The specification relates generally to mobile electronic devices, and specifically to a method and apparatus for controlling a display of a mobile electronic device.
As mobile electronic devices become more powerful, the functionality provided by such devices continues to expand and improve. Improvements in display space, however, are more difficult to achieve, as stringent size constraints are often imposed on mobile electronic devices. These constraints limit the amount of information which can be presented at any given time on the display of a mobile electronic device, and can result in the inefficient use of the mobile electronic device's resources.
Embodiments are described with reference to the following figures, in which:
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method of controlling a display of a mobile electronic device is provided. The method comprises: maintaining status data and application data in a memory of the mobile electronic device; controlling the display to provide a first interface comprising a representation of the application data; receiving input data representative of a peek command; and, controlling the display to provide a second interface comprising a representation of a portion of the application data, and a representation of the status data.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium stores computer readable instructions for execution by a processor. The computer readable instructions implement the above method.
According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a mobile electronic device is provided. The mobile electronic device comprises: a memory for maintaining status data and application data; an input device; a display; and, a processor interconnected with the memory, the input device and the display, the processor configured to control the display to provide a first interface comprising a representation of the application data; the processor further configured to receive input data representative of a peek command from the input device; and, the processor further configured to control the display to provide a second interface comprising a representation of a portion of the application data, and a representation of the status data.
Mobile electronic device 100 includes a housing 104 which supports the various other components of mobile electronic device 100. Housing 104 can be constructed of any suitable material, or combination of materials, including without limitation plastics (e.g. Polycarbonate/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (“PC/ABS”)) and metals (e.g. aluminum).
Mobile electronic device 100 also includes one or more output devices, including without limitation a display 108, a speaker 112 and a Light Emitting Diode (“LED”) indicator 116. Mobile electronic device 100 additionally includes one or more input devices, including without limitation a microphone 120 and a touch screen device integrated with display 108. In some embodiments (not shown), other combinations of input and output devices can be provided. For example, in some non-limiting embodiments a further input device or combination of input devices can be provided in the form of a trackball, a touchpad, a keypad or any combination thereof. Such further input devices can be provided in addition to, or instead of, the touch screen input device integrated with display 108.
Referring now to
Mobile electronic device 100 also includes a communications interface 136 interconnected with processor 128. Communications interface 136 allows mobile electronic device 100 to communicate with other devices via, for example, a link 140 and a network 144. Network 144 can include any suitable combination of wired networks, wireless networks or both, including but not limited to a Wide Area Network (“WAN”) such as the Internet, a Local Area Network (“LAN”), cell phone networks, WiFi networks, WiMax networks and the like. Link 140 is compatible with network 144. In particular, link 140 can be a wireless link based on Global System for Mobile communications (“GSM”), General Packet Radio Service (“GPRS”), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (“EDGE”), and the third-generation mobile communication system (3G), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (“IEEE”) 802.11 (WiFi) or other wireless protocols. Link 140 can also include any base stations and backhaul links necessary to connect mobile electronic device 100 to network 144. Communications interface 136 is therefore selected for compatibility with link 140 as well as with network 144. In some embodiments, network 144 can be omitted, and link 140 can be a short-range wireless link such as a Bluetooth™ link and the like. In still other embodiments, link 140 can be a short-range wired link, such as a Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) link.
As also seen in
The various components of mobile electronic device 100 are interconnected, for example via a communication bus. Mobile electronic device 100 is powered by a battery (not shown). In some non-limiting embodiments, mobile electronic device 100 can be supplied, in addition to or instead of the battery, with electricity by a wired connection to a wall outlet or other power source.
Still referring to
Mobile electronic device 100 also maintains, in memory 132, status data 220. Status data 220 includes indications of various operating parameters of mobile electronic device 100. For example, status data 220 can include indications for one or more of the following: signal strength with network 144, the level of mobile electronic device 100's battery, the current time and date, the active notification profile, and a new message counter. Status data 220 can also include other indications, in addition to or instead of those mentioned above.
Referring briefly to
Processor 128 can be configured via execution of OS 216 to maintain status data 220 up to date. For example, status data 220 can be updated in memory 132 at any suitable regular interval.
Referring now to
Method 400 begins with the performance of block 405, at which processor 128 is configured to maintain status data 220 in memory 132, as discussed above. Status data 220 is maintained in memory 132 and updated at regular intervals throughout the performance of method 400.
Continuing with the performance of method 400, at block 410, processor 128 is configured to control display 108 (and particularly circuitry 148 of display 108) to provide a first interface. In general, in controlling display 108 to provide an interface, processor 128 retrieves data to be represented in the interface from memory 132, formats the data for use by display 108 and transmits the formatted data to display 108. Having received the formatted data and stored the formatted data in a display buffer included in circuitry 148, display 108 provides the interface.
The first interface provided at block 410 includes a representation of application data. That is, the first interface includes a representation of data maintained in memory 132 associated with one or more of the applications 200, 204, 208, 212 and 216 discussed above.
Turning to
Referring again to
The swipe gesture described above is received by touch screen 124. Touch screen 124 transmits data representative of the swipe gesture to processor 128. Processor 128 then determines that the swipe gesture is representative of a peek command.
The above-described swipe gesture is used as an example of an interaction with input devices of mobile electronic device 100 which can be interpreted by processor 128 as a peek command. It is contemplated, however, that a wide variety of other interactions can be interpreted as peek commands instead of, or in addition to, the above swipe gesture. For example, in some embodiments mobile electronic device 100 can include a keypad, and the depression of a particular combination of keys on the keypad can be interpreted by processor 128 as a peek command.
