Patent Application
20110199322
The present disclosure relates generally to user interfaces on a portable device, and in particular to user interfaces presented on a display of a device capable of presenting media content.
Some portable electronic devices, such as smart phones, can present media content to a user. Media content can include audio (such as music), videos (which may include audio components), still pictures, and combinations thereof. Media content in the form of audio can be presented to a user by playing the audio content through a speaker or a headphone, for example. Media content in the form of video or pictures can be presented to a user by displaying images on a display, with or without audio.
Many portable electronic devices typically include memory that enables the device to store significant amounts of media content. The more media content that gets stored on the device, the more advantageous it can be to store the media content in ways that make the media content more accessible to the user of the portable electronic device. It may be also be advantageous to implement a user interface by which a user can browse through the media content stored on the device. It may be particularly advantageous for the user interface to be intuitive.
As will be discussed in more detail below, a portable electronic device may include one or more interfaces by which a user may make a selection. When the device receives the user's selection input via the interface, the device may execute one or more functions in response to the selection input. Physical components by which a selection input may be received include, but are not limited to, buttons, keys, trackballs, touch pads and touch screens. The user interface may be accompanied by one or more visual aspects presented upon a display, such as a highlight, menu, button, dialog box, icon and the like.
The description that follows will describe the concepts in connection with a touch screen. The concepts are not restricted to a touch screen, however, and may be adapted to a variety of portable electronic devices that lack a touch screen. Further, the description that follows will describe the concepts in connection with various visual aspects and indicators, but the concepts are not necessarily limited to the particular visual elements described.
The touch-sensitive display 30 may be any kind of touch-sensitive display, such as a capacitive, resistive, infrared, surface acoustic wave touch-sensitive display, strain gauge, optical imaging, dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulse recognition, contactless touch screens that detect finger movements and so forth. One or more touches by the user 40—also known as touch events—may be detected by the touch-sensitive display 30. It is important to note that a touch or touch event is not necessarily limited to a physical touch, as in the case of contactless touch screens. In such a case, a user's finger or some other suitable object may be moved in front of (but not in contact with) a contactless touch screen, which can recognize the movement of the finger or object for purposes of executing some function based on the recognized movement. A “touch event” is defined as an action directed towards a touch-sensitive display that causes a corresponding execution of a function on the display and includes both actual physical contact and a contactless action in which there is no direct physical contact with the touch-sensitive display.
A processor in the housing 20 may determine attributes of a touch, including a location of the touch. Touch location data may include an area of contact or a single point of contact, such as a point at or near a centre of the area of contact. The location of a detected touch may include x and y components, e.g., horizontal and vertical components, respectively, with respect to a view by the user 40 of the touch-sensitive display 30. For example, the x location component may be determined by a signal generated from one touch sensor, and the y location component may be determined by a signal generated from another touch sensor. A touch may be detected from any suitable object, such as a finger, thumb, appendage, or other items, for example, a stylus, pen, or other pointer depending on the nature of the touch-sensitive display 30. Multiple simultaneous touches may be detected.
In some implementations, the display 30 may provide tactile feedback. One or more actuators (not shown), such as spring-loaded switches or piezoelectric actuators, may be depressed by applying force to the touch-sensitive display 30. Pressing the display 30 may be electronically detectable and may be one technique by which the user 40 may make a selection (that is, one technique by which a selection input may be received). The display 30 may also be electronically driven to provide tactile feedback to the user 40. Audio feedback also may be provided, to indicate to the user 40 that he or she has depressed (or “clicked”) or otherwise activated the display 30.
In addition to presses and touches, the touch-sensitive display 30 may be configured to detect moving touches, including contactless movements. As an example, the user 40 may touch the screen 30 with his or her finger and slide the finger along the screen. For purposes of this description, any moving or static touch events represent ways by which a user may make a selection.
In the embodiment shown in
Conventional marketing of music has typically involved sale of a collection of musical selections as a group (conventionally known as an “album”). A user may desire to hear one or more musical selections (for example, one or more songs) from the album. The graphical user interface 100 supports easy browsing of collections of albums and songs.
