Dynamic theme color palette generation

1. A method of changing a theme of a user interface of a computer system comprising the steps of:

receiving input via the computer system identifying a color image to display as a component of the user interface, said color image for defining a color palette of the theme for rendering elements of the user interface on a color display of the computer system, the color image comprising a background image or screen saver image;

automatically analysing the color image using the computer system to determine at least one predominant color in response to the input identifying the color image;

automatically defining the color palette based on the at least one predominant color using the computer system in response to the step of analysing; and

automatically rendering elements of the user interface on the color display in accordance with the color palette, the elements comprising one or more of icons, cursors, object borders and shadowing, menus, lists, text boxes, input boxes, push buttons, radio buttons, scrollbars and toolbars thereby to color coordinate the elements to the color image.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising a step of storing the color palette to a persistent store of the computer system for subsequent use.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of analysing comprises performing statistical analysis of data of the color image to determine said at least one predominant color.

4. The method of claim 1 comprising a step of determining two or more palette candidates using the computer system for selection by a user to define the color palette.

5. The method of claim 1 comprising a step of storing the color image to the computer system.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of storing is performed in response to a user's browsing of a Web page.

7. A computer system for changing a theme of a user interface, the system comprising:

a color display; and

a processor and memory configured to dynamically generate a color palette for rendering elements of the theme in response to input identifying a color image to display as a component of the user interface with which to define the color palette, the elements comprising one or more of icons, cursors, object borders and shadowing, menus, lists, text boxes, input boxes, push buttons, radio buttons, scrollbars and toolbars thereby to color coordinate the elements to the color image;

wherein the processor and memory are configured to:

receive an identification of an image with which to define the color palette, the identification of an image comprising a user input to select the image to display as a background image or screen saver image of the user interface; and

automatically analyse the color image to determine at least one predominant color for defining the color palette.

8. The computer system of claim 7 wherein the processor and memory are configured to store the color palette to a persistent store of the computer system for subsequent use.

9. The computer system of claim 7 wherein the processor and memory are configured to perform statistical analysis of data of the image to determine said at least one predominant color.

10. The computer system of claim 7 wherein the processor and memory are configured to determine two or more palette candidates for selection by a user to define the color palette.

11. The computer system of claim 7 wherein the processor and memory are configured to store the color image to the computer system.

12. The computer system of claim 7 wherein the system is a wireless mobile device.

13. A computer readable memory having recorded thereon instructions for configuring a processor, when executed, to change a theme of a user interface of a computer system, the instructions configuring the processor to:

receive input via the computer system identifying a color image to display as a component of the user interface, said color image for defining a color palette of the theme for rendering elements of the user interface on a color display of the computer system, the color image comprising a background image or a screen saver image;

analyse the color image using the computer system to determine at least one predominant color;

define the color palette using the computer system in response to the step of analysing; and

render elements of the user interface on the color display in accordance with the color palette, the elements comprising one or more of icons, cursors, object borders and shadowing, menus, lists, text boxes, input boxes, push buttons, radio buttons, scrollbars and toolbars thereby to color coordinate the elements to the color image;

automatically in response to the input identifying the color image to automatically generate the color palette and change the theme.

14. The computer readable memory of claim 13 wherein the instructions further configure the processor to store the color palette to a persistent store of the computer system for subsequent use.

15. The computer readable memory of claim 13 wherein the instructions further configure the processor to perform statistical analysis of data of the color image to determine said at least one predominant color.

16. The computer readable memory of claim 13 wherein the instructions further configure the processor to determine two or more palette candidates using the computer system for selection by a user to define the color palette.

17. The computer readable memory of claim 13 wherein the instructions further configure the processor to store the color image to the computer system.