Returning to
At block 420, processor 128 is configured to control display 108 to provide a second interface, in which a representation of status data is revealed on display 108. That is, the second interface includes a representation of a portion of the application data from the first interface, and a representation of the status data. Turning to
Second interface 700 also includes a representation 708 of a portion of status data 220. In particular, the battery level, signal strength and current time and date are shown. Although not all the indicators of status data 220 are shown in
Thus, at block 420, display 108 is controlled by processor 128 to provide a second interface which omits a portion of the first interface and instead provides a representation of status data in response to the peek command received at block 415. Representation 704 occupies a smaller portion of the area of display 108 than representation 504. In some embodiments, representation 708 occupies 5 to 25 percent of the area of display 108, while representation 704 occupies the remainder of the area of display 108. In further embodiments, representation 708 occupies 10 to 15 percent of the area of display 108. In the example embodiment shown in
It is contemplated that display 108 can be controlled to provide a wide variety of transitional interfaces between the first and second interfaces described above. For example, processor 128 can control display 108 to render a portion of the first interface transparent, thus revealing the representation of status data 220. In other example embodiments, display 108 can be controlled to reveal the representation of status data 220 by scrolling the representation of application data downwardly. Other transitions will also occur to those skilled in the art.
Referring now to
The performance of blocks 805, 810, 815 and 820 are as described above in connection with blocks 405, 410, 415 and 420, respectively. At block 825, which follows the performance of block 820, however, processor 128 is configured to make an additional determination. In particular, processor 128 is configured to determine whether input data representative of a “dismiss” command has been received from touch screen 124 or any other input device of mobile electronic device 100.
A dismiss command is a command for causing processor 128 to remove the previously revealed representation of status data 220 from display 108, thus reverting to an earlier interface and freeing up display area. In the present example embodiment, the dismiss command comprises a swipe gesture received at touch screen 124. The dismiss swipe gesture begins near the centre of display 108 and travels towards an upper corner of display 108 at an angle of approximately 45°. In other words, the dismiss command is a swipe gesture travelling in substantially the opposite direction as arrow 600 shown in
The dismiss swipe gesture is received by touch screen 124, and data representative of the swipe gesture is transmitted to processor 128. As discussed earlier in connection with the peek command, the dismiss command can comprise any of a variety of interactions with the input devices of mobile electronic device 100. For example, mobile electronic device 100 can include an exit key (not shown) which, when depressed, sends input data representative of a dismiss command to processor 128. In other embodiments, mobile electronic device 100 can include a keypad and the depression of a particular combination of keys on the keypad (different from the combination used to generate a peek command) can be interpreted by processor 128 as a dismiss command.
When the determination at block 825 is affirmative, method 800 proceeds to block 830. At block 830, processor 128 is configured to control display 108 to revert to the first interface, shown in
If, on the other hand, the determination at block 825 is negative, method 800 proceeds to block 835, at which processor 128 is configured to determine whether a timer has expired. In some embodiments, processor 128 can maintain a timer which begins when the second interface is provided at block 820 and which expires after a predetermined length of time. The length of time after which the timer expires can be configurable, for example by way of a timer setting maintained in memory 132. In other embodiments, the timer can begin when a modification is made to status data 220 and expire after a predetermined length of time. As noted above, processor 128 is configured to update status data 220 at regular intervals. If, for example, a new message is received at mobile electronic device 100, status data 220 changes to indicate a new message count of one. Following such a modification of status data 220, the timer can begin. Processor 128 can then be configured to reset the timer whenever status data 220 changes prior to expiry of the timer. Thus, in such embodiments, the representation of status data 220 in the second interface provided at block 820 remains available on display 108 so long as there is activity (i.e. change) in connection with the status data.
When the determination at block 835 is negative, method 800 returns to block 825. When, on the other hand, the determination at block 835 is affirmative, indicating that the timer has expired, method 800 proceeds to block 830 as described above.
It is contemplated that following the completion of methods 400 or 800 as described above (that is, the completion of the performance of blocks 420 or 830), performance of methods 400 or 800 can be repeated at any time by receipt of a further peek command.
From the above description, certain advantages will now be apparent. For example, the omission of a representation of status data 220 from the first interface results in a greater portion of the area of display 108 being made available for representations of application data.
Thus, the strain on processor 128, display circuitry 148 and touch screen 124 can be reduced as a result of the reduced need for scrolling or otherwise refreshing the first interface to reveal all the relevant application data. As a further example, more effective use is made of display buffers within circuitry 148, as status data 220 is provided to such buffers only upon demand. At the same time, the availability of representations of status data 220 is not significantly reduced.
Further advantages will also occur to those skilled in the art. The particular peek command in the form of a swipe gesture, described above and shown in
Other advantages may also occur to those skilled in the art.
It is contemplated that in some embodiments, the functionality of processor 128 as configured via execution of the above-mentioned applications can be implemented using pre-programmed hardware or firmware elements (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), etc.), or other related components. It is also contemplated that in some embodiments, the computer-readable instructions described above can be stored on non-transitory computer readable medium other than memory 132. Such computer-readable medium can include any combination of a removable diskette, a compact disk (“CD”), a digital video disk (“DVD”), a USB drive and the like.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that there are yet more alternative implementations and modifications possible for implementing the embodiments, and that the above implementations and examples are only illustrations of one or more embodiments. The scope, therefore, is only to be limited by the claims appended hereto.
Number | Date | Country | |
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20120077547 A1 | Mar 2012 | US |