Method for entering a character sequence into an electronic device as well as an electronic device for performing said method

• US 20050017952A1
• Filed: 11/14/2002
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Hsi, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 7,075,519 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/169
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items

Abstract

Method for entering a character sequence consisting o one or more characters into an electronic device, which device comprises keys for entering keystrokes by a user as well a display panel for presenting information to the user, wherein a group of characters is presented on the display panel in the form of a matrix composed of rows and columns, wherein at least one specific character can be pointed by means of a cursor which is movable through said matrix, and wherein the character sequence is constructed by pointing out consecutive characters one by one by means of the cursor and said character is entered by means of a keystroke. According the invention the method is characterized in that in order to enter a specific character from the character sequence the cursor moves automatically in a first direction through a specific row or column, thereby sequentially pointing out the characters in said row or column; the automatically moving cursor can be moved towards the row or column of the specific character by means of one or more first and/or second keystrokes.

Claims

1. A method for entering a character sequence consisting of one or more characters into an electronic device (1), which device also comprises keys for entering keystrokes by a user as well a display panel (2) for presenting information to the user, wherein a group of characters is presented on the display panel in the form of a matrix composed of rows and columns,

wherein at least one specific character can be pointed out by means of a cursor (3) which is movable through said matrix, and

wherein the character sequence is constructed by pointing out consecutive characters in the sequence one by one by means of the cursor and entering the character in question by means of a keystroke,

characterized in that in order to

enter a specific character from the character sequence the cursor moves automatically in a first direction through a specific row or column, thereby sequentially pointing out the characters in said row or column, and in that

the automatically moving cursor can be moved towards the row or the column of the specific character by means of one or more first and/or second keystrokes (U, D).

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that it is possible to change the automatic movement of the cursor through the matrix from the first direction of movement into a second direction of movement, opposing to said first direction of movement, by means of at least one third keystroke and/or at least one fourth keystroke.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the movement of the cursor in the row or column in question is interrupted by means of a fifth keystroke.

4. A method as claimed in any one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the character pointed out by the cursor can be entered by means of a first keystroke.

5. A method as claimed in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the character pointed out by the cursor is displayed either in upper case or in lower case by means of a second keystroke.

6. A method as claimed in claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the character entered last is deleted by means of a third keystroke.

7. A method as claimed in claim 4, 5 or 6, characterized in that a space can be entered by means of a fourth keystroke.

8. A method as claimed in any one or more of the claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the automatic movement of the cursor in the row or the column in question is resumed by means of a second fifth keystroke.

9. A method as claimed in any one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the same key is used for said third and said fourth keystroke.

10. An electronic device, for example a portable telephone, which also comprises keys which enable a user to enter keystrokes, as well as a display panel for presenting information to the user, which device is suitable for entering a character sequence composed of one or more successive characters, and comprises means for presenting a group of characters on said display panel in the form of a matrix composed of rows and columns, as well as means for pointing out at least one specific character by means of a cursor which is movable through said matrix, characterized in that in order to enter a specific character from the character sequence there are provided means for moving the cursor automatically in a first direction through a specific row or column, the cursor thus sequentially pointing out the characters in said row or column, and in that further means are provided for moving the automatically moving cursor towards the row or the column of the specific character by means of one or more first and/or second keystrokes (U, D).

11. A computer program product enabling a programmable device when executing said computer program product to function as a device as defined in claim 10.