In one implementation, the graphical user interface 100 depicts the albums as icons. As used herein, icons that represent the source for the media content being presented will be called “source icons.” As shown in
As an option, if the source icon represents an album or some other collection of audio, video or multimedia recordings, the graphical user interface 100 may include additional menus, pop-ups, lists or other interfaces by which a user may select a particular song or other recording from a selected album or collection. An exemplary implementation will be described in relation to
As noted previously, a source icon 110 may be displayed in a prominent position. “Prominent” may mean, but does not necessarily mean, that the source icon is larger or appears closer, or that it appears in the center of the display 30. Displaying a source icon 110 in a prominent position may include any techniques for setting the source icon apart from other source icons that may be appearing on the display 30. The prominent position may have a unique color, for example, or be higher on the screen, be accompanied by a visual effect or have a larger size as compared to non-prominent source icons. For example, the source icon displayed in a prominent position may appear normally, while other source icons appear slightly blurred, or in black and white. The prominent position typically gives the source icon in the prominent position an indication (usually but not necessarily always a unique indication) of being somehow special and apart from the other source icons.
The graphical user interface 100 may include any number of indicators or controls. By way of example,
In the implementation depicted in
As shown in
In
In
A user may make the selection by selecting the source icon 110, 120 that displays the function that is of interest. For example, if the user wishes to pause the playback of the song currently playing, the song being associated with the source icon 110, the user may select source icon 110. If the user wants to play a selection from the album represented by source icon 120b, the user may select source icon 120c. As used herein, receiving a selection of a source icon includes selection of the source icon itself, or the function icon superimposed thereon, or both.
As explained earlier, the graphical user interface 100 may include additional menus, pop-ups, lists or other interfaces by which a user may select a particular song from a selected album. The concepts described herein can function with such interfaces. For example, in at least on implementation illustrated in
In another implementation, the text identifying the artist 605 of the song being currently played can be selected, and a second user interface 600 can be displayed that presents all albums associated with the selected artist 605. In yet another implementation, the text identifying the genre 607 of the song being currently played can be selected, and a second user interface 600 can be displayed that presents other albums 610, artists 605, and/or songs 615 having the same genre as that associated with the song being currently played.
In either of the above-described implementations where the text 130 can be selected, the information presented in the second user interface 600 displayed when the text 130 is user-selected can be limited to the songs and albums stored and available on a memory of the portable electronic device 10. In alternative implementations, the second user interface 600 can include songs and albums stored and available on an external memory coupled to the portable electronic device 10, songs and albums available for purchase through a third-party provider (for example, a cellular network service provider or an internet music service provider), songs and albums stored on and available from another portable electronic device connected to the same network as the portable electronic device 10, or any other source which the portable electronic device 10 can access. The second user interface 600 associated with the user-selectable text 130 can provide the user with relevant information pertaining to the currently playing song, thereby enhancing the user's media experience and allowing the user to tailor his or her media experience to his or her current mood or taste in media. For example, providing additional information in response to selecting the text 130 rendered proximate to the prominent icon 110 efficiently informs the user of other albums and songs the user has stored on his or her portable electronic device 10. Additionally, providing selectable text 130 allows for enhanced and tailored navigation and management of media files stored on the portable electronic device 10.
The device 10 receives the selection input associated with the first source icon or the second source icon (240). In the above example, the user may make a selection associated with the first source icon if the user wants the song currently playing to pause. The user may make a selection associated with the second source icon if the user wants the song currently playing to discontinue and a song on a different album to play. When the device 10 receives a selection input associated with the first source icon, the device 10 executes the function associated with the first function icon (250). When the device 10 receives a selection input associated with the second source icon, the device 10 executes the function associated with the second function icon (260).
In response to a selection input (320) such as a finger slide, the device may display a second source icon in the prominent position (330) and may superimpose a second function icon on the second source icon (340). The first source icon may be made less prominent, or may disappear off the display partially or entirely.
