HK1142152B - Mobile electronic device and associated method enabling identification of address book data for transliteration of an input - Google Patents

Description

Mobile electronic device and method for identifying previously input data for input transliteration

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application serial No.61/052,223 (filed on 11/5/2008) and U.S. patent application serial No.12/395,012 (filed on 27/2/2009), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

Example embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to mobile electronic devices and, more particularly, to a mobile electronic device and method that enable recognition of previously entered text objects during transliteration of an input.

Background

Many types of mobile electronic devices are known. Examples of such mobile electronic devices include, for example: personal Data Assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cellular telephones, and the like. Many mobile electronic devices also have wireless communication capabilities, although many such mobile electronic devices are stand-alone devices that operate without communicating with other devices.

In certain cases, a mobile electronic device having a keyboard with latin letters may be used to phonetically enter text in languages that are not based on latin letters. For example, pinyin is a phonetic Chinese "alphabet" that enables transcription between latin text and standard mandarin text. Therefore, the pinyin may enable the input of standard mandarin characters by inputting latin letters. A "pinyin" is a phonetic symbol tone, typically formed of a plurality of Latin letters, each pinyin associated with one or more standard Mandarin characters. There are more than 400 pinyins, each typically corresponding to a number of different standard mandarin characters.

It can also be understood that the Chinese pinyin alphabetical characters have phonetic characters and can be typed on a keyboard to realize the input of traditional Chinese characters. In general, traditional Chinese characters are converted from a Pinyin alphabetic string that includes up to 3 Pinyin alphabetic characters and an optional tone.

Both standard Mandarin (i.e., simplified Chinese) and traditional Chinese may be considered to employ Chinese characters. Some characters are standard mandarin characters, others are traditional chinese characters, and others are common between standard mandarin and traditional chinese.

Although mobile electronic devices that provide transliteration between phonetic symbol input and chinese text have been generally effective for their intended purposes, it is desirable to provide an improved method and mobile electronic device to provide improved text input.

Drawings

A full understanding of the disclosed and claimed concept can be gained by reading the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a mobile electronic device modified in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of the improved mobile electronic device of FIG. 1, in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 3 depicts a pair of custom word lists that may be stored in a memory of the mobile electronic device of FIG. 1, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting certain aspects of an improved method that may be performed on the mobile electronic device of FIG. 1 in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting particular aspects of another improved method that may be performed on the mobile electronic device of FIG. 1 in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a home screen that may be output in visual form on a mobile electronic device according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 7 depicts a menu that may be output on the mobile electronic device of FIG. 1 according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 8 depicts another menu in accordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 9 depicts a simplified menu according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an output that may occur during another text entry or text editing operation in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 11 is an output during another text entry operation according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 12 is an alternative output during the text input operation of FIG. 11 according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 13 is another output during another portion of the text input operation of FIG. 11 in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 14 is an output during a data input operation according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a top plan view of a mobile electronic device modified in accordance with another example embodiment; and

fig. 16 is a schematic depiction of the improved mobile electronic device of fig. 15, according to an example embodiment.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the specification.

Detailed Description

An improved mobile electronic device 4 is generally shown in fig. 1 and schematically depicted in fig. 2. The mobile electronic device 4 of the exemplary embodiment includes a housing 6, on which housing 6 an input means 8, an output means 12 and a processor means 16 are arranged. The input device 8 is configured to provide input to the processor device 16 and the output device 12 is configured to receive output signals from the processor device 16. The output device 12 includes a display 18, the display 18 being configured to provide visual output, although other output devices (e.g., speakers, LEDs, tactile output devices, etc.) may additionally or alternatively be used.

As can be seen in fig. 2, the processor arrangement 16 includes a processor 36 and a memory 40. The processor 36 may be (for example, but not limited to): a microprocessor (μ P) responsive to inputs from the input device 8 and providing output signals to the output device 12. The processor 36 interfaces with the memory 40.

Memory 40 can be considered to constitute a machine-readable medium and can be any one or more of a variety of internal and/or external storage media (e.g., without limitation, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, FLASH, etc.) that provide storage registers for data storage (e.g., in the manner of an internal storage area of a computer), and can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory. The memory 40 has stored therein a plurality of routines 44 executable on the processor 36. As used herein, the expression "plurality" or variations thereof shall refer broadly to any non-zero amount, including an amount of 1. The routine 44 may be in any form, such as but not limited to software, firmware, etc. As explained in more detail below, the routines 44 include a text transliteration routine 44, among other routines. The transliteration routine 44 may be used to implement phonetic text input by converting latin alphabet (i.e., pinyin) input to standard mandarin word output. Transliteration routines 44 may also be used to implement phonetic text input by converting the chinese pinyin-character input from keyboard 24 to traditional chinese word output. Also stored in the memory 40 are a dictionary 42, a character table 45, and other data sources for the translation routine 44 to provide responses to text input, such as a pinyin custom word list 52 and a chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56. Also stored in memory 40 is an additional data source in the example form of an address book 46.

Note that chinese is used herein as an example embodiment language, and it should also be understood that in other example embodiments, other languages (e.g., japanese and korean) may be similarly phonetically entered on the mobile electronic device 4. That is, the mobile electronic device 4 is described herein in an exemplary manner as being configured for phonetic input in Chinese via transliteration between Latin letters and Chinese characters or between Chinese Pinyin alphabetic characters and Chinese characters (or both), it being understood that in other exemplary embodiments, the mobile electronic device may be configured to input text in, for example, Japanese or Korean text or other languages.

