction of the gesture, wherein the first direction is different than the second direction.

30. The method of claim 5, further comprising detecting a change in direction of the movement from the first section to the second section and displaying the category of selectable items upon detection of the change in direction.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the selectable items within at least one of the selected category to be displayed includes information associated with one or more communications received by the electronic device.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the gesture comprises detecting a first instance of the gesture having a first start location and a second instance of the gesture having a second start location, the first instance being different than the second instance.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the first start location being at a position on the at least one of the display or the non-display area different from a position of the second start location on the at least one of the display or the non-display area.

34. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting movement of the gesture in a first direction of the plurality of directions.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising displaying a first category of selectable items from the plurality of categories in response to detecting the movement of the gesture in the first direction.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising detecting the gesture in a second direction of the plurality of directions and displaying a second category of selectable items from the plurality of categories in response to detecting the movement of the gesture in the second direction, the first category being different from the second category.