Method of interacting with a scrollable area on a portable electronic device

1. A method of interacting with a portable electronic device having a touch-sensitive display, the method comprising:

displaying a user interface screen having a scrollable area on the touch-sensitive display;

displaying a transparent scrollbar which overlays elements of the user interface screen when a touch event is detected in a display area corresponding to the scrollable area;

determining a duration of the touch event;

decreasing a transparency level of the transparent scrollbar when the duration of the touch event is less than a threshold duration of a touch and hold gesture;

highlighting the transparent scrollbar when the duration of the touch event is greater than or equal to the threshold duration of the touch and hold gesture; and

redisplaying the user interface screen without the transparent scrollbar when the touch event ends.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transparent scrollbar overlays at least part of the scrollable area.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein only the elements of the user interface screen which are overlaid by the transparent scrollbar are redisplayed when the touch event ends.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the transparent scrollbar comprises decreasing the transparency level of the transparent scrollbar from a default level when the touch event is detected in the display area corresponding to the scrollable area, and wherein redisplaying the user interface screen comprises increasing the transparency level of the transparent scrollbar to the default level when the touch event ends.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transparent scrollbar is displayed adjacent to a location of the touch event.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

increasing a width of the transparent scrollbar over the duration of the touch event when the duration is less than the threshold duration.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

increasing the transparency level of the transparent scrollbar to the default level when the touch event ends.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transparent scrollbar is highlighted with an onscreen position indicator.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the highlighting comprises changing a colour of the transparent scrollbar from a first colour to a second colour.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the highlighting comprises changing an appearance of the transparent scrollbar from a first visual state to a second visual state different from the first visual state.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

performing an action associated with the transparent scrollbar when selection input is detected when the transparent scrollbar is highlighted.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the action is context-sensitive in dependence on the scrollable list, an item in the scrollable list underneath the highlighted transparent scrollbar, or both.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

scrolling content of the scrollable area at a first rate when the transparent scrollbar is not highlighted; and

scrolling content of the scrollable area at a second rate when the transparent scrollbar is highlighted.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second rate is greater than the first rate.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold duration is 400 milliseconds.

16. A method of interacting with a portable electronic device having a touch-sensitive display, the method comprising:

displaying a user interface screen having a scrollable area on the touch-sensitive display, the user interface screen having a transparent scrollbar which overlays elements of the scrollable area when a touch event is detected in a display area corresponding to the scrollable area;

detecting a touch event in a display area corresponding to the scrollable area;

determining a duration of the touch event;

decreasing a transparency level of the transparent scrollbar from a default level when the duration of the touch event is less than a threshold duration of a touch and hold gesture;

highlighting the transparent scrollbar when the duration of the touch event is greater than or equal to the threshold duration of the touch and hold gesture; and

increasing the transparency level of the transparent scrollbar to the default level when the touch event ends.

17. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a processor;

a touch-sensitive display having a touch-sensitive overlay coupled to the processor;

wherein the processor is configured for:

causing the display of a user interface screen having a scrollable area on the touch-sensitive display;

causing the display of a transparent scrollbar which overlays elements of the user interface screen when a touch event is detected in a display area corresponding to the scrollable area;

determining a duration of the touch event;

decreasing a transparency level of the transparent scrollbar when the duration of the touch event is less than a threshold duration of a touch and hold gesture;

highlighting the transparent scrollbar when the duration of the touch event is greater than or equal to the threshold duration of the touch and hold gesture; and

causing the redisplay of the user interface screen without the transparent scrollbar when the touch event ends.

18. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a processor;

a touch-sensitive display having a touch-sensitive overlay coupled to the processor;

wherein the processor is configured for:

causing the display of a user interface screen having a scrollable area on the touch-sensitive display, the user interface screen having a transparent scrollbar which overlays elements of the scrollable area when a touch event is detected in a display area corresponding to the scrollable area;

detecting a touch event in a display area corresponding to the scrollable area;

determining a duration of the touch event;

causing a transparency level of the transparent scrollbar to be decreased from a default level when the duration of the touch event is less than a threshold duration of a touch and hold gesture;

highlighting the transparent scrollbar when the duration of the touch event is greater than or equal to the threshold duration of the touch and hold gesture; and

causing the transparency level of the transparent scrollbar to be increased to the default level when the touch event ends.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transparency level of the transparent scrollbar is progressively decreased until the threshold duration is reached.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the transparency level of the transparent scrollbar is progressively decreased until the threshold duration is reached.