The user may have four basic options. One option is to continue to change which source icon is prominent (320). For example, by changing which source icon is prominent (320), the user can see what songs or albums have been played or will be played. Also, when changing which source icon is prominent (320), text 130 rendered proximate to the prominent source icon 110 can dynamically change thereby providing the relevant information associated with the current prominent source icon 110. A second option is to select (350) the second media content associated with the source icon that currently is prominent. Upon receiving such a selection input, the device 10 outputs second media content associated with the second source icon (360). A third option is to select (350) second media content associated with a source icon that currently is not prominent, and the effect is similar to selection of second media content associated with a source icon that is prominent (360).
The fourth option is to do nothing. When no selection inputs are received, the device 10 may start a timer. The timer may reset if any selection input is received. After a time interval, the device 10 generates a timeout, in which case the first source icon returns automatically to the prominent position (370). The length of the time interval is arbitrary and may in some implementations be set by the user. A typical timeout time interval may be five seconds, for example. If the user browses through the other sets of media selections, thereby moving the source icon associated with the currently-playing media selection out of the prominent position, and then does nothing for five seconds (for example), the source icon associated with the currently-playing media selection automatically moves back to the prominent position with no further input required from the user.
In the embodiment shown in
The portable electronic device 10 also includes a battery interface 408 for receiving one or more rechargeable batteries 410. The battery 410 provides electrical power to at least some of the electrical circuitry in the portable electronic device 10, and the battery interface 408 provides a mechanical and electrical connection for the battery 410. The concepts described herein are not restricted, however, to any particular power supply.
The portable electronic device 10 includes a processor 412, which controls the overall operation of the portable electronic device 10. Processor 412 may be configured to carry out one of more of the operations described herein, including rendering on display 30 any of the graphical user interfaces 100, or processing selection inputs or measuring a time interval for a timeout or any of the operations described in
Communication functions, including at least data and voice communications, are performed through the communication subsystem 400, under the regulation of the processor 412. The processor 412 also interacts with additional device subsystems such as the display 30, any buttons 414 or keypad, a secondary display (not shown), one or more speakers 416, a microphone 418, a camera 420, and the like. The camera 420, which is optional, may cooperate with the processor 412 to take still photographs, videos or both.
The processor 412 also interacts with flash memory 422, a random access memory (RAM) 424, auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystems 426, a data port such as serial port 428, and any other device subsystems generally designated as 430. The processor 412 may further interact with other components, which for simplicity are not shown in
The processor 412, in addition to its operating system functions, enables execution of software applications on the portable electronic device 10. Software, which may include operating system software or application software, may be stored in flash memory 422, RAM 424 or any other memory element. Media selections may be stored in any memory element, as may source icons associated with those media selections. Further, software may be stored on the portable electronic device 10 in the memory elements to (for example) render the graphical user interfaces, instruct the processor 412 to carry out methods illustrated in
A set of applications that control basic device operations, including data and voice communication applications, will normally be installed on the portable electronic device 10 during or after manufacture. The portable electronic device 10 may include a personal information manager (PIM) application having the ability to organize and manage data items relating to a user such as, but not limited to, instant messaging, email, calendar events, voice mails, appointments, and task items.
The portable electronic device 10 may include one or more circuit boards (not shown) that implement the components described above. This disclosure is not limited to any particular electronic component or software module or any combination thereof.
As has been noted previously, the concepts described herein are not limited to audio media content. A set of media selections may include a collection of videos or scenes from a movie, for example. As another example, a set of media selections may include elements of mixed media, such as some videos (having both audio and video components) mixed with some audio selections (having no video components). A set of media selections may have a single element of media content associated with it.
One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the features in each of the figures described herein can be combined with one another and arranged to achieve the described benefits of the presently disclosed graphical user interface for devices that present media content. Additionally, one of ordinary skill will appreciate that the elements and features from the illustrated implementations herein can be optionally included to achieve the described benefits of the presently disclosed graphical user interface for devices that present media content. Various modifications to and departures from the disclosed implementations will occur to those having skill in the art. The above embodiments are for illustration, and although one or more particular embodiments of the device and method have been described herein, changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the disclosure in its broadest aspects and as set forth in the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/304,695, filed on Feb. 15, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61304695 | Feb 2010 | US |
