WO2008055513A1

WO2008055513A1 - Wireless mobile communication terminal with adaptive user interface

Info

Publication number: WO2008055513A1
Application number: PCT/EP2006/010601
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christopher Scales; Thomas Bove; Niels Nymark; Nikolaj Akobsen
Original assignee: Nokia Inc
Current assignee: Nokia Inc
Priority date: 2006-11-06
Filing date: 2006-11-06
Publication date: 2008-05-15
Anticipated expiration: 2009-05-06

Abstract

A wireless mobile communication terminal includes a user interface with a first display screen, a second display screen in the form of a touchscreen and a depressible key disposed between the first display screen and the second display screen. A contextual virtual keypad is displayed on the second display screen. The most frequently used functions are assigned to the at least one depressible key.

Description

WIRELESS MOBILE COMMUNICATION TERMINAL WITH ADAPTIVE USER INTERFACE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to wireless mobile communication terminals that comprise an operating face with a display screen and a keypad.^" Further, the present invention relates to a method of operating such wireless mobile communication terminals and to a software product for operation on such wireless mobile communication terminals .

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wireless mobile communication terminals, such as mobile phones, include a myriad of functionalities with the user interface being the hindrance for further increasing the variety of functionalities and applications for these mobile terminals. It has been recognized that there are a lot of users who would like to acquire mobile wireless terminals with an even further increased variety of functionalities and applications, and who are also willing to pay for these additional functions. However, for many of the users the user interface would become too complicated if the present level of functionality is expanded.

The user interface of most of the prior art wireless mobile communication terminals includes a display screen, a standard (ITU E.161) alphanumerical keypad and a keypad with a number of softkeys, and a navigation key or joystick and oftentimes send and end keys. Alternatively, a minor portion of prior art wireless mobile communication terminals has been provided with a touchscreen, oftentimes combined with a few hard keys.

The standard alphanumerical keypad is relatively unsuited for intuitive handling of applications that are not related to numerical or text input. Touchscreens can be used more intuitively for but do not provide any tactile feedback.

Therefore, there is a desire for a user interface that allows the handling of a great variety of functions, functionalities and applications that are simple and intuitive .

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

On this background, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless mobile communication terminal that at least partially fulfills the above desire. This object is achieved by providing a wireless mobile terminal comprising a housing with an operating face, a first display screen and a second display screen, the first display screen and second display screen being supported by the housing and disposed on the operating face, the second display screen being a touch screen, and at least one depressible key placed in the operating face between the first display screen and second display screen.

The provision of a touchscreen in addition to a conventional display screen in combination with a depressible key therebetween combines the flexibility of a touchscreen with the intuitiveness and ease of use of a depressible key in close proximity to a conventional display screen. Thus, a number of frequently used functions can be accessed with a depressible key, thereby having the advantage of the tactile- and possibly audible feedback of a depressible key, whilst a dedicated keypad layout can be displayed on the touchscreen for complicated, dedicated and/or less frequently used functions or applications.

The at least one depressible key can be a navigation key, a softkey, a send key and/or a cease/end key. Thus, often used functions, such as navigating, menu access and selection, call initiation and ending can be performed with a depressible key to thereby take advantage of its tactile feedback.

The at least one depressible key may be a hardkey or a softkey.

The at least one depressible key may include a dome switch.

The second display can be a capacitive touch screen.

Preferably, the first display screen and the second display screen have a substantially rectangular contour and are disposed in line of one another on the operating face with the at least one depressible key disposed in the operating face in between the sides of the display screens that face one another.

The housing may comprise a first housing part and a second housing part that are movable relative to one another, the first display screen being supported by the first housing part and the second display screen being supported by the second housing part with the operating face distributed over the housing parts, and wherein the at least one depressible key is disposed between the first display screen and the second display screen when the housing parts assume a position in which both display screens are accessible.

The terminal may further comprise a processor coupled to the first display screen, to the second display screen and to the at least one depressible key.

The processor can be configured to show a virtual keypad on the adaptive touch screen. The processor can be configured to adapt the type of virtual keypad to the state of the terminal.

The processor can be configured to display a virtual keypad comprising a character set for text input when a text editing application is displayed on the first display screen.

The processor can be configured to display a virtual keypad comprising a music/multimedia key layout when music/multimedia player application is being displayed on the first display screen.

The processor can be configured to display a virtual keypad comprising numerical keys when an application requiring number entry is displayed on the first display screen. The processor can be configured to display a virtual keypad comprising camera keys when the terminal is in a camera mode.

