Cursor for presenting information regarding target

• US 10,078,414 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2007
• Issued: 09/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Louch, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Song, Daeho D
• Application Number:
  US11/693,604
• Publication Number:
  US 20080244460A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,191 Days
• Field of Search: 715856, 715861
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

In a graphical user interface, when a cursor is positioned over an icon or link associated with a target, the appearance of the cursor changes to present information describing or related to the target. Such information can include, for example, an excerpt of the contents of the target, and/or meta-data for the target, and/or an indication of what application or applications may be used to open the target. The information presented in the cursor can be shown in graphical form or in text form, or in a combination of both.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

moving a cursor on a display of a computing device in response to a first user input to the computing device; and

while the cursor is positioned at a first location to point to a user-activatable element referencing a link that corresponds to content;

presenting, alongside the cursor, a user interface element including a preview of the content at a first size;

while displaying the user interface element alongside the cursor, detecting a press input with an input mechanism; and

responsive to receiving the press input, displaying additional information in the preview of the content, the additional information being displayed only as long as the press input is held down.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to presenting the preview of the content, obtaining the content.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to presenting the preview of the content, pre-fetching a plurality of content corresponding to a plurality of links.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein pre-fetching the plurality of content comprises storing the information in a local cache.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, responsive to the cursor being positioned to no longer point to the user-activatable element, ceasing the presentation of the preview.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a thumbnail representation of at least a portion of the preview is not available; and

wherein

responsive to the thumbnail representation not being available, the preview excludes the thumbnail representation.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the preview comprises a representation of a plurality of applications capable of opening the link;

and wherein the method further comprises;

receiving a second user input selecting the representation of an application of the plurality of applications; and

responsive to the second user input, opening the link using the selected application.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting of the preview is performed responsive to the cursor being positioned to point to the user-activatable element for at least a predetermined period of time.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically scrolling the preview alongside the cursor.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, responsive to receiving a second user input requesting scrolling, scrolling the preview alongside the cursor.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to presenting the preview:

obtaining the content; and

scaling the content to fit within the user interface element.

12. A method comprising:

displaying a web page comprising a plurality of links;

moving a cursor in response to a first user input;

responsive to the cursor being positioned at a first location to point to a link referencing a target;

determining that a thumbnail representation of at least a portion of the target is not available;

presenting, alongside the cursor, information about the target comprising meta-data associated with the target and an excerpt of contents of the target, wherein responsive to determining that the thumbnail representation is not available, the information excludes the thumbnail representation; and

responsive to receiving a press input requesting additional information, presenting additional information about the target, the additional information being presented only as long as the press input is held down.

13. A method comprising:

displaying a plurality of graphical user interface elements, each graphical user interface element referencing a corresponding link, each link having corresponding content;

receiving a first user input to position a cursor;

displaying the cursor at a first location specified by the received first user input; and

responsive to the cursor being positioned at a second location to point to one of the graphical user interface elements;

presenting, alongside the cursor, a user interface element including a preview of the content corresponding to the link corresponding to the graphical user interface element at a first size;

while displaying the user interface element alongside the cursor, detecting a press input with an input mechanism; and

responsive to receiving the press input, displaying additional information in the preview of the content, the additional information being displayed only as long as the press input is held down.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

pre-fetching the content corresponding to the plurality of graphical user interface elements.

25. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein:

the user-activatable element comprises a link; and

the target comprises a web page.

15. A computer system, comprising:

an input device configured to receive a first user input to position a cursor; and

a processor coupled to a display device configured to;

display a plurality of graphical user interface elements, each graphical user interface element referencing a corresponding link, each link having corresponding content;

display the cursor at a position specified by the first user input;

responsive to the cursor being positioned at a first location to point to one of the graphical user interface elements;

present, alongside the cursor, a user interface element including a preview of the content corresponding to the link corresponding to the graphical user interface element at a first size;

while displaying the user interface element alongside the cursor, detect a press input with an input mechanism; and

responsive to receiving the press input, displaying additional information in the preview of the content, the additional information being displayed only as long as the press input is held down.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein, responsive to the cursor being positioned to no longer point to the graphical user interface element, the display device ceases to display the content.

17. The computer system of claim 15, wherein:

the preview further comprises a representation of a plurality of applications capable of opening the link;

the input device is further configured to receive user input selecting the representation of an application of the plurality of applications; and

the processor is further configured to open the link using the selected application.

18. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the display device presents the user interface element including the preview responsive to the cursor being positioned to point to the graphical user interface element for at least a predetermined period of time.

19. A computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium; and

computer program code, encoded on the medium, for operations comprising, in a user interface;

moving a cursor on a display of a computer in response to a first user input to the computer;

responsive to the cursor being positioned at a first location to point to a user-activatable element referencing a target;

determining that a thumbnail representation of at least a portion of the target is not available;

presenting, alongside the cursor, first information about the target comprising an excerpt of contents of the target, wherein responsive to determining that the thumbnail representation is not available, the first information excludes the thumbnail representation; and

responsive to receiving a press input requesting additional information, presenting, alongside the cursor, the first information and the additional information about the target, the additional information being presented only as long as the press input is held down.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising computer program code for, prior to presenting the first information about the target, obtaining the first information about the target.

21. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising computer program code for, prior to presenting the first information about the target, pre-fetching information about a plurality of targets.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the computer program code for pre-fetching information about a plurality of targets comprises computer program code for storing the information in a local cache.

23. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the computer program code for presenting the first information about the target comprises computer program code for displaying the first information within the cursor.

24. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising computer program code for, responsive to the cursor being positioned to no longer point to the user-activatable element, ceasing the presentation of the first information.

26. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the first information about the target further comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of:

a thumbnail representation of at least a portion of the target;

an excerpt of text from the target;

meta-data about the target;

a summary of the target;

a description of the target;

an animation;

an icon; and

a hypertext link.

27. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the first information about the target further comprises a representation of at least one application capable of opening the target;

and further comprising computer program code for;

receiving a second user input selecting the at least one application; and

responsive to the second user input, opening the target using the selected application.

28. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the computer program code for presenting the first information about the target operates responsive to the cursor being positioned to point to the user-activatable element for at least a predetermined period of time.

29. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising computer program code for scrolling the first information alongside the cursor.

30. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising computer program code for, responsive to receiving a third user input requesting scrolling, scrolling the first information alongside the cursor.

31. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising computer program code for, prior to presenting the first information:

obtaining the first information about the target; and

scaling the first information to fit alongside the cursor.

32. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the target comprises one selected from the group consisting of:

a document;

a web page;

an image;

a file; and

an application.