Method and system for previewing characters based on finger position on keyboard

1. A method for operating an electronic device having a physical keyboard with a plurality of physical keys, the physical keyboard capable of detecting a touch of at least one physical key without a depression required for entry of a character associated with the physical key and that meets or exceeds a preview threshold, the method comprising:

detecting a first touch of a first physical key associated with a first character on the physical keyboard without the depression required for entry of the first character and that meets or exceeds the preview threshold;

detecting a second touch of a second physical key corresponding to a second character on the physical keyboard without the depression required for entry of the second character and that meets or exceeds the preview threshold;

determining an order for previewing the first and second characters in response to the detecting, wherein determining the order for previewing the first and second characters comprises using a word prediction engine to identify the word prediction candidate based on the first character, the second character, and the previously-entered characters, wherein the order for previewing the first and second characters is an order of the first and second characters in the word prediction candidate; and

displaying a preview of the first and second characters in the determined order next to previously-entered characters in an information entry field of the electronic device, the previously-entered characters entered with a depression required for entry, the preview of the first and second characters and the previously-entered characters forming a single word prediction candidate.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

detecting a third touch of a third physical key associated with a third character on the physical keyboard without the depression required for entry of the third character and that meets or exceeds the preview threshold; and

when the third key is associated with a previously-entered character, ignoring the third character when determining the order for previewing the first and second characters.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein whether the preview threshold is met or exceeded is evaluated on at least one of:

a depression amount of a physical key less than the amount that is required for entry of the character associated with the key; and

a presence on a physical key without a depression of the physical key.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the preview threshold comprises at least one of a time threshold, a force threshold, an actuation threshold, and a capacitive threshold associated with a touch.

5. An electronic device having a display and a physical keyboard with a plurality of physical keys, the physical keyboard capable of detecting a touch of at least one physical key without a depression required for entry of a character associated with the physical key and that meets or exceeds a preview threshold, comprising:

a memory containing instructions; and

one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to:

detect a first touch of a first physical key associated with a first character on the physical keyboard without the depression required for entry of the first character and that meets or exceeds the preview threshold;

detect a second touch of a second physical key corresponding to a second character on the physical keyboard without the depression required for entry of the second character and that meets or exceeds the preview threshold;

determine an order for previewing the first and second characters in response to the detection, wherein determining the order for previewing the first and second characters comprises using a word prediction engine to identify the word prediction candidate based on the first character, the second character, and the previously-entered characters, wherein the order for previewing the first and second characters is an order of the first and second characters in the word prediction candidate; and

display a preview of the first and second characters in the determined order next to previously-entered characters in an information entry field of the electronic device, the previously-entered characters entered with a depression required for entry, the preview of the first and second characters and the previously-entered characters forming a single word prediction candidate.

6. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to:

detect a third touch of a third physical key associated with a third character on the physical keyboard without the depression required for entry of the third character and that meets or exceeds the preview threshold; and

when the third key is associated with a last-entered character, ignore the third character when determining the order for previewing the first and second characters.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, when executed by a computing device having a physical keyboard with a plurality of physical keys, the physical keyboard capable of detecting a touch of at least one physical key without a depression required for entry of a character associated with the physical key and that meets or exceeds a preview threshold, that cause the device to:

detect a first touch of a first physical key associated with a first character on the physical keyboard without the depression required for entry of the first character and that meets or exceeds the preview threshold;

detect a second touch of a second physical key corresponding to a second character on the physical keyboard without the depression required for entry of the second character and that meets or exceeds the preview threshold;

determine an order for previewing the first and second characters in response to the detection, wherein determining the order for previewing the first and second characters comprises using a word prediction engine to identify the word prediction candidate based on the first character, the second character, and the previously-entered characters, wherein the order for previewing the first and second characters is an order of the first and second characters in the word prediction candidate; and

displaying a preview of the first and second characters in the determined order next to previously-entered characters in an information entry field of the device, the previously-entered characters entered with the depression required for entry, the preview of the first and second characters and the previously-entered characters forming a single word prediction candidate.