US 6,473,628 B1 · Telephone set

Abstract

A telephone set automatically switches between displaying telephone communication information and displaying images on a display panel of the telephone set. The telephone communication information indicates whether the telephone set is within range of a base station. At the end of a call, or when power is first switched on, the display panel of the telephone set displays telephone communication information when the telephone set enters a standby mode to wait for a call to arrive. After the telephone set remains in the standby mode for a predetermined period of time (e.g., five minutes) without receiving a call or input from an input unit (e.g., keypad) on the telephone set, images unrelated to telephone communication are displayed on the display panel of the telephone set for the user's amusement. The telephone communication information is then presented by an indicator circuit of the telephone set instead of the display panel.

Claims5

Dependent claims

A telephone set having a receiving circuit, a display panel, and an input unit with manual controls, comprising:

a memory unit storing a plurality of images;
and
a control unit monitoring elapsed time and input from said input unit, said control unit selecting said images from said memory unit, displaying said images on said display panel, and automatically switching said display panel from displaying said images to displaying information when a call is received by said telephone set, wherein said images are automatically displayed after a predetermined time period has elapsed, during which said telephone set has entered and remained in a standby state waiting for a call to arrive, without an input from said input unit, and wherein, while displaying said images, said display panel also displays an indication of whether the telephone set is within communicable range of a base station.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Telephone set

Life of this patent

Telephone set

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims5