Handheld electronic device and associated method providing time data in a messaging environment

• US 10,708,202 B2
• Filed: 10/14/2016
• Issued: 07/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Klassen, Gerhard Dietrich, Wormald, Christopher R., Kuhl, Lawrence Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Lai, Michael C
• Application Number:
  US15/294,077
• Publication Number:
  US 20170034104A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,362 Days
• Field of Search: 709206, 709207
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/02 manually operated with input through keyboard and computation using a built-in program, e.g. pocket calculators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]

Abstract

An improved handheld electronic device and an associated method are provided in which time data regarding certain aspects of a messaging conversation on a handheld electronic device are made available to a user. Such time data is provided, for instance, in situations where an interruption has occurred during a messaging conversation. Time data can also be provided to a user on demand in certain circumstances.

Claims

1. A method of displaying an instant message conversation on a display of a handheld electronic device, the instant message conversation comprising a plurality of instant messages sequentially exchanged between the handheld electronic device and a second electronic device, the method comprising:

communicating a first instant message at a first time between the handheld electronic device and the second electronic device;

displaying at least a portion of the first instant message on the display of the handheld electronic device within a context of a conversation screen;

communicating a second instant message at a second time between the handheld electronic device and the second electronic device, the second instant message being a sequential next message after the first message;

displaying at least a portion of the second instant message on the display of the handheld electronic device within the context of the conversation screen;

determining an amount of time that has elapsed between the first time of the first instant message and the second time of the second instant message;

when the determined amount of time that has elapsed between the first time and the second time is more than a predetermined duration of time, displaying a time stamp representative of the second time of the second instant message within the context of the conversation screen in association with and adjacent to the at least a portion of the second instant message; and

when the determined amount of time that has elapsed between the first time and the second time is less than the predetermined duration of time, not displaying the time stamp representative of the second time of the second instant message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the time stamp representative of the second time is displayed as a relative time.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the time stamp representative of the second time is an active time stamp which changes to reflect a progression of time.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying the time stamp representative of the second time as an absolute time if a second predetermined duration of time has lapsed since the second time.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a change in date relative to the date of at least one of the first time and the second time; and

responsive to detecting the change in date, displaying at least one of the time stamp representative of the first time and the time stamp representative of the second time as a time of day and a date.

6. A handheld electronic device for displaying an instant message conversation, the instant message conversation comprising a plurality of instant messages sequentially exchanged between the handheld electronic device and a second electronic device, the electronic device comprising:

a display;

a memory; and

a processor electronically coupled with the display and the memory, the processor configured to;

communicate a first instant message at a first time between the electronic device and the second electronic device;

display at least a portion of the first instant message on the display of the electronic device within a context of a conversation screen;

communicate a second instant message at a second time between the electronic device and the second electronic device, the second instant message being a sequential next message after the first message;

display at least a portion of the second instant message on the display of the electronic device within the context of the conversation screen;

determine an amount of time that has elapsed between the first time of the first instant message and the second time of the second instant message;

when the determined amount of time that has elapsed between the first time and the second time is more than a predetermined duration of time, display a time stamp representative of the second time of the second instant message within the context of the conversation screen and adjacent to the at least a portion of the second instant message; and

when the determined amount of time that has elapsed between the first time and the second time is less than the predetermined duration of time, does not display the time stamp representative of the second time of the second instant message.

7. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the time stamp representative of the second time is displayed as a relative time.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the time stamp representative of the second time is an active time stamp which changes to reflect a progression of time.

9. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to display the time stamp representative of the second time as an absolute time if a second predetermined duration of time has lapsed since the second time.

10. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to:

detect a change in date relative to the date of at least one of the first time and the second time; and

responsive to detecting the change in date, display at least one of the time stamp representative of the first time and the time stamp representative of the second time as a time of day and a date.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions embedded thereon for execution by a processor of a handheld electronic device for displaying an instant message conversation upon a display of the handheld electronic device, the instant message conversation comprising a plurality of instant messages sequentially exchanged between the handheld electronic device and a second electronic device, such that when executed, the processor:

communicates a first instant message at a first time between the electronic device and the second electronic device;

displays at least a portion of the first instant message on the display of the electronic device within a context of a conversation screen;

communicates a second instant message at a second time between the electronic device and the second electronic device, the second instant message being a sequential next message after the first message;

displays at least a portion of the second instant message on the display of the electronic device within the context of the conversation screen;

determines an amount of time that has elapsed between the first time of the first instant message and the second time of the second instant message;

when the determined amount of time that has elapsed between the first time and the second time is more than a predetermined duration of time, displays a time stamp representative of the second time of the second instant message on the display of the handheld electronic device within the context of the conversation screen and adjacent to the at least a portion of the second instant message; and

when the determined amount of time that has elapsed between the first time and the second time is less than the predetermined duration of time, does not display the time stamp representative of the second time of the second instant message.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the time stamp representative of the second time is displayed as a relative time.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the time stamp representative of the second time is an active time stamp which changes to reflect a progression of time.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, further comprising computer instructions such that when executed cause the processor to display the time stamp representative of the second time as an absolute time if a second predetermined duration of time has lapsed since the second time.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising computer instructions such that when executed cause the processor to:

detect a change in date relative to the date of at least one of the first time and the second time; and

responsive to detecting the change in date, display at least one of the time stamp representative of the first time and the time stamp representative of the second time as a time of day and a date.