Method and apparatus for displaying prioritized icons in a mobile terminal

In a mobile terminal, a method of displaying a plurality of icons that can be selected by a user from a display on the mobile terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

• (1) receiving a plurality of messages at the mobile terminal, each message having an associated display icon and service information relating to a service that is potentially available to the user of the mobile terminal;
• (2) comparing the service information extracted from each message received in step (1) to one or more context values that pertain to the user of the mobile terminal;
• (3) displaying icons corresponding to messages having service information that best matches the one or more context values in an enlarged format on the display of the mobile terminal;
• and
• (4) displaying other icons in a non-enlarged format on the display of the mobile terminal.

A mobile terminal comprising:

• a display capable of displaying graphical icons;
• a user input device that permits a user of the mobile terminal to select one or more of the graphical icons displayed on the display;
• and
• a processor programmed with computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the steps of:
• (1) comparing one or more characteristics associated with each of the plurality of graphical icons to one or more context values that are specific to the user of the mobile terminal;
• (2) representing at least one of the plurality of icons having one or more characteristics that best match the one or more context values using a display format that is enlarged in relation to the remaining plurality of icons;
• and
• (3) representing at least some of the remaining plurality of icons having characteristics that do not best match the one or more context values using a display format that is smaller than the enlarged format.

A mobile terminal comprising:

• a display capable of displaying graphical icons;
• a user input device that permits a user of the mobile terminal to select one or more of the graphical icons displayed on the display;
• and
• means for displaying on the display device certain icons in an enlarged display format in response to determining that information associated with the certain icons matches a user-specified context value.

A mobile terminal comprising:

• a receiving circuit that receives a plurality of messages containing information relating to a particular service that is potentially available to a user of the mobile terminal;
• a memory storage area that stores the plurality of messages;
• a context value storage area that stores one or more context values that pertain to the user of the mobile terminal;
• a display unit capable of displaying graphical icons;
• and
• a context matching function that compares information extracted from each of the plurality of messages to the one or more context values and, in response to detecting a match, causes graphical icons corresponding to the information resulting in the match to be displayed in an enlarged format on the display unit.