METHOD AND APPARATUS PERTAINING TO THE PRESENTATION OF SCROLLING ICONS

1 . A method of operating a portable electronic device comprising:

applying at least one prioritization metric to select some icons of a plurality of icons to provide selected icons;

scrolling a display of a plurality of icons;

while scrolling the display of the plurality of icons:

displaying the selected icons of the plurality of icons in a highlighted form; and

displaying the non-selected icons of the plurality of icons in a non-highlighted form.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of icons are displayed in a non-sequential order of presentation relative to the at least one prioritization metric.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the prioritization metric represents, at least in part, usage of an application associated with each icon of the plurality of icons.

4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the prioritization metric includes at least one of:

a frequency of use of the associated application;

a run time for the associated application; and

an amount of time lapsed since the associated application was launched.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the non-highlighted form comprises at least one of:

a reduced-color form;

a grayscale form;

a reduced-resolution form;

a reduced clarity;

a reduced size;

an altered depth;

an altered relative orientation; and

a modified transparency.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the highlighted form comprises a default presentation of the icon.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

halting scrolling the display of the plurality of icons; and

within a predetermined time of halting scrolling the display of the plurality of icons, automatically displaying all presently-displayed icons of the plurality of icons in a default form.

8 . The method of claim 1 wherein the highlighted form comprises a form that supplements a default presentation of the icon.

9 . The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the icons identify a corresponding application.

10 . A portable electronic device comprising:

a display;

a control circuit operably coupled to the display and configured to:

apply at least one prioritization metric to select some icons of a plurality of icons to provide selected icons;

scroll a display of a plurality of icons;

while scrolling the display of the plurality of icons:

display the selected icons of the plurality of icons in a highlighted form; and

display the non-selected icons of the plurality of icons in a non-highlighted form.

11 . The portable electronic device of claim 10 wherein the control circuit is configured to display the plurality of icons in a non-sequential order of presentation relative to the at least one prioritization metric

12 . The portable electronic device of claim 10 wherein the prioritization metric represents, at least in part, usage of an application associated with each icon of the plurality of icons.

13 . The portable electronic device of claim 12 wherein the prioritization metric represents, at least in part, usage of an application.

14 . The portable electronic device of claim 10 wherein the non-highlighted form comprises at least one of:

a reduced-color form;

a grayscale form;

a reduced-resolution form;

a reduced clarity;

a reduced size;

an altered depth;

an altered relative orientation; and

a modified transparency.

15 . The portable electronic device of claim 10 wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

halt scrolling the display of the plurality of icons; and

within a predetermined time of halting scrolling the display of the plurality of icons, automatically display all presently-displayed icons of the plurality of icons in a default form.

16 . A non-transitory computer-readable media having stored therein computer instructions, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

apply at least one prioritization metric to select some icons of a plurality of icons to provide selected icons;

scroll a display of a plurality of icons;

while scrolling the display of the plurality of icons:

display the selected icons of the plurality of icons in a highlighted form; and

display the non-selected icons of the plurality of icons in a non-highlighted form.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 wherein the prioritization metric represents, at least in part, usage of an application associated with each icon of the plurality of icons.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 wherein the computer instructions are further configured to cause the computer to:

halt scrolling the display of the plurality of icons; and

within a predetermined time of halting scrolling the display of the plurality of icons, automatically display all presently-displayed icons of the plurality of icons in a default form.