Patent Application
20090066506
Electronic devices, such as digital media players, have several user interface elements, whose function can be indicated by indicators printed on or near the user interface elements. Consider, for example, an MP3 player having four buttons (play/pause, forward, menu/option, and reverse) positioned at twelve o'clock, three o'clock, six o'clock, and nine o'clock positions (as seen from a user viewing the buttons when the MP3 player is viewed in its intended orientation). To indicate the function of each button, an indicator (e.g., an icon or word/phrase) can be printed on or near each button. In this way, a user will readily know which button to push for a desired function.
Some electronic devices with a display device have the capability of displaying images in either landscape or portrait mode. When images are displayed in landscape mode, the user typically rotates the electronic device 90 degrees. It may be desired to keep the same functional configuration of buttons irrespective of the position of the electronic device (e.g., the button at the twelve o'clock position is play/pause in both the landscape and portrait modes). If the indicators on or near the buttons are printed or are otherwise in a fixed orientation, when a user rotates the electronic device 90 degrees counter-clockwise to view the display in landscape mode, the play/pause indicator will now be at the nine o'clock position even though the button at the twelve o'clock position performs the play/pause functionality. Additionally, the forward and reverse indicators, which were on or near the “left” and “right” buttons in the portrait orientation would be on or near the “up” and “down” buttons in the landscape orientation. Accordingly, the indicators are now mis-descriptive of the functions of the buttons. Additionally, the indicator itself would be oriented 90 degrees counter-clockwise (e.g., a play arrow pointing to the right when at the twelve o'clock position would be pointing “up” at the nine o'clock position). By not being in the correct orientation, such indicators can compromise the user experience.
The present invention is defined by the claims, and nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation on those claims.
By way of introduction, the embodiments described below provide an electronic device with circuitry operative to change an orientation of an indicator and method for use therewith. In one embodiment, an electronic device is provided comprising a display device, a user interface element, an indicator displayed outside of the display device, and circuitry operative to change an orientation of the indicator when the electronic device changes between a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation.
In another embodiment, an electronic device is provided comprising a display device, a user interface element, a first area outside of the display device, a first light source positioned under the first area, wherein, when illuminated, the first light source causes the first area to display an indicator in a first orientation, a second area outside of the display device, a second light source positioned under the second area, wherein, when illuminated, the second light source causes the second area to display the indicator in a second orientation, and circuitry operative to illuminate the first light source when the electronic device is in a first mode of operation and illuminate the second light source when the electronic device is in a second mode of operation.
In yet another embodiment, a portable digital media player is provided comprising a display device, a memory, a user interface element, a first area outside of the display device, a first light source positioned under the first area, a first semi-transparent area disposed over the first light source, wherein the first semi-transparent area comprises an image of an indicator in a first orientation, a second area outside of the display device, a second light source positioned under the second area, a second semi-transparent area disposed over the second light source, wherein the second semi-transparent area comprises an image of the indicator in a second orientation, and circuitry operative to illuminate the first light source when the electronic device is in a first mode of operation and illuminate the second light source when the electronic device is in a second mode of operation, wherein the circuitry is further operative to play digital media content stored in the memory. Methods for use with such electronic devices are also provided. Other embodiments are disclosed, and each of the embodiments can be used alone or together in combination.
The embodiments will now be described with reference to the attached drawings.
By way of introduction, the embodiments described below generally relate to electronic devices. An electronic device refers to a device that uses electricity for some or all of its functionality. Examples of electronic devices include, but are not limited to, a digital media player (e.g., an MP3 (or other music format) player, a video player, etc.), a game device, a digital camera, a mobile phone, a computer, a text messaging device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a remote control. An electronic device can be a wired or wireless device. An electronic device can be portable (e.g., very easy for a user to carry from one location to another) and handheld (e.g., the device can be operated without a desktop or other surface), such as when the electronic device takes the form of a digital media player or mobile phone. However, an electronic device can take a more stationary form, such as a relatively large device intended to be used on a desktop or other surface (e.g., a controller for a large number of separate devices). Although any type of electronic device can be used with these embodiments, the following description and drawings will be presented in terms of a portable digital media player. As used herein, the term “media” generally refers to audio and/or (still or moving) video (with or without audio), and the “player” can refer to a device that plays but does not record or a device that both plays and records digital content (from an internal or external source).
Turning now to the drawings,
As used herein, a user interface element (or “user input element”) refers to any type of component that facilitates user interaction with the electronic device (in this embodiment, with the player 10). A user input element can take any form including, but not limited to, a tactile element (such as a movable button, wheel, lever, switch, knob, etc.) or a touch-sensitive element (such as a capacitive or other type of touch pad that can sense contact (e.g., single contact or multiple contact (i.e., “tapping”) and/or movement (e.g., linear, rotationally, etc.) of an object, such as a finger or stylus). One or more of the user interface elements can be used to allow a user to interact with a graphical user interface displayed on the display device 30 (e.g., by scrolling through multiple items, such as a list of songs or options, displayed on the graphical user interface). One or more of the user interface elements can instead be used to directly issue a command (i.e., without going through the graphical user interface) to the perform a function of the media player 10 (e.g., changing the volume, scrolling through pictures or frames in a moving video, performing a function in a game, etc.). As also used herein, an “indicator” refers to any indicia that can indicate a function of a user interface element. An indicator can take any suitable form, such as, but not limited to, an icon, one or more alpha-numeric characters, a symbol, a color, etc.