As will be appreciated from fig. 1, the input apparatus 8 includes a keyboard 24 and a multi-axis input device (in the example embodiment described herein, a trackball 32, which will be described in more detail below). The keypad 24 includes a plurality of keys 28. Some of the keys 28 each have a latin character 50 assigned thereto, some of the keys 28 have a bopomofo character 48 assigned thereto, and some of the keys 28 both. The latin characters 50 are arranged in the QWERTY keyboard form of the exemplary embodiment. The keys 28 and trackball 32 each serve as input elements that are activatable to provide input to the processor device 16. The keyboard 24 and the trackball 32 are arranged adjacent to each other on the front side of the housing 6. This enables the user to operate the trackball 32 during text entry operations or other operations without substantially removing the user's hand from the keyboard 24.

One of the keys 28 is an < escage > (exit) key 31 which, when activated, provides an input to the processor device 16 which undoes the action resulting from the immediately preceding input and/or moves the user to a logically higher position within a logical menu tree managed by a Graphical User Interface (GUI) routine 44. The functionality provided by the < escage > key 31 may be used anywhere within any part of the logical menu tree (perhaps in addition to the home screen shown in fig. 6). The < escage > key 31 is arranged adjacent to the trackball 32, for example so that unintended or incorrect input from the trackball 32 can be quickly undone (i.e. reversed) by activating the adjacent < escage > key 31.

Another of the keys 28 is a < MENU > key 33 which, when activated, provides input to the processor means 16 which causes the GUI 44 to generate and output a MENU as shown in figure 18 on the display 18. Such a menu is appropriate for the user's current logical position within the logical menu tree, as described in more detail below. Note that menus and other topics not directly related to the transliteration routine 44 are shown here in English by way of example, but this should not be limiting.

Although in the illustrated example embodiment the multi-axis input device is a trackball 32, it should be noted that in other example embodiments a multi-axis input device other than a trackball 32 may be employed. For example, other suitable multi-axis input devices may include mechanical devices (e.g., joysticks, etc.) and/or non-mechanical devices (e.g., touch pads, trackpads, etc.) and/or other devices that detect movement or input in other ways (e.g., through the use of optical sensors or piezoelectric crystals).

The trackball 32 is free to rotate in all directions relative to the housing 6. The trackball 32 is rotated a predetermined rotational distance relative to the housing 6 to provide inputs to the processor device 16, which the routine 44 may employ, for example, as navigation inputs, scrolling inputs, selection inputs, and other inputs.

For example, as can be seen in FIG. 1, the trackball 32 can be rotated about a horizontal axis 34A to provide vertical scrolling, navigation, selection, or other input. Similarly, trackball 32 can rotate about vertical axis 34B to provide horizontal scrolling, navigation, selection, or other input. Since the trackball 32 is free to rotate relative to the housing 6, the trackball 32 can also rotate about any other axis (not explicitly shown here) that is located within the page of fig. 1 or extends out of the page of fig. 1.

Trackball 32 may be considered a multi-axis input device because trackball 32 provides scrolling, navigation, selection, and other inputs in multiple directions or with respect to multiple axes (e.g., provides inputs in vertical and horizontal directions). Again, trackball 32 is but one of many multi-axis input devices that may be employed on mobile electronic device 4. Thus, mechanical alternatives to the trackball 32 (e.g., a joystick) may have limited rotation relative to the housing 6, and non-mechanical alternatives may not be able to move relative to the housing 6, but are able to provide input in multiple directions and/or along multiple axes.

The trackball 32 can also be translated towards the housing 6, i.e. into the page of fig. 1, to provide additional input. The trackball 32 may be translated, for example, by a user applying a driving force to the trackball 32 in a direction towards the housing 6, such as by pressing the trackball 32. The routine 44 may employ the input provided to the processor device 16 resulting from the translation of the trackball 32 in the indicated manner as, for example, a selection input, a delimiter input or other input.

In the example embodiment illustrated herein, the dictionary 42 is a Chinese dictionary, meaning that it includes simplified Chinese words (each including one or more standard Mandarin characters) and traditional Chinese words (each including one or more traditional Chinese characters). The example character table 45 includes unicode designations for each standard mandarin character and each traditional chinese character, and each such unicode is associated with all its possible pinyin syllable IDs and/or all its pinyin alphabetic syllable IDs. The pinyin syllable ID is a representation of pinyin and the hanyupinyin syllable ID is a representation of a hanyupinyin string.

The pinyin custom word list 52 is a list of standard mandarin characters and words that the user has custom-entered and the corresponding pinyins that may be transliterated into such standard mandarin characters and words. When the user enters pinyin text (i.e., Latin characters) into any text field, the transliteration routine 44 compares the pinyin input to the contents of the dictionary 42 to identify one or more standard Mandarin characters to output as a suggested transliteration of the pinyin input. In addition, the transliteration routine 44 compares the pinyin input to the pinyin custom word list 52 to find additional standard mandarin characters and words to output as a suggested transliteration of the pinyin input.

The pinyin-character customized word list 56 is a list of various traditional chinese characters and words that the user has custom-entered, as well as the pinyin-character characters and any additional tones that may be transliterated into such traditional chinese characters or words. When the user types the hanyupinying alphabetic characters into any text field on the mobile electronic device 4, the transliteration routine 44 compares the hanyupinying alphabetic input to the contents of the dictionary 42 to identify traditional chinese characters and words as suggested transliterations of the hanyupinying alphabetic input. In this case, the transliteration routine 44 also compares the pinyin-character input to the pinyin-character custom word list 56 to identify additional traditional Chinese characters and words as other possible transliterations of the pinyin-character input.

