Handheld electronic device and method for dual-mode disambiguation of text input

#1. Field

#The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to handheld electronic devices and, more particularly, to a handheld electronic device having a reduced keyboard and a text input disambiguation function that can dual-mode disambiguation in response to an editing input.

#2. Background Information

#A full understanding of the disclosed and claimed concept can be gained from the following Description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

#FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an improved handheld electronic device in accordance with the disclosed and claimed concept;

#FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of the improved handheld electronic device of FIG. 1;

#Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the specification.

#An improved handheld electronic device 4 is indicated generally in FIG. 1 and is depicted schematically in FIG. 2. The exemplary handheld electronic device 4 includes a housing 6 upon which are disposed a processor unit that includes an input apparatus 8, an output apparatus 12, a processor 16, a memory 20, and at least a first routine. The processor 16 may be, for instance, and without limitation, a microprocessor (μP) and is responsive to inputs from the input apparatus 8 and provides output signals to the output apparatus 12. The processor 16 also interfaces with the memory 20. The processor 16 and the memory 20 together form a processor apparatus. Examples of handheld electronic devices are included in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,452,588 and 6,489,950, which are incorporated by record herein.

#As can be understood from FIG. 1, the input apparatus 8 includes a keypad 24 and a thumbwheel 32. As will be described in greater detail below, the keypad 24 is in the exemplary form of a reduced QWERTY keyboard including a plurality of keys 28 that serve as input members. It is noted, however, that the keypad 24 may be of other configurations, such as an AZERTY keyboard, a QWERTZ keyboard, or other keyboard arrangement, whether presently known or unknown, and either reduced or not reduced. As employed herein, the expression “reduced” and variations thereof in the context of a keyboard, a keypad, or other arrangement of input members, shall refer broadly to an arrangement in which at least one of the input members has assigned thereto a plurality of linguistic elements such as, for example, characters in the set of Latin letters, whereby an actuation of the at least one of the input members, without another input in combination therewith, is an ambiguous input since it could refer to more than one of the plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto. As employed herein, the expression “linguistic element” and variations thereof shall refer broadly to any element that itself can be a language object or from which a language object can be constructed, identified, or otherwise obtained, and thus would include, for example and without limitation, characters, letters, strokes, ideograms, phonemes, morphemes, digits, and the like. As employed herein, the expression “language object” and variations thereof shall refer broadly to any type of object that may be constructed, identified, or otherwise obtained from one or more linguistic elements, that can be used alone or in combination to generate text, and that would include, for example and without limitation, words, shortcuts, symbols, ideograms, and the like.