Portable electronic device and method for controlling portable electronic device

• US 8,977,319 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2010
• Issued: 03/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Inventors: Hasegawa, Junichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Junpeng
• Application Number:
  US13/515,388
• Publication Number:
  US 20120252539A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,552 Days
• Field of Search: 715/702, 715/863, 235/472.01
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/70 methods for entering alphabetical characters, e.g. multi-tap or dictionary disambiguation

Abstract

Disclosed are a portable electronic device and a method for controlling the portable electronic device wherein it is possible to use an application enabling an easy input of characters. The portable electronic device is provided with a starting unit, a display unit, a detection unit, and a control unit. The starting unit starts the application enabling the input of characters. The display unit displays a screen based on the application. The detection unit detects a contact to the display unit. The control unit causes the starting unit to start the application when identifying, while a standard screen is displayed on the display unit, the track of the contact to the display unit according to the contact to the display unit detected by the detection unit and determining from the detected track of the contact that characters are being inputted.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device, comprising:

an activation unit that activates an application enabling at least an input of characters;

a display unit that displays a screen based on the application;

a detection unit that detects contact to the display unit and

a control unit that identifies a track of contact to the display unit according to the contact to the display unit detected by the detection unit in a state where an initial screen is displayed on the display unit, and when a character input state is identified by the track of contact as identified, causes the activation unit to activate the application and display an application screen as the screen based on the application, wherein in a case in which the control unit determines that initial characters are being input based on the track of contact on the initial screen, the control unit causes the activation unit to activate the application enabling at least the input of characters, and causing the initial characters corresponding to the track of the contact as identified on the initial screen to be input and displayed in a character input region of the application screen.

2. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, in a case in which the control unit determines that characters are being input based on the track of contact, the control unit causes the activation unit to activate the application based on an input character that was input.

3. The portable electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the application based on the input character is an application having an application name including the input character.

4. The portable electronic device according to claim 2, wherein, in a case in which application names of a plurality of applications predicted based on the input character are displayed on the display unit, the application based on the input character is an application corresponding to a single application name selected from the plurality of application names.

5. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the application activated by the activation unit is a preset application.

6. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, in a case in which application names of a plurality of applications enabling an input of characters are displayed on the display unit, the application activated by the activation unit is an application corresponding to a single application name selected from the plurality of application names.

7. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, after the input character is input into the application, in a case in which a single application is selected from applications enabling an input of characters, the control unit causes the single application thus selected to be activated, and causes the input character to be input into the single application.

8. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the display unit to display a plurality of words predicted based on the input character, and when a single word is selected from the plurality of words, the control unit causes the activation unit to activate the application, and causes the word thus selected to be input into the application.

9. The portable electronic device according to claim 1,

wherein the activation unit is capable of activating a call originating application, and

wherein the control unit is capable of determining that numeric characters are being input based on the track of contact, and in a case of determining that the numeric characters are being input based on the track of contact detected by the detection unit, the control unit causes the activation unit to activate the call originating application.

10. The portable electronic device according to claim 8, wherein, in a case in which the control unit determines that characters or numeric characters are not being input based on the track of contact detected by the detection unit, the control unit causes the display unit to display a menu screen for selecting a single application from a plurality of applications.

11. A method of controlling a portable electronic device including a display unit configured for displaying a screen based on an application at least enabling an input of characters, the method comprising:

a detecting step of detecting contact to the display unit; and

an activating step of identifying a track of contact to the display unit according to the contact to the display unit detected in the detecting step in a state where an initial screen is displayed on the display unit, and when a character input state is identified by the track of contact as identified, causing an activation unit to activate the application and display an application screen as the screen based on the application,

wherein in a case in which it is determined that initial characters are being input based on the track of contact on the initial screen, the activating step causes the activation unit to activate the application enabling the input of characters, and causing the initial characters corresponding to the track of the contact as identified on the initial screen to be input and displayed in a character input region of the application screen.