Alternative notifier for multimedia use

A program of machine-readable instructions, tangibly embodied on an information bearing medium and executable by a digital data processor, to perform actions comprising:

• displaying graphical data at a graphical display screen of a device;
• responsive to an occurrence of an event that is independent of the graphical data, determining an event type for the event and automatically selecting a corresponding event type from a list comprising a plurality of different event types each having an associated display format, the list being stored in a local storage media of the device;
• and
• displaying on the graphical display screen a notifier of the occurrence of the event simultaneously with the graphical data, the notifier being displayed using the display format associated with the selected corresponding event type;
• wherein the plurality of different event types comprise at least one of:
• an incoming call event, in which the display format associated with the incoming call event comprises displaying a calling party identifier for the case where a calling party number of the incoming call event is matched to the calling party identifier in the local storage media;
• an incoming message event, in which the display format associated with the incoming message event comprises displaying at least a portion of text specific to the message;
• and
• an alarm event of a user calendar, in which the display format associated with the alarm event comprises displaying a text for the alarm event and the user calendar is stored in the local storage media.

An apparatus, comprising:

• means for receiving graphical data;
• display means for displaying the graphical data;
• means for detecting an occurrence of an event and classifying the event by type;
• means for automatically selecting a corresponding event type from a table comprising a plurality of different event types each having an associated display format, the table being stored in a local storage media of the apparatus;
• and
• means for adapting the display means to display a notifier of the occurrence of the event, in the display format associated with the selected corresponding event type, simultaneously with the graphical data;
• where
• said table includes, for at least one event type, a cross-reference to stored information related to the at least one event type, and where said means for adapting causes the display means to also display at least a portion of the stored information in conjunction with the display of the notifier;
• wherein the plurality of different event types comprise at least one of;
• an incoming call event, in which the display format associated with the incoming call event comprises displaying a calling party identifier for the case where a calling party number of the incoming call event is matched to the calling party identifier in the local storage media and the stored information comprises a user phone book;
• an incoming message event, in which the display format associated with the incoming message event comprises displaying at least a portion of text specific to the incoming message event;
• and
• an alarm event of a user calendar, in which the display format associated with the alarm event comprises displaying a text for the alarm event and the stored information comprises the text for the alarm event from the user calendar.

An apparatus comprising:

• a graphical display screen configured to display graphical data;
• a processor and a display driver coupled to the graphical display screen configured to provide the graphical data;
• and
• a local storage media configured to store a table comprising a plurality of different event types each having an associated display format;
• wherein the processor is further configured to
• respond to an occurrence of an event that is independent of the graphical data and to determine an event type of the event,
• select from the table the display format associated with the determined event type, and
• with the display driver, display the graphical data on the graphical display screen simultaneously with a notifier of the occurrence of the event using the display format selected from the table;
• wherein the plurality of different event types comprise at least one of;
• an incoming call event, in which the display format associated with the incoming call event comprises displaying a calling party identifier for the case where a calling party number of the incoming call event is matched to the calling party identifier in the local storage media;
• an incoming message event, in which the display format associated with the incoming message event comprises displaying at least a portion of text specific to the incoming message event;
• and
• an alarm event of a user calendar, in which the display format associated with the alarm event comprises displaying a text for the alarm event.