The present invention generally relates to displays on a mobile device, and more particularly displays that change orientation based on a detected orientation of the mobile device.
Most portable mobile devices are rectangular in shape, having rectangularly shaped displays. However, not all of the applications operable on the mobile device will utilize the display in the same orientation. Some applications work better when presented in a portrait orientation such as for a phone while others are more intuitive in a landscape orientation such as game playing, while some may work equally well in either orientation such as an electronic reader, depending on a personal preference.
integrating motion/orientation sensing technology with touch screen displays allows the portable mobile device to automatically reconfigure itself for a different mode of operation without the user having to delve into the intricacies of the user interface to manipulate the functions.
However, sometimes a user would like to lock the orientation of the display of the device regardless of the output of the orientation sensing mechanism.
The present invention relates to the operation of a user interface screen in the transition from one physical orientation of a mobile device to a second orientation. An orientation sensor in the device senses the change in the orientation of the device, from a landscape orientation to a portrait orientation. Although the sensing of this orientation happens almost instantaneously, there is significant processing time required to reformat or reflow the information displayed on the screen of the device from one orientation to the other. The present invention displays an orientation lock icon that provides visual feedback, post change state indication, and masks the reflow/reformatting processing time. The lock icon is a virtual button the user can tap to allow or disallow the information on the display to change orientation as the user rotates the device from landscape to portrait orientation or vice versa. Once the reflow processing is complete and the information has been redrawn in the new orientation, the lock icon is removed.
For the purposes of illustrating the present invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred, it being understood however, that the invention is not limited to the precise form shown by the drawing in which:
In
Consider time to as the time that the orientation change of the device 130 from portrait to landscape is detected, as illustrated in
As shown in
The lock icon 250 is a virtual button the user can tap to change the state of the content formatting lock to either allow or disallow the information 200 on the display of device 130 to change orientation/formatting as the user rotates the device from landscape to portrait orientation or vice versa. If the orientation is locked, the device 130 will not reflow/reformat the page 200 into the detected orientation, but rather keep the same content formatting as when the lock was turned on. i.e., portrait or landscape. If the orientation is not locked, the device 130 will reformat/reflow the content contained on page 200 into proper format for the detected orientation. In the Figures illustrated herein, the orientation reflow is unlocked, as indicated by the lock icon 250.
If user presses the lock icon 250, the system changes the state of the content formatting lock to the opposite state. For example, if the lock was enabled, the state changes to unlock to allow the reformatting of content 200. If the lock was disabled, the content formatting lock will change to locked, and the reformatting of the content 200 will not occur. Although not illustrated herein, there are other settings menus on device 130 that allow user to lock or unlock the content formatting lock without the detection of an orientation change as described herein. However, when the detection of the orientation change occurs, the display of the lock icon 250 is the most convenient way to allow the user to change the state of the content formatting lock.
As shown in
As shown in
Depending on the type of content 200 being displayed, it is possible that tr is less than or greater than tp. Time tr is indeterminate, but regardless, tp should be chosen to be the point in time when a typical user would be become impatient that nothing is happening on the screen of device 130. Something like tp=1 second might be preferable, but different timings can be used. On average tr is approximately two seconds for electronic books on certain devices. On other devices, tr may be much shorter or much longer.
One important feature of posting the orientation lock 250 before the reflow processing has been completed is that it can mask the slowness of the reflow process. The posting of the orientation lock 250 gives the user's eye something to be distracted by while the device 130 is performing the intensive processing involved in the reflow process. The posting of the orientation lock 250 is much like displaying a splash screen in that regard.
In act 300, the system displays the content 200 in a format that corresponds to the current orientation of the device 130, i.e., portrait or landscape. In act 305, the system detects a change in the orientation of the device 130. When a change in the orientation of the device 130 is detected, the system, in act 310 determines the state of the content format lock, e.g., enabled (locked) or disabled (unlocked). The system then, in act 315 displays the lock icon 250 on the device 130.
The system then performs two parallel operations, one for processing the content, if necessary, and one for processing the user's actions with respect to the lock icon 250, if any. Once the lock icon 250 is displayed, the user is able to select the lock icon 250 in order to change the state of the lock. The user's action, non-action, with respect to the icon 250 is detected in act 320. If the user activates the icon 250, the system in act 325 toggles the state of the content format lock to the opposite state, i.e., lock to unlock or unlock to lock. if the user does not select the lock icon 250, i.e., she is happy with the current state of the content format lock, no change in the content format lock is made and the process continues at step 350 where the lock icon 350 is removed after the parallel processing, if any, for reformatting the content is completed.
In act 330, the system determines whether the content format lock is enabled (locked) or disabled (unlocked). If the lock is enabled, the system continues to display the content 200 in the current format and does not perform a reformatting operation. in a preferred embodiment, the lock icon 250 remains displayed until the user returns the device 130 to its original orientation. If the user keeps the device 130 in the changed orientation, the system continues to display the lock icon 250 to allow the user to select the icon 250 to change the state of the content format lock and thus change the formatting of the content 200 to accommodate the new orientation.
If the content format lock is disabled (unlocked) the NO route out of determination 330 is taken and in act 340 the system reformats content 200 for the detected orientation. Once reformatted, the system displays the reformatted content in the new orientation. During the time the reformatting is occurring, the system continues the display of icon 250 and only removes it in act 350 after the reformatted content 200 is displayed in the new orientation,
Electronic device 130 can include any suitable type of electronic device. For example, electronic device 130 can include a portable electronic device that the user may hold in his or her hand, such as a digital media player, a personal e-mail device, a personal data assistant (“PDA”), a cellular telephone, a handheld gaming device, a tablet device or an eBook reader. As another example, electronic device 130 can include a larger portable electronic device, such as a laptop computer.
