Apparatus for facilitating access to information
First Claim
1. Apparatus for alerting a user to the existence of information, comprising:
- receiving means for receiving input information supplied by a user;
comparing means for comparing information supplied by the user with information stored in storing means; and
alerting means for alerting a user when the comparing means determines that information related to information received by the receiving means is stored by the storing means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The apparatus has a user interface (16) having a keyboard (17) for enabling a user to input information, a display (15) for displaying information to the user, a data store (28) for storing keywords and a processor (10) having associated memory (11). The processor (10) is configured by program instructions to provide an information alerter that has an icon displayer (30) for displaying an information alerter icon on top of an applications window displayed on the display (15); a keystroke receiver (26) for receiving keystroke information relating to keystrokes made by the user to input information into an applications window displayed by the displayed by the display (15); a keyword comparer (27) for comparing keywords stored in the data store (28) with keystroke information received by the keystroke receiver; and a user alerter (310 for causing at least a part of the alerter icon to change when the keyword comparer (27) identifies at least one keyword corresponding to information input to an application as keystrokes by the user.
39 Citations
86 Claims
-
1. Apparatus for alerting a user to the existence of information, comprising:
-
receiving means for receiving input information supplied by a user;
comparing means for comparing information supplied by the user with information stored in storing means; and
alerting means for alerting a user when the comparing means determines that information related to information received by the receiving means is stored by the storing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 79)
-
-
19. Information processing apparatus, comprising a user interface comprising a keyboard for enabling a user to input information, a display for displaying information to the user, a data store for storing keywords and a processor having associated memory, the processor being configured by program instructions to provide an information alerter for alerting a user to the existence of information, comprising:
-
an icon displayer for displaying an information alerter icon on top of an applications window displayed on the display;
a keystroke receiver for receiving keystroke information relating to keystrokes made by the user to input information into an applications window displayed by the display;
a keyword comparer for comparing keywords stored in the data store with keystroke information received by the keystroke receiver; and
a user alerter for causing at least a part of the alerter icon to change when the keyword comparer identifies at least one keyword corresponding to information input to an application as keystrokes by the user.
-
-
37. Apparatus for providing a user interface, comprising:
- display causing means for causing an information alert to be displayed on a display in response to a user supplying information corresponding to stored information.
-
41. Apparatus for providing a user interface for information processing apparatus having a keyboard for enabling a user to input information, a display for displaying the user interface, a data store for storing keywords and a processor configurable by program instructions to provide an operating system for controlling operation of the apparatus and enabling running of applications software by the processor in windows displayed on the display, the apparatus comprising:
an icon displayer for displaying an information alerter icon on top of an applications window; and
a user alerter for causing at least a part of the alerter icon to change when information input to an application as keystrokes by the user corresponds to a keyword stored in the data store.- View Dependent Claims (42, 43)
-
44. A method of controlling apparatus to alert a user to the existence of information, comprising the steps of:
- receiving input information supplied by a user;
comparing information supplied by the user with information stored in storing means; and
alerting a user when information related to received information is stored by the storing means. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 85, 86)
- receiving input information supplied by a user;
-
60. A method of operating an information processing apparatus comprising a user interface comprising a keyboard for enabling a user to input information, a display for displaying information to the user, a data store for storing keywords and a processor having associated memory, the method comprising causing the processor to carry out the steps of:
-
displaying an information alerter icon on top of an applications window displayed on the display;
receiving keystroke information relating to keystrokes made by the user to input information into an applications window displayed by the display;
comparing keywords stored in the data store with keystroke information received by the keystroke receiver to identify any keyword related to the received keystroke information; and
alerting a user by causing at least a part of the alerter icon to change when received keystroke information corresponds to a stored keyword. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80, 81)
-
-
78. A method of providing a user interface, comprising:
- the step of causing an information alert to be displayed on a display in response to a user supplying information corresponding to stored information.
-
82. A method for providing a user interface for information processing apparatus having a keyboard for enabling a user to input information, a display for displaying the user interface, a data store for storing keywords and a processor, the method comprising causing the processor to carry out the steps of:
-
displaying an information alerter icon on top of an applications window displayed on the display; and
alerting a user by causing at least a part of the alerter icon to change when information input to an application as keystrokes by the user corresponds to a keyword stored in the data store. - View Dependent Claims (83, 84)
-
Specification