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US 6,611,255 B2Granted
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
Estimating the term…
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.
Claims68
A hand-held messaging device, comprising:
- a keyboard that is horizontally positioned symmetrically between a left edge and a right edge of a face of the hand-held messaging device and having a plurality of keys arranged in a plurality of rows across the face, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave pattern;
- a display that is vertically positioned between the keyboard and a top edge of the face and horizontally positioned symmetrically between the left edge and the right edge of the face;
- an auxiliary input device;
- and
- a processor coupled to the keyboard, the auxiliary input device and the display that controls the operation of the hand-held messaging device.
2 more elements
A hand-held messaging device, comprising:
- a device housing having a face, a bottom surface, and a plurality of connecting surfaces for connecting the face to the bottom surface;
- a display mounted within the face of the device housing and horizontally positioned symmetrically between a left edge of the face and a right edge of the face;
- a keyboard mounted within the face of the device housing in a position between the display and a bottom edge of the face, wherein the keyboard comprises a QWERTY-style keyboard having a plurality of keys arranged in a plurality of rows across the face;
- wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave pattern and is distributed symmetrically across the face of the housing, wherein the keyboard includes a plurality of letter keys and at least one specialized key;
- an auxiliary input device mounted within the housing;
- and
- a processor coupled to the keyboard, the auxiliary input device and the display that controls the operation of the hand-held messaging device.
4 more elements
A wireless e-mail device, comprising:
- a device housing having a face and a left and right side surface coupled to the face;
- a display mounted within the face;
- a transceiver for receiving e-mail messages from a wireless network and for transmitting e-mail messages generated on the wireless e-mail device to the wireless network;
- a keyboard that is horizontally positioned symmetrically between the left side surface and the right side surface and having a plurality of keys arranged in a plurality of rows across the race, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave pattern;
- an auxiliary input device mounted within the device housing:
- and
- a processor coupled to the keyboard, the auxiliary input device and the display that controls the operation of the wireless e-mail device.
4 more elements
A hand-held messaging device, comprising:
- a device housing having a face;
- a display mounted within the face;
- a keyboard mounted within the face of the device housing in a position between the display and a bottom edge of the face, wherein the keyboard comprises a QWERTY-style keyboard having a plurality of keys arranged in a plurality of rows across the face, wherein each row of keys is arranged in a concave pattern and is distributed symmetrically across the face of the housings wherein the keyboard includes a plurality of letter keys and at least one specialized key;
- an auxiliary input device mounted within the device housing;
- means for receiving e-mail messages from a wireless network and for transmitting e-mail messages generated on the hand-held messaging device to the wireless network.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.