For simplicity, the pinyin custom word list 52 is shown here as including a pinyin of standard mandarin characters and corresponding latin letters, and the chinese pinyin custom word list is shown here as including traditional chinese characters and corresponding chinese pinyin letter strings. It should be noted, however, that the pinyin custom word list 52 and the bopomofo custom word list 56 will typically include unicode designations of standard mandarin characters and traditional chinese characters, respectively, and will also include pinyin syllable IDs and bopomofo syllable IDs without storing the pinyins and bopomofo letters themselves. In addition, each entry in the Pinyin custom word list 52 and the Chinese Pinyin alphabetic custom word list 56 may contain additional data content, for example, relating to frequency of use and other information not explicitly described herein.

To facilitate transliteration of the pinyin input and/or the hanyupin input on the mobile electronic device 4, data in the form of text objects previously stored on the mobile electronic device 4 (as may be derived from such data having been entered by the user via the user's customization of data sources such as the address book 46) is additionally stored in a searchable manner in the pinyin custom word list 52, the hanyupin custom word list 56, or both. In particular, the character table 45 includes integer data associated with each entry indicating whether the specified character is a standard Mandarin character, a traditional Chinese character, or both. When a new entry in the form of a text object, such as a word or character, is initially entered into an input field, such as the data field of an address book dialog box, at some point thereafter, the entry is compared to the character table 45 to determine whether its characters are standard Mandarin characters or traditional Chinese characters or both. In the case where the new data entry includes standard mandarin characters, the new entry is stored in the pinyin custom word list 52. In particular, the new data entry includes the new standard Mandarin characters in the form of the stored standard Mandarin entry 64 and the corresponding pinyin in the form of the stored pinyin entry 60, both of which can be seen in FIG. 3.

Whenever a new entry into the input field includes a traditional chinese character, the new data entry is stored in the chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56. Such new entries include the new traditional Chinese character in the form of a stored traditional Chinese character entry 72 and the corresponding hanyupinyin alphabetic character in the form of a stored hanyupinyin alphabetic entry 68.

It should be expressly noted that the address book described herein is merely one example of a data source that provides a dialog box that may be used to receive an initial input of a text object and a data source from which such custom data may be obtained for storage in the pinyin custom word list 52, the chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56, or both. In this regard, other data sources, such as an email inbox, the contents of a received email message, etc., may be employed to obtain such custom data in accordance with the claimed concepts. It should also be noted that the initial entry of a text object (e.g., into the example address book dialog box described herein) may be made in any manner and is not limited to being entered as a pinyin input or a hanyu pinyin-character input.

Fig. 3 generally depicts in a schematic manner portions of a pinyin custom word list 52 and a chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56. The pinyin custom word list 52 indicates the pinyin entry 60 "Liu Ting" and the standard Mandarin entry 64 "Liu Ting", among other entries. The Chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56 includes a Chinese pinyin-character entry 68 ㄓ ㄤ dogleg- ㄡ ㄨ Y and a corresponding traditional Chinese entry 72 " autumn". The above-mentioned entries in the pinyin custom word list 52 and the chinese pinyin-alphabet custom word list 56 are from inputs to a data source, in the example presented here the address book 46. For example, the user may type the pinyin input "Liu Ting" into the input field of the example address book dialog box, and the transliteration routine 44 may transliterate the pinyin input as the standard mandarin "Liuting," after which both are stored in the pinyin custom word list 52. On the other hand, the standard mandarin "liuting" may be otherwise input, for example, using a stroke-based input system or the like, and the corresponding pinyin "Liu Ting" may be created by the transliteration routine 44 through comparison of the standard mandarin input with the character table 45, for example. Thus, the creation of a new entry in the pinyin custom word list 52 is independent of the particular manner in which the new entry is created in the data source. The same is true for the new entries in the chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56.

An entry for the Chinese name "Li Ming" appears in both the Pinyin custom word list 52 and the Pinyin alphabetic custom word list 56 because the name includes characters that are both standard Mandarin and traditional Chinese, i.e., they are overlapping sets of characters. Thus, when a new entry "lie" is initially received in the example address book 46, the Chinese character is stored in the pinyin custom word list 52 as the standard Mandarin entry 64 and the pinyin entry 60 "Li Ming", and the Chinese character is also stored in the Chinese pinyin custom word list 56 as the traditional Chinese entry 72 and the corresponding Chinese pinyin entry 68 fail-reverse- ㄥ.

By storing data from the data sources in the pinyin custom word list 52 and the chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56, additional transliteration results may be obtained and suggested to the user as the user enters text. For example, if the user is beginning to enter the pinyin input "LiuTing" as a text input, the standard Mandarin transliteration "LiuTing" will be available for output to the user as a suggested transliteration since it was entered earlier into the example address book 46 and thus re-stored in the pinyin custom word list 52. In this regard, if the text input is in an incomplete condition, meaning that less than the complete text object "liuting" would be produced if transliterated, the output of the standard mandarin "liuting" as a transliteration of the text input would also serve as a suggested completion for the text input. Similarly, if the user begins typing in the Chinese pinyin-character sequence ㄓ ㄤ V- ㄡ Y- ㄨ as the text input, the traditional Chinese name Qiuhua is identified by searching the Chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56 and output to the user as a suggested transliteration of the text input, or as a suggested completion if the text input is incomplete. It can also be seen that the Chinese name "Li Ming" is stored in both the Pinyin custom word list 52 and the Pinyin alphabet custom word list 56, which enables the name to be recognized and output as a suggested transliteration upon entry of the Pinyin "Li Ming" and the Pinyin alphabet rendering-U- ㄥ.