Control circuitry 500 can include any processing circuitry or processor operative to control the operations and performance of electronic device 130. For example, control circuitry 500 can be used to run operating system applications, firmware applications, media playback applications, media editing applications, or any other application. Control circuitry 500 can drive the display 550 and process inputs received from a user interface, e.g., the display 550 if it is a touch screen.
Orientation sensing component 505 includes orientation hardware such as, but not limited to, an accelerometer or a gyroscopic device and the software operable to communicate the sensed orientation to the control circuitry 500. The orientation sensing component 505 is coupled to control circuitry 500 that controls the various input and output to and from the other various components. The orientation sensing component 505 is configured to sense the current orientation of the portable mobile device 130 as a whole. The orientation data is then fed to the control circuitry 500 which control an orientation sensing application. The orientation sensing application controls the graphical user interface (GUI), which drives the display 550 to present the GUI for the desired mode.
Storage 510 can include, for example, one or more computer readable storage mediums including a hard-drive, solid state drive, flash memory, permanent memory such as ROM, magnetic, optical, semiconductor, paper, or any other suitable type of storage component, or any combination thereof. Storage 510 can store, for example, media content, e.g., eBooks, music and video files, application data, e.g., software for implementing functions on electronic device 130, firmware, user preference information data, e g., content preferences, authentication information, e.g. libraries of data associated with authorized users, transaction information data, e.g., information such as credit card information, wireless connection information data, e.g., information that can enable electronic device 130 to establish a wireless connection), subscription information data, e.g., information that keeps track of podcasts or television shows or other media a user subscribes to, contact information data, e.g., telephone numbers and email addresses, calendar information data, and any other suitable data or any combination thereof The instructions for implementing the functions of the present invention may, as non-limiting examples, comprise software and/or scripts stored in the computer-readable media 510.
Memory 520 can include cache memory, semi-permanent memory such as RAM, and/or one or more different types of memory used for temporarily storing data. In some embodiments, memory 520 can also be used for storing data used to operate electronic device applications, or any other type of data that can be stored in storage 510. in some embodiments, memory 520 and storage 510 can be combined as a single storage medium.
I/O circuitry 530 can be operative to convert, and encode/decode, if necessary analog signals and other signals into digital data. In some embodiments, I/O circuitry 530 can also convert digital data into any other type of signal, and vice-versa. For example, I/O circuitry 530 can receive and convert physical contact inputs, e.g., from a multi-touch screen, i.e., display 550, physical movements, e.g., from a mouse or sensor, analog audio signals, e.g., from a microphone, or any other input. The digital data can be provided to and received from control circuitry 500, storage 510, and memory 520, or any other component of electronic device 130. Although I/O circuitry 530 is illustrated in
Electronic device 130 can include any suitable interface or component for allowing a user to provide inputs to I/O circuitry 530. For example, electronic device 130 can include any suitable input mechanism, such as a button, keypad, dial, a click wheel, or a touch screen, e.g., display 550. In some embodiments, electronic device 130 can include a capacitive sensing mechanism, or a multi-touch capacitive sensing mechanism.
In some embodiments, electronic device 130 can include specialized output circuitry associated with output devices such as, for example, one or more audio outputs. The audio output can include one or more speakers, e.g., mono or stereo speakers, built into electronic device 130, or an audio component that is remotely coupled to electronic device 130, e.g., a headset, headphones or earbuds that can be coupled to device 130 with a wire or wirelessly,
Display 550 includes the display and display circuitry for providing a display visible to the user, For example, the display circuitry can include a screen, e.g., an LCD screen, that is incorporated in electronic device 130. In some embodiments, the display circuitry can include a coder/decoder (Codec) to convert digital media data into analog signals. For example, the display circuitry or other appropriate circuitry within electronic device 1 can include video Codecs, audio Codecs, or any other suitable type of Codec.
The display circuitry also can include display driver circuitry, circuitry for driving display drivers, or both. The display circuitry can be operative to display content, e.g., media playback information, application screens for applications implemented on the electronic device 130, information regarding ongoing communications operations, information regarding incoming communications requests, or device operation screens, under the direction of control circuitry 500. Alternatively, the display circuitry can be operative to provide instructions to a remote display.
Communications circuitry 540 can include any suitable communications circuitry operative to connect to a communications network and to transmit communications, e.g., data from electronic device 130 to other devices within the communications network. Communications circuitry 540 can be operative to interface with the communications network using any suitable communications protocol such as, for example, Wi-Fi, e.g., a 802.11 protocol, Bluetooth, radio frequency systems, e.g., 900 MHz, 1.4 GHz, and 5.6 GHz communication systems, infrared, GSM, GSM plus EDGE, CDMA, quadband, and other cellular protocols, VOW, or any other suitable protocol.
Electronic device 130 can include one more instances of communications circuitry 540 for simultaneously performing several communications operations using different communications networks, although only one is shown in
In some embodiments, electronic device 130 can be coupled to a host device such as a remote servers for data transfers, synching the communications device, software or firmware updates, providing performance information to a remote source, e.g., providing riding characteristics to a remote server, or performing any other suitable operation that can require electronic device 130 to be coupled to a host device. Several electronic devices 130 can be coupled to a single host device using the host device as a server. Alternatively or additionally, electronic device 130 can be coupled to several host devices, e.g., for each of the plurality of the host devices to serve as a backup for data stored in electronic device 130.
Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and other uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the gist and scope of the disclosure.
This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/547,621, filed Oct. 14, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference,
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
61547621 | Oct 2011 | US |