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AssigneesSony Corporation, Sony Corporation of America
InventorsJames E. Wicks, Kazuto Mugura, Toshiya Fujii
Estimating the term…
A user interface provides a uniform control scheme among different devices in a personal communications routing system. The system allows devices such as a personal computer, personal information communicator, pager, fax machine and base station to be operated with a standard twelve key telephone keypad controller for the purpose of accessing electronic messages such as e-mail, voice-mail, fax transmissions, etc. Handheld communicators are docked with the devices to provide wireless transmission between a base station and numerous devices in a multi-user environment. The base station receives electronic messages for the users in, e.g., an office and routes the messages to a device as the user instructs. The user is able to perform operations on the messages such as reading, responding, deleting, etc., by using the keypad. A visual indication of user designated message bins, along with icons to represent messages received, is used to special advantage by coordinating the bin layout with the arrangement of keys on the keypad. Another feature of the system is that rules can be predefined to route, screen or otherwise manipulate the messages. The rules are applied by the base station to each incoming message. Different users can have different rules such as automatic forwarding of messages, automatic paging upon receipt of a message and sorting of messages by sender's name or time of day.
A method for accessing information in an electronic communications system, the system including a processor coupled to a display screen, memory, and first and second electronic communication networks, the system further comprising a mobile telephone handset including a telephone keypad wherein the mobile telephone handset is remote from the processor, wherein first and second users of the system each have a unique user identifier, the method comprising the following steps:
A method for providing a user interface in a digital system, wherein the digital system includes a processor coupled to a memory and a display screen, wherein the digital system further comprises a mobile telephone handset including a telephone keypad, wherein the telephone handset is remote from the processor, wherein the user interface is operated by a plurality of users, wherein the keypad includes a plurality of keys in a fixed configuration, wherein the memory includes items associated with the users, the method comprising the steps of:
An apparatus for providing a user interface in a digital system, the apparatus comprising:
A method for accessing information in an electronic communications system, the system including a processor coupled to a display screen, memory, and first and second electronic communication networks, the system further comprising a mobile telephone handset including a telephone keypad, wherein the telephone handset is remote from the processor, wherein first and second users of the system each have a unique user identifier, the method comprising the following steps:
An apparatus for providing a user interface in a digital system, the apparatus comprising:
A method for accessing information in an electronic communications system, the system including a processor coupled to memory, an output device, a mobile telephone handset including a telephone keypad wherein the mobile telephone handset is remote from the processor, and first and second electronic communication networks, wherein first and second users of the system each have a unique user identifier, wherein areas on the user input device are associated with a unique user identifier, the method comprising the following steps:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.