The processor can be configured to deactivate and/or activate a key lock function upon registering a key activation sequence that starts with the at least one depressible key.

The terminal may further comprise at least a second depressible key, in which case the processor can be configured to deactivate and/or activate a key lock function upon registering a simultaneous depression of the at least two depressible keys.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for operating a user interface of a mobile wireless terminal that comprises a first display screen, a second display screen in the form of a touchscreen, and at least one depressible key disposed between the first display screen and the second display screen, the method comprising the step of displaying a virtual keypad on the second display screen that is contextual relative to the information displayed on the first display screen.

The method may further comprise activating and/or deactivating a key lock function with a key entry sequence that starts with the at least one depressible key.

The method may further comprise at least a second depressible key in which case the method may further comprise activating and/or deactivating a key lock function when the first depressible key and the second depressible key are depressed simultaneously.

The method may further comprise assigning navigation functions to the at least one depressible key.

The method may further comprise assigning a soft label that is displayed on the first display screen to the at least one depressible key.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a software product for executing the above method.

Further objects, features, advantages and properties of the wireless mobile terminal, method and software product according to the invention will become apparent from the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following detailed portion of the present description, the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a wireless mobile communication terminal according to a first embodiment of the invention with a telephone number entry application active, Fig. 2 is a front view of the wireless mobile communication terminal of Fig. 1 with a text entry/editing application active,

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the general architecture of a mobile phone in accordance with the present invention, Fig. 4 is a front view of the wireless mobile communication terminal of Fig. 1 with a music/multimedia player application active,

Fig. 5 is a front view of the wireless mobile communication terminal of Fig. 1 with a camera application active,

Fig. 6 is an elevated view of a second embodiment of the invention in the form of a so-called slide phone in a retracted position, Fig. 7 is an elevated view of the wireless mobile communication terminal of Fig. 6 in an extended position, and

Fig. 8 is an elevated view of a third embodiment of the invention in the form of a so-called fold phone in an open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, the device and the method according to the invention of a wireless mobile communication terminal in the form of a cellular/mobile phone will be described by the preferred embodiments.

Fig. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of a wireless mobile communication terminal according to the invention in the form of a mobile phone by a front view. The mobile phone 1 comprises a user interface having a housing 2, a first display screen 3a, an on/off button (not shown) , a speaker 5 (only the opening is shown) , and a microphone 6 (not visible in Fig. 1) . The mobile phone 1 according to the first preferred embodiment is adapted for communication via a cellular network, such as the GSM 900/1800 MHz network, but could just as well be adapted for use with a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, a 3G network, or a TCP/IP-based network to cover a possible VoIP-network (e.g. via WLAN, WIMAX or similar) or a mix of VoIP and Cellular such as UMA (Universal Mobile Access) .

The user interface also includes a second display screen 3b that is provided with touch sensitive capacities to form a touchscreen. The touchscreen 3b is used to display a virtual keypad 7b that in dependence of active applications and in dependence of the state of the phone displays a contextually relevant virtual keypad 7b. As shown in Fig. 1, the keypad 7b includes a group of numeric keys 8a, by means of which the user can enter a telephone number (the user has in the exemplary screenshot included in Fig. 1 entered a phone number). Each of the twelve numeric keys 8a is provided with a figure "0-9" or a sign "#" or "*", respectively.

As shown in Fig. 2, the keypad 7a includes a group of alpha keys 8b (keys having letters associated therewith) by means of which the user can write a text message (SMS, e-mail) , write a name (associated with the phone number) , etc. Each of the twenty-six alpha keys 8b is provided with a letter of the alphabet. Further keys with special signs and characters can be provided, and the number of alpha keys 8b can be further increased to cover for special signs or characters associated with languages other than English. The number of "alpha" keys can be adapted to the number of characters ϊn other alphabets than the latin alphabet.

A keypad 7a has additionally a second group of depressible keys comprising two softkeys 9, two call handling keys (send key 11 and end key 12), and a 5-way navigation key 10 (up, down, left, right and center: select/activate) . The function of the softkeys 9 depends on the state of the phone, and navigation in the menu is performed by using the navigation-key 10. The present function of the softkeys 9 is shown in separate fields (soft labels) in a dedicated area 4 of the display 3, just above the softkeys 9. The two call handling keys 11,12 are used for establishing a call or a conference call, terminating a call or rejecting an incoming call.

