Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for supplementing a keyboard and for helping a user operate an electronic device

US5982351A · kind A · utility

20Cited by
10References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 30, 1997
Grant dateNov 9, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 30, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F3/04895
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In an electronic device having a keyboard (120) and a display (116), a processing system (106) displays on the display a message entered through the keyboard and selects a supplemental mode, in response to entry of a first predetermined key sequence by a user. The supplemental mode is selected in accordance with the first predetermined key sequence, from at least one of a group of supplemental modes included in the electronic device. The group of supplemental modes comprise an acronym mode (200), a supplemental scrolling keyboard mode (300), a predictive character pairing mode (301), a predictive menuing mode (400), and a bi-directional delete mode (500). The electronic device operates in accordance with the supplemental mode until an occurrence of at least one of (a) the user entering a second predetermined key sequence and (b) the supplemental mode executing to completion.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.