Note that the initial input of data into the example address book 46 is indicated above as triggering the generation of possible additional entries in either the pinyin custom word list 52 or the chinese pinyin-alphabet custom word list 56, or both. It should be noted, however, that any of a variety of other events may trigger the generation of such an entry based on data already received in the data source (in this example, address book 46). For example, synchronizing the mobile electronic device 4 with another device or other such event may alternatively be used to create new entries in the Pinyin custom word list 52 or the Chinese Pinyin alphabetic custom word list 56 or both.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram illustrating certain aspects of an example embodiment of a method for changing data stored in an example address book 46 or other data source to additional entries stored as a Pinyin custom word list 52, a Chinese Pinyin alphabetic custom word list 56, or both. Processing commences at 104 whereupon initial entry of a text object (e.g., word, character, etc.) is detected at 104. A determination is then made at 108 as to whether the input is a standard Mandarin character, which determination will be made by querying, for example, the character table 45 or possibly the dictionary 42 or other linguistic source. If it is determined at 108 that the characters are standard mandarin characters, the process continues to 112 where the pinyin sequence and standard mandarin characters are stored as pinyin entries 60 and standard mandarin entries 64, respectively, in the pinyin custom word list 52 at 112.

Regardless of the result at 108, processing continues to 116 where it is determined whether the input is a traditional Chinese character at 116. If so, processing continues to 120 where the traditional Chinese characters and corresponding Pinyin alphabet sequences are added to the custom word list 56 as the traditional Chinese entry 72 and the Pinyin alphabet entry 68, respectively, at 120. Thereafter, processing continues to 104, where other inputs are detected at 104.

It can thus be seen that new entries including standard mandarin characters will be stored as new entries in the pinyin custom word list 52 and new entries including traditional chinese characters will be stored in the chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56. Stated again, if the characters are both standard Mandarin and traditional Chinese, i.e., the characters are an overlay of these two character sets, then a new entry will appear in the Pinyin custom word list 52 and the Chinese Pinyin alphabetic custom word list 56.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram showing certain aspects of an example embodiment of a method for providing entries in a Pinyin custom word list 52 or a Chinese Pinyin alphabetic custom word list 56, or both, as possible transliterations of a text input received in any text field. Processing commences at 204 whereupon text input is detected at 204 whereupon processing continues to 208 whereupon the text input is compared to dictionary 42 at 208 to obtain a transliterated set of text inputs. It is then determined at 212 whether the text input is pinyin (i.e., Latin characters). If so, processing continues to 216 where the Pinyin custom word list 52 is analyzed for possible other transliterations of the text input at 216. That is, a determination is made as to whether the pinyin input detected at 204 has any correspondence with any pinyin entries 60 in the pinyin custom word list 52.

Thereafter, processing continues from both 212 and 216 to 220 where it is determined whether the text input is a hanyu pinyin alphabetic character at 220. If so, processing continues to 224 where the transliteration routine 44 looks at the Pinyin alphabet custom word list 56 to determine if there are any Pinyin alphabet entries 68 therein that correspond to the Pinyin alphabet text input, and if so, identifies the traditional Chinese entries 72 that correspond to any such Pinyin alphabet entries 68 as possible additional transliterations of the text input. Processing thereafter continues to 228, where the transliteration routine 44 outputs a set of suggested transliterations at 228 that includes the transliteration obtained at 208 from the dictionary 42 and any other transliterations that may have been identified at 216 or 224 or both.

Thus, new entries in the address book 46 or other data source can be stored in the pinyin custom word list 52, the chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56, or both. This enables and facilitates the entry of text in any input field since other suggested transliteration results may be retrieved from the pinyin custom word list 52 or the chinese pinyin-character custom word list 56 or both as the text is entered.

With respect to multi-axis input devices, it should be noted that such multi-axis input devices are useful. For example, the home screen output of the example embodiment, which may be visually output on the display 18, is shown in fig. 6 as including a plurality of icons 1062, which icons 1062 may be selected by a user for initiating, for example, execution of the routine 44 represented by the icon 1062 on the processor device 16. Trackball 32 may rotate to provide navigational input, for example, between icons 1062.

For example, fig. 6 depicts a trip in which the indicator 1066 travels from the icon 1062A indicated by the dashed line with the indicator 1066A, to the icon 1062B indicated by the dashed line with the indicator 1066B, and then to the icon 1062C indicated by the indicator 1066C. It will be appreciated that the indicators 1066A, 1066B, and 1066C need not be shown on the display 18 at the same time, but are intended to show a series of events together and to indicate the movement of the indicator 1066 between the icons 1062. At any given moment, a particular location of the indicator 1066 indicates to the user a particular icon 1062, e.g., the particular icon 1062 is the subject of the selection focus of the mobile electronic device 4. So long as the icon 1062 or other selectable object is the subject of the selection focus, a selection input to the processor device 16 will result in the execution or launching of the routine 44 or other function represented by the icon 1062 or other selectable object.

Movement of the indicator 1066 from the icon 1062A indicated by the indicator 1066A to the icon 1062B indicated by the indicator 1066B is accomplished by rotating the trackball 32 about the vertical axis 34B to provide horizontal navigational input. As described above, rotating the trackball 32 a predetermined rotational distance generates an input to the processor device 16. In this example, since the icon 62B is placed at the 3 icons 1062 to the right of the icon 1062A, the trackball 32 will rotate about the vertical axis 34B by a rotational distance equal to 3 times the predetermined rotational distance. Such rotation of the trackball 32 by the user may be by a single action, but need not be the case.

