Hand held display device and method

A method of displaying information on a hand held device, the method comprising:

• retrieving information from an information store, the information store storing information indexed or arranged by an indexing scheme or arrangement that defines an information hierarchy;
• displaying information retrieved from said information store and user selectable menu items corresponding to information available from said information store;
• and
• receiving user selections of displayed menu items at a user input device;
• and
• wherein at least a currently selected menu item from any level of the hierarchy is displayed in a first area, information corresponding to the currently selected menu item is displayed in a second area separate from the first area, and further menu items corresponding to a level in the hierarchy are displayed in said second area to replace at least a part of the displayed information when a user selection of a menu item from said first area is received, and said further menu items in the second area are overwritten when a user selection of one of the further menu items in the second area is received, to display information in the second area corresponding to said user selection.

A hand held device for displaying information, the hand held device comprising:

• at least one information store storing information, the information being indexed or arranged to define an information hierarchy;
• a display for displaying information retrieved from said information store, and user selectable menu items corresponding to information available from said information store;
• a user input device for receiving user selections of displayed menu items;
• and
• a display controller for controlling said display to display at least a currently selected menu item from any level of the hierarchy in a first area and information corresponding to the currently selected menu item in a second area separate from the first area, and for displaying further menu items corresponding to a level in the hierarchy in said second area to replace at least a part of the displayed information when a user selection of a menu item from said first area is received, and overwriting any further menu items in the second area when displaying information in the second area corresponding to a further user selection.

A hand held device for displaying information, the hand held device comprising:

• an information store storing information in a hierarchical organisation;
• a display for displaying information retrieved from said information store, and user selectable menu items corresponding to information available from said information store;
• a user input device for receiving user selections of displayed menu items;
• and
• a display controller for controlling said display to display a currently selected menu item in a first area and information corresponding to the currently selected menu item in a second area separate from the first area, and for displaying further menu items corresponding to a level in the hierarchy in said second area when a user selection is received, to replace at least a part of the displayed information.

A method of displaying information on a hand held device, the method comprising:

• retrieving information from an information store, the information store storing information indexed or arranged to define an information hierarchy;
• displaying information retrieved from said information store and user selectable menu items corresponding to information available from said information store;
• and
• receiving user selections of displayed menu items at a user input device;
• and
• wherein at least a currently selected menu item from any level of the hierarchy is displayed in a first area, information corresponding to the currently selected menu item is displayed in a second area separate from the first area, and further menu items corresponding to a level in the hierarchy are displayed in said second area to replace at least a part of the displayed information when a user selection of a menu item from said first area is received, and any further menu items in the second area are overwritten when displaying information in the second area corresponding to a further user selection.

A method of displaying information on a hand held device, the method comprising:

• retrieving information from an information store, the information store storing information in a hierarchical organisation;
• displaying information retrieved from said information store and user selectable menu items corresponding to information available from said information store;
• and
• receiving user selections of displayed menu items at a user input device;
• and
• wherein a currently selected menu item is displayed in a first area, information corresponding to the currently selected menu item is displayed in a second area separate from the first area, and further menu items corresponding to a level in the hierarchy are displayed in said second area to replace at least a part of the displayed information when a user selection is received.

A method of displaying information on a hand held device, the method comprising:

• displaying user selectable menu items corresponding to information available from an information store, the information store storing information indexed or arranged to define an information hierarchy;
• receiving user selections of displayed menu items at a user input device;
• and
• displaying at least a currently selected menu item from any level of the hierarchy in a first display area;
• retrieving information from the information store, said information corresponding to a currently selected menu item;
• displaying said information in a second display area separate from the first display area;
• and
• displaying further menu items corresponding to a level in the hierarchy in said second display area to replace at least a part of the displayed information when a user selection of a menu item from said first display area is received, wherein any further menu items in the second display area are overwritten when displaying said information in the second display area.