The navigation key 10 is a four- or five-way key which can be used for cursor movement, scrolling and selecting

(five-way key) and is placed centrally on the front surface of the phone between the first display screen 3a and the second display screen 3b with the virtual keypad

7b.

A releasable rear cover (not shown) gives access to the SIM card (not shown) , and the battery pack (not shown) in the back of the phone that supplies electrical power for the electronic components of the mobile phone 1.

The first display screen 3a is a flat display screen that is typically made of an LCD with back lighting, such as a

TFT matrix capable of displaying color images. The second display screen 3b is essentially identical in construction with the first display screen 3a with the addition of a touch sensitive layer on top of the LCD display screen. The touch sensitive layer can be of the capacitive type.

The keys 9,10,11,12 of the keypad 7a are depressible keys, such as keys that include a dome switch or other resilient member. These types of keys provide the user with a good tactile feedback, which increases user confidence.

The keypad 7a is placed just below the first display screen 3a, so that it is in close spatial relationship to the area 4 of the first display screen 3a that is dedicated to showing the soft labels of the softkeys 9.

The keypad 7b is placed just below the keypad 7a, so that effectively a single keypad is created that is composed of the keypad 7a and the virtual keypad 7b. Thus, the first display screen 3a and the second display screen 3b are placed in continuation of one another with the keypad 7a placed therebetween.

For applications where a shift between numerical input and alfa input is frequent, the virtual keypad may display a plurality of alphanumerical keys (not shown) .

Fig. 2 illustrates in block diagram form the general architecture of the mobile phone 1 constructed in accordance with the present invention. The processor 18 controls the operation of the terminal and has an integrated digital signal processor 17 and an integrated RAM 15. The processor 18 controls the communication with the cellular network via the transmitter/receiver circuit 19 and an internal antenna 20. A microphone 6 coupled to the processor 18 via voltage regulators 21 transforms the user's speech into analogue signals, the analogue signals formed thereby are A/D converted in an A/D converter (not shown) before the speech is encoded in the DSP 17 that is included in the processor 18. The encoded speech signal is transferred to the processor 18, which e.g. supports the GSM terminal software. The digital signal-processing unit 17 speech-decodes the signal, which is transferred from the processor 18 to the speaker 5 via a D/A converter (not shown) .

The voltage regulators 21 form the interface for the speaker 5, the microphone 6, the LED drivers 91 (for the LEDS backlighting the keypad 7 and the display 3) , the SIM card 22, battery 24, the bottom connector 27, the DC jack 31 (for connecting to the charger 33) and the audio amplifier 32 that drives the (hands-free) loudspeaker 25.

The processor 18 also forms the interface for some of the peripheral units of the device, including a (Flash) ROM memory 16, the first display screen 3a, the second display screen 3b (touchscreen - including virtual keypad 7b) , the keypad 7a, camera 26, a music/multimedia player 37 and a music reproduction unit 38.

Music in the form of songs is recorded as music data on the ROM 16. The recording medium is a flash ROM memory, for example in the form of an exchangeable memory card.

Fig. 4 shows the mobile phone 1 with the music/multimedia player application 37 active. The music/multimedia player 37 can be a multimedia player that can play media with another format than music, such as for example video data. The music/multimedia player 37 is part of the software on the mobile phone and provides a user interface for selecting, playing, pausing, stopping, forwarding, rewinding, and handling songs. The handling of songs includes saving songs or albums, renaming songs or albums, adding or modifying attributes associated with songs, creating playlists, and sorting songs in accordance with attributes associated with the songs.

The music reproduction unit 38 is part of the software of the mobile phone and is operable to reproduce music data that is stored in one of the memories or recording media of the mobile phone 1. The music data can be digitized music, preferably in a compressed format, such as the MP3 format or instrumental data, such as ringing tones in the form of MIDI files. Any other known music data format can be used in connection with the invention.

The reproduced music is routed to the earphones 35 when earphones are connected to the bottom connector 27, else the reproduced music is routed to the loudspeaker 25.

The music/multimedia player application shows (cf. of the screenshot in Fig. 4) the name of the artist, the name of the song, the lapsed time and remaining time of play and the volume setting on the first display screen 3a. When the music/multimedia player application 37 is active, the processor 18 displays on the touchscreen 3b a plurality of virtual keys that relate to the control of the music/multimedia player. These virtual keys include a play and pause key 8c, a key 8e for jumping to the next song in the playlist, a key 8f for jumping to the previous song in the playlist, a stop key 8d, and two volume control keys 8g.

