Hand-held electronic device with a keyboard optimized for use with the thumbs
AssigneeResearch In Motion Limited
InventorsJason T. Griffin, John A. Holmes, Mihal Lazaridis, Herb A. Little, Harry R. Major
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hand-held electronic device with a keyboard optimized for use with the thumbs is disclosed. In order to operate within the limited space available on a hand-held electronic device, the present invention optimizes the placement and shape of the keys, preferably using keys that are oval or oblong in shape, and that are placed at angles designed to facilitate thumb-typing. The angles at which keys on either side of the keyboard are placed is complimentary.
Claims25
A method in a mobile communication device having a wireless transceiver, a display, a QWERTY-style keyboard, and an auxiliary input device, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a plurality of e-mail messages with the wireless transceiver, the plurality of e-mail messages being transmitted from a wireless network;
- displaying a list of the plurality of received e-mail messages on the display;
- selecting and accessing one of the plurality of received e-mail messages by moving the auxiliary input device in a direction that corresponds to a desired direction on the displayed list and by depressing the auxiliary input device to select and access a particular received e-mail message;
- displaying the selected message on the display;
- activating a menu of e-mail commands and displaying the menu of commands on the display;
- selecting and executing one of the e-mail commands on the menu by moving the auxiliary input device in a direction that corresponds to a desired direction on the displayed menu and by depressing the auxiliary input device to select and execute a particular e-mail command, wherein one of the e-mail commands is a command to generate a reply message to the displayed message;
- if the command to generate a reply message is selected and executed, then (a) displaying a reply e-mail message form on the display;
- (b) inputting reply message text using the QWERTY-style keyboard;
- and (c) selecting and executing a send e-mail command from a menu of commands displayed on the display using the auxiliary input device to transmit the reply message from the mobile communications device to the wireless network using the wireless transceiver.
An electronic wireless messaging device, comprising;
- a microprocessor;
- a transceiver coupled to the microprocessor for sending and receiving electronic messages via a wireless network;
- a display coupled to the microprocessor for displaying a list of received electronic messages from the wireless network and for displaying a menu of electronic message processing commands;
- a QWERTY-style keyboard coupled to the microprocessor for inputting electronic messages;
- and
- an auxiliary input device for selecting and accessing one of the received electronic messages displayed on the list of received electronic messages by moving the auxiliary input device in a direction that corresponds to a desired direction on the displayed list and by depressing the auxiliary input device to select and access a particular received electronic message;
- wherein the auxiliary input device is also for selecting and executing one of the electronic message processing commands on the menu by moving the auxiliary input device in a direction that corresponds to a desired direction on the displayed menu and by depressing the auxiliary input device to select and execute a particular electronic message processing command.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.