1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the user interface mobile communication devices. Specifically this invention relates to optimising the screen space available to provide sufficient viewing of information that would otherwise be obscured or truncated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In most handheld mobile communication devices (herein referred to as mobile devices), the display screen (also herein referred to as screen) is very small in order to reduce the overall size of the mobile device. Message lists contain lengthy information that takes up display screen real estate. Typically, the message list will contain information regarding the time received, the sender's name or address, and the subject of the message. This information is usually contained on a single line. If the sender's name or the subject text is especially long, the text will be cut off in order to fit the field length. Often this modification will not allow the user enough information to know who the sender is or what the subject is. It is desirable to view the message information within the message list without opening the message when searching quickly for a message.
The header information within a message may also be limited in order to save screen real estate. Typically a message will show the sender's name in the sender field as the “friendly address”. This is the user name of the sender or the name that is listed in the address book of the mobile communication device. The qualified address or e-mail address of the sender may not be listed in the header information to save screen space. It is desirable to view the qualified address as well as the friendly address of the sender.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method of viewing message information in restricted text fields on a limited screen in mobile devices.
In the one aspect of the invention, a graphical user interface for a mobile communication device comprises a first state having a display screen on the mobile communication device with a plurality of graphical elements thereon and a second state comprising a display screen having a plurality of graphical elements thereon and a dialog box to display information unavailable to the user brought forward over the graphical elements upon user input. The dialog box may include, but is not limited to, such information as the sender name, the subject text, message length, the time and date sent, and attachments.
Another embodiment of the invention would be to allow the user to determine the information that will appear in the information dialog box.
A supplementary aspect of the invention is a user interface method to view incomplete information such that the information to view is selected, an input is made to view the information, and then the information is displayed
A further embodiment of the invention is to be able to toggle between the sender's name and qualified address in the message headers when viewing a message on the mobile device.
Further features of the invention will be described or will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description.
In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, the one or more embodiments thereof will now be described in detail by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to the diagrams,
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, if the user wants to view information about a particular message without opening the message, the user will first highlight the message 10. When an input from the user is initiated, a dialog box 12 will appear over the message list screen with the message information. A preferred embodiment of the invention will have the user input is made from a keypad on the mobile device. Alternatively, an input from a thumbwheel or jog dial may be provided. The information provided in the dialog box may include but is not limited to the sender name, the message subject, the time the message was received, the length of the message, and message attachments. In this embodiment of the invention, the information dialog box will contain the sender name, and the subject text.
Referring now to an alternative embodiment of the invention, once the information dialog box has been opened a user may be able to scroll through the message list and have the information change as the user scrolls down. As a user moves down the message list with an input such as a thumbwheel, the information in the dialog box will change according to the information in the message headers of a highlighted message.
A further embodiment of the invention is now referenced in
In one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a graphical user interface (GUI) for a user of a handheld communication device comprising a first display state comprising: a first GUI displayed on a screen of the handheld communication device, said first GUI having at least a plurality of e-mail message rows forming a summary listing of e-mail messages at least received by the handheld communication device, each e-mail message row comprising of an e-mail message status icon, an e-mail message receipt timing, a sender information having a first length of characters displayed and an e-mail message subject line having a second length of characters displayed, wherein a first e-mail message row of the at least a plurality of e-mail message rows is selected by a first input by the user; a second display state comprising: a second GUI displayed on the screen of the handheld communication device comprising of the first GUI further comprising of a dialog box containing information associated with the selected first e-mail message row, said information comprising of at least a sender information having a third length of characters displayed and a message subject line having a fourth length of characters displayed, wherein the dialog box partially hides from view to the user a portion of the selected first e-mail message row; and, wherein the third length of characters displayed is of equal or greater length of characters displayed than the first length of characters; wherein the fourth length of characters displayed is of equal or greater length of characters displayed than the second length of characters; wherein the second display state appears upon receiving a second input from the user. The sender information is the e-mail address of a sender. The first GUI further comprises a plurality of voice mail messages. The information of the dialog box further comprises a message body of the selected first e-mail message row.
It will be appreciated that the above description relates to the preferred embodiment by way of example only. Many variations on the invention will be obvious to those knowledgeable in the field, and such obvious variations are within the scope of the invention as described and claimed, whether or not expressly described.
This application claims priority from and is related to the following prior application: USER INTERFACE FOR OPTIMIZED VIEWING OF HEADER INFORMATION, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/269,810, filed Feb. 20, 2001. This prior application, including the entire written description and drawing figures, is hereby incorporated into the present application by reference.
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