According to an embodiment (not shown) the virtual keys displayed on the touchscreen 3b change to include other dedicated music/multimedia player menu related keys when the user accesses the menu related to the music/multimedia player by pressing the left softkey 9 "Options". In the music/multimedia player related menu the user can for example create playlists, modify attributes of songs, erase songs, etc.

Fig. 5 shows the mobile phone 1 with the camera application active. The camera application shows a preview on the first display screen 3a that corresponds to the image presently being captured by the digital camera 26. The camera application controls the operation of the digital camera 26 and stores captured images in one of the memories of a mobile phone, for example in the flash memory 16. When the camera application is active, the processor 18 shows a plurality of digital camera related virtual keys 8h..8n on the touchscreen 3b to form a dedicated digital camera related virtual keypad 7b. The keys of the virtual camera related keypad 7b include a virtual key 8h for controlling the operation of the flash, a virtual key 8i for controlling the operation of a red eye reduction function, a virtual key 8j for selecting and deselecting the fully automatic camera operation mode, a virtual key 8k for selecting a landscape mode, a virtual key 8m for selecting a portrait mode and a virtual key 8n for activating a self timer. The "shutter" key is according to an embodiment formed by one of the depressible keys on the keypad 7a, such as by the navigation plus select key 10, to take advantage of the tactile feedback of this key in the delicate tasks of timing the activation of the shutter key.

The mobile phone 1 has a key lock function. The key lock function is very useful, since the touchscreen 3b is very likely to pick up inadvertent input when for example the touchscreen 3b comes into contact with the inside of a pocket or bag. According to an embodiment the key lock function is activated by a rapid keystroke sequence starting with a depression of the left softkey 9 followed quickly by a depression of the right soft key 9. The same keystroke sequence is used for deactivating the key lock function, i.e. first the left softkey 9 is pressed followed quickly by a depression of the right soft key 9. The softkey labels may provide appropriate guidance to assist the user in the keystroke sequence.

Any other sequence of key presses can be used to activate and deactivate the key lock function. However, since the touchscreen is preferably completely deactivated when the key lock function is active, it is preferred that the first key stroke of the key lock activation sequence is one of the depressible keys of the keypad 7a.

Also a long depression of one of the hardkeys quickly followed by a short depression of the same depressible key can be used to activate or deactivate the keylock function. This embodiment is particularly useful in an embodiment that has only one depressible key.

According to an embodiment the key lock function is activated and deactivated by the simultaneous depression of a specific combination of two depressible keys of the keypad 7a.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention, which is eventually identical with the first embodiment shown in figures 1 to 5, except that the housing of the mobile phone 1 comprises a first housing part 2a that supports the first display screen 3a and the keypad 7a and a second housing part 2b that carries the second display screen 3b. The keypad includes in the second embodiment two additional keys: a menu key 41 for direct access to the menu and a clear key 42 for deleting items and back stepping in the menu structure. The housing parts 2a and 2b can slide relative to one another between a retracted position shown in Fig. 6, and an extended position shown in Fig. 7. In the retracted position of the second display screen 3b with the touch sensitive surface is covered and cannot be accessed by the user. In the extended position the second display screen 3b is accessible, and the keypad 7a is placed to just above the second display screen 3b with the virtual keypad 7b shown thereon.

Fig. 8 illustrates a third embodiment of the invention, which is essentially identical with the second embodiment shown in figures 5 and 6, except that the first housing part 2a is in a hinged connection with the second housing part 2b to form a so-called fold phone. In the shown open position the keypad 7a is placed just below the bottom of the first display screen 3a and just above the top of the second display screen 3b. Thus, the functional relationship between the depressible keys of the keypad 7a and the information shown on the first display screen 3a is immediately evident to a user, and the close proximity between the keypad 7a and the virtual keypad 7b gives the user effectively an experience of a single keypad, that has the advantage of the flexibility of touchscreen combined with the advantage of tactile feedback offered by depressible keys.

According to another embodiment (not shown) the touchscreen 3b is used as a touchpad for quickly selection an item from a short list or array shown on the touchscreen 3b by touching the desired item in the list, e.g. which SMS template to send from a list of SiMS templates, or which profile to activate from a list or array of profiles, thus replacing the "scroll-down-then- select" procedure of conventional mobile phone user interfaces .