Similarly, movement of the indicator 1066 from the icon 1062B indicated with the indicator 1066B to the icon 1062C indicated with the indicator 1066C is accomplished by the user rotating the trackball 32 about the horizontal axis 34A to provide vertical navigation input. In doing so, the trackball 32 will rotate a rotational distance equal to 2 times the predetermined rotational distance due to the placement of the icon 1062C at 2 icons 1062 below the icon 1062B. Such rotation of the trackball 32 by the user may be by a single action, but need not be the case.

It can thus be seen that the trackball 32 is capable of rotating in various directions to provide various navigational and other inputs to the processor device 16. Typically, the routine 44 active on the mobile electronic device 4 interprets rotational input by the trackball 32 as input that such routine 44 may employ. For example, the GUI 44 of fig. 6, which is active on the mobile electronic device 4, requires vertical and horizontal navigation inputs to move the indicator 1066, thereby moving the selection focus within the icon 1062. If the user rotates trackball 32 about an axis that is tilted from horizontal axis 34A and vertical axis 34B, GUI 44 may resolve such tilted rotation of trackball 32 into vertical and horizontal components, which GUI 44 may then interpret as vertical and horizontal navigation movements, respectively. In this case, if one of the resolved vertical and horizontal navigation movements is of a greater magnitude than the other, the GUI 44 will employ the resolved navigation movement having the greater magnitude as the navigation input, move the indicator 1066 and select the focus in that direction, and the GUI 44 ignores the resolved other navigation movement, for example.

When the indicator 1066 is placed over the icon 1062C, the selection focus of the mobile electronic device 4 is on the icon 1062C, as shown by the indicator 1066C. Thus, translation of the trackball 32 into the housing 6 as described above will provide an input to the processor device 16 that the GUI 44 interprets as a selection input to the icon 1062C. In response to such selection input, the processor device 16 will, for example, begin executing the routine 44 represented by the icon 1062C. It will thus be appreciated that the trackball 32 may be rotated to provide navigation and other input in multiple directions (assuming that the routine 44 currently active on the mobile electronic device 4 may employ such navigation or other input in multiple directions), and may also be translated to provide selection input or other input.

As noted above, fig. 7 depicts a suitable example embodiment menu 1035A in the case where the user's current logical location within the logical menu tree is to view email within the email routine 44. That is, the menu 1035A provides selectable options that are appropriate for the user if, for example, the user is viewing an email within the email routine 44. In a similar manner, fig. 8 illustrates another example embodiment menu 1035B that would be shown if the user's current logical location within the logical menu tree was within the phone routine 44.

Rotational movement input from trackball 32 may be used to navigate between menus 1035A and 1035B, for example. For example, after activating the < MENU > key 33 and outputting the resulting MENU by the GUI 44, the user may rotate the trackball 32 to provide a scrolling input to continuously highlight the various selectable options within the MENU. Once the desired selectable option is highlighted (i.e., the desired selectable option is the subject of the selection focus), the user may pan the trackball 32 toward the housing 6 to provide selection input to the highlighted selectable option. In this regard, note that the < MENU > key 33 is disposed adjacent to the trackball 32. This enables, for example, the generation of a MENU by activating the < MENU > key 33, followed by convenient rotation of the trackball 32 to highlight a desired selectable option, for example followed by translation of the trackball 32 towards the housing 6 to provide a selection input to initiate an operation represented by the highlighted selectable option.

It is also noted that one of the other inputs that may be provided by translating the trackball 32 is an input that causes the GUI 44 to output a simplified menu. For example, translating trackball 32 towards housing 6 may result in the generation and output of a more limited version of a MENU than would be generated upon activation of < MENU > key 33. Thus, such a simplified menu is suitable for the user's current logical position within the logical menu tree and may provide selectable options that the user is likely to select. Rotational movement of trackball 32 will provide a scrolling input to scroll through the selectable options within reduced menu 1035C; the translational movement of trackball 32 may provide a selection input to initiate any function represented by the selectable option currently highlighted within reduced menu 1035C.

By way of example, if the user does not activate the < MENU > key 33 to generate the MENU 1035A, but instead translates the trackball 32, the GUI 44 will generate and output on the display a simplified MENU 1035C, shown generally in fig. 9. The simplified menu 1035C of the example embodiment provides, as selectable options, a plurality of selectable options in the menu 1035A that are most likely to be selected by the user. Thus, a user seeking to perform a relatively conventional function may not activate < MENU > key 33 to display the full MENU 1035A, but may translate trackball 32 to generate and output a reduced MENU 1035C. The user may then conveniently rotate the trackball 32 to provide a scrolling input to highlight a desired selectable option, and may then translate the trackball 32 to provide a selection input that will initiate the function represented by the currently highlighted selectable option in the reduced menu 1035C.

In an example embodiment, many MENUs that may be generated by activating the < MENU > key 33 may also be generated and output in a simplified form as a simplified MENU in response to the translation of the trackball 32 towards the housing 6. It should be noted, however, that a reduced MENU may not be available for every complete MENU that may be generated by activating the < MENU > key 33. Depending on the specific logical position of the user within the logical menu tree, the translation of the trackball 32 may be interpreted as a selection input rather than an input seeking to simplify the menu. For example, panning the trackball 32 on the home screen shown in fig. 1 will produce a selection input for the icon 1062 that is the subject of the input focus. If the < MENU > key 33 is activated on the home screen, the GUI 44 will output a MENU appropriate for the home screen, such as a complete MENU of all functions available on the mobile electronic device 4, including functions that may not be represented by the icon 1062 on the home screen.

