Patent Issued for Orientation-Based Touchscreen Display

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Journal of Engineering -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by VerticalNews journalists, a patent by the inventors Chan, Michael (San Francisco, CA); Pelly, Nicholas J. (San Francisco, CA), filed on September 30, 2011, was cleared and issued on December 4, 2012.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 8325151, is Google Inc. (Mountain View, CA).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: "Mobile devices such as cellular telephones have become prominent. Many cellular telephones include devices such as accelerometers to detect motion of the cellular telephone and touchscreens for displaying graphical user interfaces and receiving user input."

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, VerticalNews editors also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent: "In one example, a method includes determining a physical orientation of a touchscreen device and determining a context for an application executed by an external device to which the touchscreen device is communicatively coupled, wherein the context corresponds to information that is generated based on a user's interaction with the application. When the touchscreen device is physically oriented in a first orientation and when the context comprises a first context, the method includes displaying, by the touchscreen device, a first graphical user interface configured to receive a first type of user input and upon receiving user input of the first type, providing the received user input of the first type to the external device. When the touchscreen device is physically oriented in a second, different orientation and when the context comprises a second context, the method includes displaying, by the touchscreen device, a second, different graphical user interface configured to receive a second, different type of user input and upon receiving user input of the second type, providing the received user input of the second type to the external device.

"In another example, a touchscreen device includes a touchscreen, an orientation sensing unit configured to determine a physical orientation of the touchscreen device, a context determination unit configured to determine a context of an application executed by an external device to which the touchscreen device is communicatively coupled, wherein the context corresponds to information that is generated based on a user's interaction with the application, a computer-readable medium configured to store configuration data that associates a number of orientations in which the touchscreen device can be physically oriented and contexts for one or more applications executed by the external device with respective graphical user interfaces, a control unit configured to receive from the orientation sensing unit the determined orientation of the touchscreen device and to receive the context for the application executed by the external device, and means for selecting the graphical user interface that is associated with the determined orientation and the context for the application. The control unit is configured to cause the touchscreen to display the selected graphical user interface associated with the determined orientation and the context for the application. The touchscreen device also includes an external device interface configured to send input received via the selected graphical user interface displayed on the touchscreen to the external device.

"In another example, a computer-readable storage medium contains, e.g., is encoded with, instructions that, when executed, cause a processor of a touchscreen device to determine a physical orientation for the touchscreen device, determine a context for an application executed by an external device to which the touchscreen device is communicatively coupled, wherein the context corresponds to information that is generated based on a user's interaction with the application, when the touchscreen device is physically oriented in a first orientation and when the context comprises a first context, cause a touchscreen of the touchscreen device to display a first graphical user interface configured to receive a first type of user input and upon receiving user input of the first type, the instructions cause the processor to provide the received user input of the first type to the external device, and when the touchscreen device is physically oriented in a second, different orientation and when the context comprises a second context, cause the touchscreen to display a second, different graphical user interface configured to receive a second, different type of user input and upon receiving user input of the second type, the instructions cause the processor to provide the received user input of the second type to the external device.

"The techniques of this disclosure may provide one or more advantages. For example, the techniques of this disclosure may allow a touchscreen device, such as a cellular telephone, to act as both a keyboard and a mouse, depending on an orientation of the device and a context for an application controlled by the touchscreen device. The touchscreen device may automatically switch between acting as a keyboard and as a mouse when the device is rotated between portrait and landscape physical orientations, such that a user may switch the use of the touchscreen device between a keyboard and a mouse simply by rotating the device. Likewise, in other examples, other input modes may be associated with other physical orientations of the touchscreen device.

"The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims."

For more information, see this patent: Chan, Michael; Pelly, Nicholas J.. Orientation-Based Touchscreen Display. U.S. Patent Number 8325151, filed September 30, 2011, and issued December 4, 2012. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=55&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=2728&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=20121204.PD.&OS=ISD/20121204&RS=ISD/20121204

Keywords for this news article include: Google Inc.

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