According to another embodiment (not shown) the touchscreen 3b is used for browsing content, e.g. picture thumbnails shown on the touchscreen 3b, and pressing a thumbnail would display the image associated with the thumbnail on the upper display 3a in full screen; or listing messages in an inbox on the touchscreen 3b, and pressing a message on the touchscreen opens the message on the upper display 3a.

The invention has numerous advantages. Different embodiments or implementations may yield one or more of the following advantages. It should be noted that this is not an exhaustive list and there may be other advantages which are not described herein. One advantage of the invention is that a user is able to address often used functions or applications via a key with tactile feedback and less used dedicated functions or applications via a dedicated virtual keypad. Thus, the invention provides both fast intuitive and simple use of a device with a great variety of functions. Another advantage of the invention is that the depressible key provides an instrument for activating and deactivating a keylock function.

The term "comprising" as used in the claims does not exclude other elements or steps. The term "a" or "an" as used in the claims does not exclude a plurality. The single processor may fulfill the functions of several means recited in the claims.

The reference signs used in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope.

Although the present invention has been described in detail for purpose of illustration, it is understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and variations can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, although the invention has been described in terms of a mobile phone, it should be appreciated that the invention may also be applied to other types of wireless terminals, such as cameras, music/multimedia players, palmtop computers and the like.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A wireless mobile terminal comprising:

a housing with an operating face,

a first display screen and a second display screen,

said first display screen and second display screen being supported by said housing and disposed on said operating face,

said second display screen being a touch screen, and

at least one depressible key placed in said operating face between said first display screen and second display screen.

2. A terminal according to claim 1, wherein said at least one depressible key is a navigation key, a softkey, a send key and/or an end key.

3. A terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said at least one depressible key is a hardkey.

4. A terminal according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said at least one depressible key includes a dome switch.

5. A terminal according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the second display is a capacitive touch screen.

6. A terminal according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein said first display screen and said second display screen have a substantially rectangular contour and are disposed in line of one another on said operating face with the at least one depressible key disposed in said operating face in between the sides of the display screens that face one another .

7. A terminal according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein said housing comprises a first housing part and a second housing part that are movable relative to one another with said operating face distributed over said housing parts, said first display screen being supported by said first housing part and said second display screen being supported by said second housing part, and wherein said at least one depressible key is disposed between the first display screen and said second display screen when said housing parts assume a position in which both display screens are accessible.

8. A terminal according to any of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a processor coupled to said first display screen, to said second display screen and to said at least one depressible key.

9. A terminal according to claim 8, wherein said processor is configured to show a virtual keypad on the adaptive touch screen.

10. A terminal according to claim 9, wherein said processor is configured to adapt the type of virtual keypad to the state of the terminal.

11. A terminal according to claim 10, wherein said processor is configured to display a virtual keypad comprising a character set for text input when a text editing application is displayed on said first display screen.

12. A terminal according to claim 10 or 11, wherein said processor is configured to display a virtual keypad comprising a music/multimedia key layout when music/multimedia player application is being displayed on said first display screen.

13. A terminal according to any of claims 10 to 12, wherein said processor is configured to display a virtual keypad comprising numerical keys when an application requiring number entry is displayed on said first display screen.

14. A terminal according to any of claims 10 to 13, wherein said processor is configured to display a virtual keypad comprising camera keys when said terminal is in a camera mode.

15. A terminal according to any of claims 1 to 14, wherein said processor is configured to deactivate and/or activate a key lock function upon registering a key activation sequence that starts with said at least one depressible key.

16. A terminal according to any of claims 1 to 14, further comprising at least a second depressible key, wherein said processor is configured to deactivate and/or activate a key lock function upon registering a simultaneous depression of said at least two depressible keys .

17. A method for operating a user interface of a mobile wireless terminal that comprises a first display screen, a second display screen in the form of a touchscreen, and at least one depressible key disposed between said first display screen and set second display screen, said method comprising the steps of displaying a virtual keypad on said second display screen that is contextual relative to the information displayed on said first display screen.

18. A method according to claim 17, further comprising activating and/or deactivating a key lock function with a key entry sequence that starts with said at least one depressible key.

19. A method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein said terminal further comprises at least a second depressible key and the method further comprises activating and/or deactivating a key lock function when said first depressible key and set second depressible key are depressed simultaneously.

20. A method according to any of claims 17 to 19, further comprising assigning navigation functions to said at least one depressible key.

21. A method according to any of claims 17 to 20, further comprising assigning a soft label that is displayed on said first display screen to said at least one depressible key.

22. A software product for executing the method according to any of claims 17 to 21 when run on a processor.