Fig. 10 shows some text output on the display 18, for example during a text entry operation or during a text editing operation. Indicator 1066 is shown in fig. 10 as originally being on the letter "L" (as shown with indicator 1066D), and has been moved horizontally to the letter "I" (as shown with indicator 1066E), and thereafter moved vertically to the letter "W" (as shown with indicator 1066F). In a similar manner to that of FIG. 6, cursor 1066 is moved between the letters "L", "I", and "W" by using the horizontal and vertical navigation inputs generated by rotating trackball 32. However, in the example of fig. 10, each rotation of trackball 32 by a predetermined rotational distance moves indicator 1066 to the next adjacent letter. Thus, when moving indicator 1066 between the letters "L" and "I", the user rotates trackball 32 about vertical axis 1034B by a rotational distance equal to, for example, 9 times the predetermined rotational distance, since "I" is located at the right 9 letters of "L".

Fig. 11 illustrates the output 1064 on the display 18 during a text input operation, such as with the disambiguation routine 44. Output 1064 may be considered to include a text component 1068 and a variants component 1072. Variant component 1072 includes a default portion 1076 and a variant portion 1080. Fig. 11 shows an indicator 1066G on the variant 1080 "HAV", which may be generated by rotating the trackball 32 about a horizontal axis 34A to provide a downward vertical scrolling input. In this regard, it will be appreciated that rotation of the trackball 32 a distance equal to the predetermined rotational distance moves the indicator 1066 from a position (not explicitly shown here) on the default portion 1076 to a position on the first variation 1080 (as shown in fig. 11). Since this rotation of the trackball 32 results in the first variant 1080 "HAV" being highlighted with the indicator 1066G, the text component 1068 likewise comprises the text "HAV" immediately before the cursor 1084A.

Fig. 12 illustrates an alternative output 1064A having an alternative variant component 1072A, the alternative variant component 1072A having a default portion 1076A and a variant portion 1080A. Variant component 1072A is arranged horizontally, meaning that default portion 1076A and variant 1080A are arranged horizontally adjacent to one another and may be selected in turn by a user using a horizontal scrolling input (e.g., by the user rotating trackball 32A predetermined rotational distance about vertical axis 34B). This is in contrast to the variant component 1072 of fig. 11, in the variant component 1072 of fig. 11 the default portion 1076 and the variant 1080 are arranged vertically and can be selected in turn by the user through vertical scrolling input using the trackball 32.

It should be appreciated in this regard that trackball 32 may provide a vertical scrolling input employed in conjunction with output 1064 and a horizontal scrolling input employed in conjunction with output 1064A. For example, the disambiguation routine 44 could potentially allow a user to customize its operation by choosing between a vertically arranged variant component 1072 and a horizontally arranged variant component 1072A. Trackball 32 can provide scrolling input in a vertical direction and/or a horizontal direction as desired, and thus can be used to provide suitable scrolling input whether the user selects variant component 1072 or variant component 1072A. That is, trackball 32 can be rotated about a horizontal axis 34A to provide vertical scrolling inputs employed in conjunction with modification assembly 1072, and can also be rotated about a vertical axis 34B to provide horizontal scrolling inputs employed in conjunction with modification assembly 1064A. Accordingly, the trackball 32 may provide suitable navigation, scrolling, selection, and other inputs as desired by the routine 44 active at any time on the mobile electronic device 4. The trackball 32 enables such navigation, scrolling, selection, and other inputs to be intuitively generated by the user (e.g., as may be indicated on the display 18) by rotating the trackball 32 in a direction appropriate for the activity routine 44.

As can also be seen from fig. 12, the variant component 1072A also includes a value 1081 indicative of the language into which the disambiguation routine 44 interprets the ambiguous text input. In the example shown in FIG. 12, the language is English.

As can be seen in FIG. 13, the user may select the value 1081, thereby displaying a list 1083 of alternative values 1085. The alternate values 1085 indicate alternative candidate languages into which the disambiguation routine 44 may interpret the ambiguous input. Selection of the value 1081 may be accomplished, for example, by a user providing a horizontal scrolling input using the trackball 32 to cause (not explicitly shown here) the indicator 1066 to be positioned over the value 1081, and thereafter by translating the trackball 32 toward the housing 6 to provide a selection input.

The alternative values 1085 in the list 1083 are vertically arranged with respect to each other and with respect to the value 1081. Thus, vertical scrolling input using trackball 32 can cause indicator 1066I to move vertically to a position over one of the alternate values 1085 (in this example, alternate value 1085 "FR" representing French). The alternative value 1085 "FR" may be made selectable by the user in any manner, such as by again activating the trackball 32, by continuing to enter text, or otherwise. Thus, as can be appreciated from fig. 12 and 13, the trackball 32 may be rotated to provide horizontal scrolling input, and also vertical scrolling input, as appropriate, and also selection input, for example, as appropriate.

FIG. 14 illustrates another example embodiment output on the display 18 that may be employed by, for example, the data entry routine 44. The example embodiment output of FIG. 14 includes a plurality of input fields 1087 having corresponding descriptions. The cursor 1084D, when positioned within one of the input fields 1087, indicates to the user that the input focus of the mobile electronic device 4 is on that input field 1087. That is, data, such as text, numbers, symbols, etc., can be entered into any active (i.e., subject of input focus) input field 1087. It should be understood that the mobile electronic device 4 may perform other operations or take other actions depending on which input field 1087 is the subject of the input focus.