In
Although the indicators 60, 62, 64 are shown in
As mentioned above, the player 10 comprises circuitry 100 operative to change an orientation of the indicator when the player 10 changes between first and second modes of operation. “Circuitry” can include one or more components and be a pure hardware implementation and/or a combined hardware/software (or firmware) implementation. Accordingly, “circuitry” can take the form of one or more of a microprocessor or processor and a computer-readable medium that stores computer-readable program code (e.g., software or firmware) executable by the (micro)processor, logic gates, switches, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic controller, and an embedded microcontroller, for example. As mentioned above, the circuitry 100 in this embodiment is operative to change an orientation of the indicator when the player 10 changes between a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation (as explained below, this can take the form of selectively illuminating various ones of the light sources 120 in the first and second modes of operation). The circuitry 100 can be operative to perform other functions as well, such as playing digital media content stored in the memory 110 or other operations of the player 10.
A “mode of operation” can take any suitable form. In one embodiment, the player 10 is in one mode of operation when the player 10 displays images (still or moving video) on the display device 30 in portrait mode and in another mode of operation when the player 10 displays images on the display device 30 in landscape mode. The player 10 can change modes of operation manually or automatically. In one embodiment, the player 10 changes between the first and second modes of operation in response to user selection via a user interface element 10. For example, the user can change the player's mode of operation by pressing a dedicated button or by using one or more user interface elements to select an option displayed on the display device 30. The displayed option can explicitly describe the mode change (e.g., “portrait mode” and “landscape mode”) or can implicitly describe the change (e.g., choosing “video” or “pictures” from a menu will cause the player 10 to change to a landscape mode). In another embodiment, the player 10 can contain position sensors that detect when a user rotates the player 10 to a sideways or landscape orientation and automatically change the operation of the player 10 to landscape operation. While landscape and portrait modes were used in these examples, it should be understood that “mode of operation” can include other types of modes.
As discussed in the background section above, if the indicators on or near user interface elements of the player are printed or are otherwise in a fixed orientation, when a user rotates the player 90 degrees counter-clockwise to view the display device in landscape mode, the indicators can be confusing or even mis-descriptive. To allow a user experience to be equally intuitive in both portrait and landscape modes, the circuitry 100 in this embodiment is operative to change an orientation of an indicator when the player 10 changes between first and second modes of operation (e.g., between portrait and landscape modes). The following paragraphs provide examples of some of the many mechanisms that can be used to provide this functionality. It should be understood that these are merely examples and that features from these examples should not be read into the claims unless explicitly recited therein.
In this particular embodiment, there are various areas 71, 73, 75, 77, 81, 83 outside of the display device 30. Under each of the areas 71, 73, 75, 77, 81, 83 is a semi-transparent area comprising an image of an indicator in a certain orientation and a light source. In this embodiment, the circuitry 100 is operative to change an orientation of an indicator by selectively illuminating one or more of the light sources. This will be illustrated in more detail with respect to
As shown in
There are many alternatives that can be used with these embodiments. For example, in the above example, there was one only indicator that could be displayed at a given position, and that indicator was either illuminated or not illuminated depending on the mode of operation of the player 10. For example, area 71 of the player 10 only contained a single indicator (play/pause icon 62), which was illuminated in the first mode of operation but not in the second mode of operation. Because of this, although there are four buttons 52, 54, 56, 58 under the circular, touch-sensitive pad 50, with the structure described above, only two of the buttons have displayed indicators near them at any one time. Accordingly, even though buttons 54 and 58 may have functionality in the portrait mode (e.g., forward and reverse), indicators are not displayed in areas 73 and 77 in portrait mode because those areas are dedicated for un-displayed indicators 62′ and 64.′
In alternate embodiments, different type of structures can be used so that more than one indicator can be associated with a given area. For example, as shown in
Other alternatives can be used. For example, in the above embodiments, an indicator was displayed adjacent to its associated user interface element. In an alternate embodiment, one or more of the indicators can be displayed on the user interface element. (If a movable disc is used instead of a touch-sensitive pad 50, the disc could contain a transparent ring, be made of a transparent/translucent materials, etc. to allow the indicator to be viewable even when the disc moves.) In another alternative, by “blinking” the light sources on and off, the circuitry 100 can create an animated effect. In addition to drawing attention to the change of modes, the blinking lights can be used to indicate to the user which way to turn a user interface element, such as a wheel/disc, or indicate that the wheel/disc is being turned. As the wheel/disc is being rotated, a plurality of light sources arranged on, under, or near the wheel/disc can be sequentially illuminated to provide the appearance of movement of the lights. In another alternate embodiment, indicators may be displayed using different colors. For example, when the player 10 is in the first mode of operation, all indicators can be shown in one color to indicate portrait mode, and, when the player 10 is in the second mode of operation, all indicators can be shown in another color to indicate the landscape mode.
It should be noted that the orientation of the indicator can be changed with or without changing the position of the indicator. For example, in the embodiments shown in
Some of the following claims may state that a component is operative to perform a certain function or configured for a certain task. It should be noted that these are not restrictive limitations. It should also be noted that the acts recited in the claims can be performed in any order—not necessarily in the order in which they are recited.
It is intended that the foregoing detailed description be understood as an illustration of selected forms that the invention can take and not as a definition of the invention. It is only the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intended to define the scope of this invention. Finally, it should be noted that any aspect of any of the preferred embodiments described herein can be used alone or in combination with one another.
