Controlling a computing device

1. A method of controlling a mobile telephony device comprising a touch-screen user interface, the method comprising:

monitoring a status of one or more applications having access to the touch-screen user interface of the mobile telephony device; and

in response to the monitoring indicating that a telephony application is displaying an in-call screen on the touch-screen user interface during a call conducted by the mobile telephony device, configuring at least one overlay portion over a part of the displayed in-call screen,

wherein configuring the at least one overlay portion comprises configuring one or more touch-sensitive screen regions which are operable to initiate one or more operations of the mobile telephony device in response to user input via the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions,

wherein the at least one overlay portion comprises:

a touch-sensitive overlay portion which comprises the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions and which is not visible above the part of the displayed in-call screen; and

a graphical overlay portion which is visible above the part of the displayed in-call screen and through the touch-sensitive overlay portion, which is not responsive to user input within the at least one overlay portion of the touch-screen user interface, and which depicts the appearance of the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions, and

wherein, when the size of the at least one overlay portion is varied in response to user input via the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions, the method comprises:

displaying, via the visible graphical overlay portion of the at least one overlay portion, an animation of the at least one overlay portion varying from its unvaried size to its varied size without changing the size of the visible graphical overlay portion;

reconfiguring the visible graphical overlay portion of the at least one overlay portion in its varied size; and

reconfiguring the invisible touch-sensitive overlay portion of the at least one overlay portion in its varied size after the reconfiguration of the visible graphical overlay portion.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions are operable to initiate the one or more operations of the mobile telephony devices independently of the telephony application in response to user input via the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein:

the user input via the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions comprises a sliding action in a first given direction over the at least one overlay portion beginning at one of the touch-sensitive screen regions, wherein the size of the at least one overlay portion is reduced in response to the sliding action, or

the user input via the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions comprises a sliding action in a second given direction over the at least one overlay portion beginning at one of the touch-sensitive screen regions, wherein the size of the at least one overlay portion is increased in response to the sliding action.

4. A method according to claim 1 , comprising varying a number of the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions within the at least one overlay portion in conjunction with varying the size of the at least one overlay portion.

5. A method according to claim 1 , comprising varying the location of the at least one overlay portion in response to user input via the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein: at least a first part of the graphical overlay portion comprises a translucent layer such that the part of the in-call screen displayed by the telephony application below the at least first part of the graphical overlay portion is partially visible through the at least first part of the graphical overlay portion, and/or

at least a second part of the graphical overlay portion comprises an opaque layer such that the part of the in-call screen displayed by the telephony application below the at least second part of the graphical overlay portion is not visible through the at least second part of the graphical overlay portion.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein an instruction comprises an instruction to open one or more of the following on the mobile telephony device:

a camera application;

a mapping application;

a file browsing application;

an address book application;

a web browser application;

a file download application;

a media player application;

a media editing application; and

a messaging application.

8. A method according to claim 7 , wherein the instruction comprises an instruction to open the web browser application at a predetermined network address.

9. A method according to claim 8 , wherein the predetermined network address comprises a Uniform Resource Locator including or based on an affiliate identifier.

10. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

allowing user input received via the touch-screen user interface outside the at least one overlay portion to pass to the telephony application for processing, and/or

allowing user input received via the touch-screen user interface within the at least one overlay portion to pass to the telephony application for processing.

11. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising removing the configuration of the at least one overlay portion over the part of the in-call screen displayed by the telephony application in response to the monitoring indicating that the telephony application has ceased to display the in-call screen on the touch-screen user interface.

12. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the status of the one or more applications is updated upon occurrence of a given operating system event of the mobile telephony device.

13. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the given operating system event is listed at a certain position of a task-list of the operating system of the mobile telephony device.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operations comprise sending an instruction to a software application different from the telephony application on the mobile telephony device.

15. A mobile telephony device comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

monitor a status of one or more applications having access to a touch-screen user interface of the mobile telephony device; and

in response to the monitoring indicating that a telephony application is displaying an in-call screen on the touch-screen user interface during a call conducted by the mobile telephony device, configure at least one overlay portion over a part of the displayed in-call screen,

wherein configuring the at least one overlay portion comprises configuring one or more touch-sensitive screen regions which are operable to initiate one or more operations of the mobile telephony device in response to user input via the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions,

wherein the at least one overlay portion comprises:

a touch-sensitive overlay portion which comprises the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions and which is not visible above the part of the displayed in-call screen; and

a graphical overlay portion which is visible above the part of the displayed in-call screen and through the touch-sensitive overlay portion, which is not responsive to user input within the at least one overlay portion of the touch-screen user interface, and which depicts the appearance of the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions, and

wherein, when the size of the at least one overlay portion is varied in response to user input via the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions, the processor is configured to:

display, via the visible graphical overlay portion of the at least one overlay portion, an animation of the at least one overlay portion varying from its unvaried size to its varied size without changing the size of the visible graphical overlay portion;

reconfigure the visible graphical overlay portion of the at least one overlay portion in its varied size; and

reconfigure the invisible touch-sensitive overlay portion of the at least one overlay portion in its varied size after the reconfiguration of the visible graphical overlay portion.

16. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, the computer readable instructions being executable by a mobile telephony device to cause the mobile telephony device to perform a method comprising:

monitoring a status of one or more applications having access to a touch-screen user interface of the mobile telephony device; and

in response to the monitoring indicating that a telephony application is displaying an in-call screen on the touch-screen user interface during a call conducted by the mobile telephony device, configuring at least one overlay portion over a part of the displayed in-call screen,

wherein configuring the at least one overlay portion comprises configuring one or more touch-sensitive screen regions which are operable to initiate one or more operations of the mobile telephony device in response to user input via the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions,

wherein the at least one overlay portion comprises:

a touch-sensitive overlay portion which comprises the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions and which is not visible above the part of the displayed in-call screen; and

a graphical overlay portion which is visible above the part of the displayed in-call screen and through the touch-sensitive overlay portion, which is not responsive to user input within the at least one overlay portion of the touch-screen user interface, and which depicts the appearance of the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions, and

wherein, when the size of the at least one overlay portion is varied in response to user input via the one or more touch-sensitive screen regions, the method comprises:

displaying, via the visible graphical overlay portion of the at least one overlay portion, an animation of the at least one overlay portion varying from its unvaried size to its varied size without changing the size of the visible graphical overlay portion;

reconfiguring the visible graphical overlay portion of the at least one overlay portion in its varied size; and

reconfiguring the invisible touch-sensitive overlay portion of the at least one overlay portion in its varied size after the reconfiguration of the visible graphical overlay portion.

17. A computer program product according to claim 16 , wherein the computer program product comprises application software for the mobile telephony device.