Navigational input from the trackball 32 causes the cursor 1084D, and thus the input focus, to switch (i.e., toggle) between the input fields 1087. For example, input fields 1087 may include input fields 1087A, 1087B, and 1087C. FIG. 14 shows cursor 1084D as being located in input field 1087C, indicating that input field 1087C is the subject of the input focus of mobile electronic device 4. It should be appreciated that by providing vertical scrolling input in an upward direction using the trackball 32, the cursor 1084D, and thus the input focus, can be transitioned from the input field 1087C to an input field 1087A that is vertically above and adjacent to the input field 1087C. That is, the trackball 32 can be rotated about the horizontal axis 34 by a predetermined rotation distance. Similarly, by using the trackball 32 to provide a horizontal scrolling input to the right, the cursor 1084D, and thus the input focus, can be transitioned from the input field 1087A to an input field 1087B located to the right of and adjacent to the input field 1087A. That is, such horizontal scrolling input may be provided by rotating the trackball about the vertical axis 34B by a predetermined rotational distance. It can thus be seen that the trackball 32 is capable of rotating in multiple directions about multiple axes to provide navigation, scrolling, and other inputs in multiple directions among multiple input fields 1087. Other types of inputs and/or inputs in other applications will be apparent.

An improved mobile electronic device 2004 in accordance with another embodiment is generally shown in fig. 15 and 16. The mobile electronic device 2004 comprises a housing 2006 on which housing 2006 is arranged an input device 2008, an output device 2012 and a processor device 2016. The processor device 2016 includes a processor 2036 and a memory 2040, the memory 2040 having a plurality of routines 2044 stored therein. All operations that may be performed on or with the mobile electronic device 4 may be performed on or with the mobile electronic device 2004. Thus, features of the mobile electronic device 2004 that are common with the mobile electronic device 4 are generally not repeated (essentially, this would include all features of the mobile electronic device 4).

In general, the mobile electronic device 2004 is substantially identical in configuration and function to the mobile electronic device 4, but the mobile electronic device 2004 includes a touch screen display 2055 that provides a non-mechanical multi-axis input device 2032 in place of the trackball 32. The non-mechanical multi-axis input device 2032 may be considered to be in the form of a virtual track ball 2032.

It is generally understood that the touch screen display 2055 includes a liquid crystal layer between a pair of substrates, each substrate including an electrode. The electrodes form a grid defining the aperture size of the pixel. When an electric charge is applied to the electrodes, liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer become aligned generally perpendicular to the two substrates. The display input/output subassembly 2053 of the output device 2012 controls the location of the charge applied to the electrodes to effect the formation of an image on the touch screen display 2055.

In addition, the touch screen display 2055 includes a sensor assembly 2057, the sensor assembly 2057 including an output device 2059 and a plurality of detectors 2061. The detectors 2061 are shown schematically, with the detectors 2061 typically being too small to be seen with the naked eye. Each detector 2061 is in electrical communication with the output device 2059 and, when activated, creates an output signal. The detectors 2061 are arranged in a pattern discussed below and are configured to detect external objects directly adjacent to the touch screen display 2055 or touching the touch screen display 2055. Typically, the external object is a stylus or a user's finger (not shown). The output device 2059 and/or the processor 2016 are configured to receive the detector signals and convert the signals to data indicative of the position of the external object relative to the touch screen display 2055. Thus, while the sensor assembly 2057 is physically a component of the touch screen display 2055, it is considered a logical component of the input device 2008 because it provides input to the processor device.

The detector 2061 is typically a capacitive detector, an optical detector, a resistive detector, or a mechanical detector (such as a strain gauge or a charged grid), although other techniques may be employed in other example embodiments. Typically, the capacitive detector is configured to detect a change in capacitance caused by an electric field of an external object, or a change in capacitance caused by the capacitive detector being pressed. The optical detector is configured to detect reflections of light (e.g., light generated by the touch screen display 2055). The mechanical detector includes a charged grid with columns arranged on one side of the touch screen display 2055, while a corresponding grid without columns would be arranged at another location on the touch screen display 2055. In this configuration, when the touch screen display 2055 is depressed (i.e., as a result of a user touch), the columns of the depressed area contact the opposing grid, completing the circuit.

The capacitive detector may be arranged on either substrate, although smaller, requiring space. Thus, any pixel disposed adjacent to a detector 2061 will have a reduced size or aperture to accommodate the adjacent detector 2061.

The detectors 2061 are arranged in a pattern, preferably at least some of the detectors 2061 are arranged in lines forming a grid. A first portion of the detectors 2061 are disposed on a first area 2081 of the touch screen display 2055 and a second portion of the detectors 2061 are disposed on a second area 2083 of the touch screen display 2055. As can be seen in fig. 15, the first area 2081 is substantially all of the area of the touch screen display 2055 that is different from the second area 2083.

The first portions of the detectors 2061 disposed on the first area 2081 of the touch screen display 2055 are arranged in a relatively sparse pattern to minimize visual interference caused by the presence of the detectors 2061 adjacent to pixels. Preferably, the spacing between detectors 2061 on first region 2081 is between about 1.0mm and 10.0mm between detectors 2061, and more preferably, the spacing between detectors 2061 is about 3.0 mm.

