Patent · US Active

Handheld electronic device with text disambiguation

US7477238B2 · kind B2 · utility

283Cited by
3References
7Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 31, 2004
Grant dateJan 13, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 13, 2026

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F3/0237
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. Additionally, the device can facilitate the selection of variants by displaying a graphic of a special <NEXT> key of the keypad that enables a user to progressively select variants generally without changing the position of the user's hands on the device. If a field into which text is being entered is determined to be a special input field, a disambiguated result can be sought first from a predetermined data source pr…

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