Graphical interface components for in-dash automotive accessories

An in-dash automotive entertainment and computer accessory, comprising:

• one or more audio entertainment applications;
• one or more navigational applications;
• one or more system utility applications;
• an operator interface that is mountable for viewing by an operator of an automobile;
• a plurality of application icons that are scrollable on the visual operator interface by a user, the application icons corresponding to different ones of the applications;
• the operator interface having a fixed focus position that is centered relative to any visible application icons, wherein any application icon that is scrolled to the fixed focus position becomes focused;
• wherein the operator interface indicates focus by a change color of the focused application icon;
• the operator interface having a plurality of keys, including a start key, a selection key, a plurality of directional navigation keys, and a plurality of numeric keys;
• wherein the selection key activates the focused application icon to select the application corresponding to the focused application icon;
• wherein the start key scrolls through the application icons;
• wherein the directional navigation keys scroll through the application icons in different directions;
• wherein the numeric keys correspond to respective ones of the application icons;
• and
• wherein pressing the start key followed by a particular numeric key activates the corresponding application icon to select the corresponding application.

A computer-readable storage medium having instructions for implementing an operator interface in an automotive accessory, the instructions being executable to perform steps comprising:

• scrolling a plurality of application icons in response to user scroll commands, wherein the application icons correspond to different applications in the automotive accessory;
• focusing on any application icon that is scrolled to a fixed focus position;
• and
• activating the application corresponding to the focused application icon in response to a user selection command.

An in-dash automotive entertainment and computer accessory, comprising:

• an operating system having interfaces that are exposed for use by application programs;
• a plurality of application programs supervised by the operating system;
• an operator interface that is mountable for viewing by an operator of an automobile, the operating interface being of a limited size;
• the operating system having a control interface that is exposed for use by application programs, the control interface having functions that are callable to create and use a visual control for display and entry of parameters;
• the visual control having a plurality of items that are vertically scrollable through a fixed focus position;
• and
• the visual control being configurable to contain any one or more of the following types of items:
• an edit item having a variable that is editable in response to a user select command;
• an adjustable item having a variable that is changeable through a series of predefined values in response to user adjustment commands;
• a selection item that opens a secondary control in response to a user select command;
• and
• a combination item having a variable that is changeable through a series of predefined values in response to user adjustment commands, the combination item opening a secondary control in response to a user selection command.

A computer readable medium comprising instructions that implement an operating system for an automotive computing platform, the instructions defining an application program interface to the operating system having functions that are callable by an application program to create and use a visual control for display and entry of parameters, the visual control having a plurality of items that are vertically scrollable through a fixed focus position, the visual control being configurable by the application program through the application programming interface to contain any one or more of the following items:

• an edit item having a variable that is editable in response to a user select command;
• an adjustable item having a variable that is changeable through a series of predefined values in response to user adjustment commands;
• a selection item that opens a secondary control in response to a user select command;
• and
• a combination item having a variable that is changeable through a series of predefined values in response to user adjustment commands, the combination item opening a secondary control in response to a user selection command.