Handheld electronic device and associated method providing availability data in a messaging environment

1. A method of representing availability of a first device, the first device being a handheld electronic device having a wireless communication capability, the method comprising:

detecting an activity on the first device;

determining, for the detected activity, that a current availability level is to be altered by a value corresponding to a plurality of levels regardless of what the current availability level is, the current availability level being one of at least three availability levels;

determining the current availability level for the first device;

altering the current availability level by the plurality of levels according to the value; and

providing an indication of a new availability level to enable other devices to alter at least one variable icon in a graduated fashion to indicate the new availability level of the first device by filling in at least a portion of the at least one variable icon.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected activity comprises an expiration of a predetermined period of time.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected activity comprises a telephone event on the first device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected activity comprises an event affecting the wireless communication capability of the first device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication is received by a second device and the second device outputs an output representative of at least a portion of said new availability level.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected activity comprises a relative absence of activity on the first device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected activity comprises a transmission of data between the first device and another device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected activity comprises an existence of a stored predetermined event that is scheduled to occur at a predetermined time and the method further comprises detecting an occurrence of the predetermined time.

9. The method of claim 5 , further comprising outputting as the output a stepped indication representative of an activity level from among at least three predetermined stepped activity levels ranging between a level of at least substantially present activity on the first device and a level of no activity within a preceding predetermined period of time on the first device.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the current availability value is representative of a level of non-availability of the first device from among a plurality of levels of non-availability of the first device.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the level on non-availability of the first device corresponds to an occurrence of a telephone event on the first device.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the level on non-availability of the first device corresponds to the first device being logged out of a service.

13. A non-transitory machine readable medium stored on a handheld electronic device with wireless communication capability storing instructions which, when executed on the handheld electronic device cause the handheld electronic device to perform operations comprising:

detecting an activity on the handheld electronic device;

determining, for the detected activity, that a current availability level is to be altered by a value corresponding to a plurality of levels regardless of what the current availability level is, the current availability level being one of at least three availability levels;

determining the current availability level for the handheld electronic device;

altering the current availability level by the plurality of levels according to the value; and

providing an indication of a new availability level to enable other devices to alter at least one variable icon in a graduated fashion to indicate the new availability level of the handheld electronic device by filling in at least a portion of the at least one variable icon.

14. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said detected activity comprises an expiration of a predetermined period of time.

15. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said detected activity comprises a telephone event on the handheld electronic device.

16. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said detected activity comprises an event affecting the wireless communication capability of the handheld electronic device.

17. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said operations further comprise outputting a visual output of at least one of a descriptive icon, the variable icon, and a string value.

18. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said detected activity comprises a relative absence of activity on the handheld electronic device.

19. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said detected activity comprises a transmission of data between the handheld electronic device and another electronic device.

20. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said detected activity comprises an existence of a stored predetermined event that is scheduled to occur at a predetermined time and said operations further comprise detecting an occurrence of the predetermined time.

21. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said operations further comprise outputting a stepped indication representative of an activity level from among at least three predetermined stepped activity levels ranging between a level of at least substantially present activity on the handheld electronic device and a level of no activity within a preceding predetermined period of time on the handheld electronic device.

22. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the current availability value is representative of a level of non-availability of the handheld electronic device from among a plurality of levels of non-availability of the handheld electronic device.

23. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 22 , wherein said level on non-availability of the handheld electronic device corresponds to an occurrence of a telephone event on the handheld electronic device.

24. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 22 , wherein said level on non-availability of the handheld electronic device corresponds to the handheld electronic device being logged out of a service.

25. A handheld electronic device with a wireless communication capability comprising:

a processor apparatus including a processor and a memory;

an input apparatus;

an output apparatus; and

the memory including a routine stored therein, the routine being operable to:

detect an activity on the handheld electronic device;

determine, for the detected activity, that a current availability level is to be altered by a value corresponding to a plurality of levels regardless of what the current availability level is, the current availability level being one of at least three availability levels;

determine the current availability level for the handheld electronic device;

alter the current availability level by the plurality of levels according to the value; and

provide an indication of a new availability level to enable other devices to alter at least one variable icon in a graduated fashion to indicate the new availability level of the handheld electronic device by filling in at least a portion of the at least one variable icon.

26. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the detected activity comprises an expiration of a predetermined period of time.

27. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the detected activity comprises a telephone event on the handheld electronic device.

28. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the detected activity comprises an event affecting the wireless communication capability of the handheld electronic device.

29. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the routine is further operable to output a visual output of at least one of a descriptive icon, the variable icon, and a string value.

30. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the detected activity comprises a relative absence of activity on the handheld electronic device.

31. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the detected activity comprises a transmission of data between the handheld electronic device and another electronic device.

32. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the detected activity comprises an existence of a stored predetermined event that is scheduled to occur at a predetermined time and the routine is further operable to detect an occurrence of the predetermined time.

33. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the indication comprises a stepped indication representative of an activity level from among at least three predetermined stepped activity levels ranging between a level of at least substantially present activity on the handheld electronic device and a level of no activity within a preceding predetermined period of time on the handheld electronic device.

34. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the current availability level is representative of a level of non-availability of the handheld electronic device from among a plurality of levels of non-availability of the handheld electronic device.

35. The handheld electronic device of claim 34 , wherein the level on non-availability of the handheld electronic device corresponds to an occurrence of a telephone event on the handheld electronic device.

36. The handheld electronic device of claim 34 , wherein the level on non-availability of the handheld electronic device corresponds to the handheld electronic device being logged out of a service.

37. The method of claim 5 , further comprising outputting as the output a visual output of at least one of a descriptive icon, the variable icon, and a string value.

38. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected activity comprises a profile change on the handheld electronic device.

39. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the detected activity comprises a profile change on the handheld electronic device.

40. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the detected activity comprises a profile change on the handheld electronic device.

41. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected activity relates to a calendar event on the handheld electronic device.

42. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the detected activity relates to a calendar event on the handheld electronic device.

43. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the detected activity relates to a calendar event on the handheld electronic device.

44. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected activity comprises composition of a message on the handheld electronic device.

45. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the detected activity comprises composition of a message on the handheld electronic device.

46. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the detected activity comprises composition of a message on the handheld electronic device.

47. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected activity comprises reading a message on the handheld electronic device.

48. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the detected activity comprises reading a message on the handheld electronic device.

49. The handheld electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the detected activity comprises reading a message on the handheld electronic device.