The second portions of the detectors 2061 are arranged in a relatively dense pattern on a second area 2083 of the touch screen display 2055 and are configured to support the function of the virtual track ball 2032. Due to the dense spacing of the detectors 2061 therein, the image quality in the second area 2083 of the touch screen display 2055 is adversely affected. However, the second area 2083 is a relatively small area compared to the entire touch screen display 2055. Preferably, the density of detectors 2061 in second region 2083 is between about 0.05mm and 3.0mm apart, and more preferably, the spacing between detectors 2061 is about 0.1 mm. Furthermore, since the pixels in the second area 2083 are dedicated to the virtual track ball 2032, a reduced pixel density with larger pixels is acceptable. Since the pixel size may be very large, the aspect ratio will be significantly higher than pixels not arranged adjacent to the detector 2061. The pixels in the second area 2083 may be special function pixels, such as pixels that would show the virtual track ball 2032 and illuminate the second area 2083 to highlight the virtual track ball 2032.

The processor device is configured to create an image on the touch screen display 2055 and to define boundaries for selectable portions of the image. For example, the processor device creates an image of a selectable icon or other object on a designated portion of the touch screen display 2055. The processor device is also configured to associate the designated detectors 2061 with designated portions of the touch screen display 2055. Thus, when the processor device detects activation of a designated detector 2061 adjacent to a designated image (e.g., a selectable icon), the processor device will initiate a function or routine associated with the icon, such as turning on a calendar program.

Similarly, the processor device is configured to employ the designated detectors 2061 to support the function of the virtual track ball 2032 in the second area 2083 of the touch screen display 2055. Thus, activation of the one or more detectors 2061 supporting the virtual track ball 2032 is interpreted by the processor device as input from the virtual track ball 2032. For example, activation of a sequential plurality of detectors 2061 in the second area 2083 that extend in a particular direction on the touch screen display 2055 may be interpreted as a navigation input, a scroll input, a selection input, and/or other input in that particular direction. The virtual track ball 2032 is a multi-axis input device because the user can freely move a finger, for example, in any direction on the touch screen display 2055. The processor device may interpret other inputs, such as non-movably activating one or more detectors 2061 in a central region of the virtual track ball 2032, as an activation input for the virtual track ball 2032 (such as an activation input resulting from activating its track ball 32 in a direction towards the housing 1006 of the mobile electronic device 1004). It is understood that other types of activation of the detectors 2061 in the second region 2083 may be interpreted as various other inputs.

Thus, the mobile electronic device 2004 includes a multi-axis input device 2032, the multi-axis input device 2032 being non-mechanical but still providing the same functional features as, for example, the trackball 32 of the mobile electronic device 4. It should be appreciated that the virtual track ball 2032 is but one example embodiment of a variety of multi-axis input devices that may be employed on the mobile electronic device 2004.

While specific example embodiments have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the concepts disclosed and claimed which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any and all equivalents thereof. Some of the steps shown in the flow chart may be performed in a different order than described. Further, it should be recognized that not all of the steps described in the flowcharts need be performed, that additional steps may be added, and that some of the steps shown may be replaced with other steps.

Claims (8)

1. A method of enabling text input on a mobile electronic device, the method comprising:

detecting an initial input of a text object on a mobile electronic device, the text object comprising a plurality of characters, each character being of a first type, a second type, or both;

performing a store operation, the store operation comprising at least one of:

a) in response to determining that all characters are of the first type, storing a first representation of the text object in a first data source,

b) in response to determining that all characters are of the second type, storing a second representation of the text object in a second data source, an

c) In response to determining that all characters are of the first type and the second type at the same time, storing a first representation of the text object in a first data source and a second representation of the text object in a second data source, respectively;

detecting input text in one of a first alphabet capable of being transliterated into at least a first type of character and a second alphabet capable of being transliterated into at least a second type of character;

viewing a first data source to identify a first representation of a text object corresponding to the input text when the input text is in a first alphabet;

viewing a second data source to identify a second representation of the text object corresponding to the input text when the input text is in the second alphabet; and

the text object is output as a suggested transliteration of the input text.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: a representation of a character string capable of being transliterated into a text object is stored with at least one of the first representation of the text object and the second representation of the text object.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the text object is output as a suggested transliteration of the input text whether the input text is in the first alphabet or the second alphabet.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

detecting an initial input of a text object includes: detecting incomplete input text as input text; and

outputting the text object includes: the text object is output as a suggested transliteration of the input text and a suggested completion of the input text.

5. An apparatus for enabling text input on a mobile electronic device, the apparatus comprising:

means for detecting an initial input of a text object on a mobile electronic device, the text object comprising a plurality of characters, each character being of a first type, a second type, or both;

means for performing a storage operation, the storage operation comprising at least one of:

a) in response to determining that all characters are of the first type, storing a first representation of the text object in a first data source,

b) in response to determining that all characters are of the second type, storing a second representation of the text object in a second data source, an

c) In response to determining that all characters are of the first type and the second type at the same time, storing a first representation of the text object in a first data source and a second representation of the text object in a second data source, respectively;

means for detecting input text in one of a first alphabet capable of being transliterated into at least a first type of character and a second alphabet capable of being transliterated into at least a second type of character;

means for viewing a first data source to identify a first representation of a text object corresponding to the input text when the input text is in a first alphabet;

means for viewing a second data source to identify a second representation of a text object corresponding to the input text when the input text is in a second alphabet; and

means for outputting the text object as a suggested transliteration of the input text.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising: means for storing a representation of a character string capable of being transliterated into a text object with at least one of the first representation of the text object and the second representation of the text object.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising:

means for outputting the text object as a suggested transliteration of the input text regardless of whether the input text is in the first alphabet or the second alphabet.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein:

an apparatus for detecting an initial input of a text object on a mobile electronic device, comprising: means for detecting incomplete input text as input text; and

the apparatus for outputting a text object includes: means for outputting the text object as a suggested transliteration of the input text and a suggested completion manner for the input text.