LOCATION OF A TOUCH-SENSITIVE CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS

1 . A method comprising:

detecting a touch on a touch-sensitive display at a location not associated with a control;

in response to detecting the touch, displaying a plurality of different controls;

identifying a selected control from the plurality of different controls;

displaying, in association with the location, the selected control as a displayed control and activating the displayed control.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein activating the displayed control comprises associating the location with at least one function associated with the displayed control.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a function associated with the displayed control when a subsequent touch associated with the displayed control is detected.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the control is a control panel.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying an option to locate the displayed control.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying a control in an alternate format prior to detecting the touch.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising moving the displayed control to another location

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising moving the displayed control to a second location, wherein the first location is located on a first segment of the touch-sensitive display and the second location is located on a second segment of the touch-sensitive display, wherein the first segment and the second segment are physically separated.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the displayed control is displayed in a reduced format when the control is not used for a predetermined period of time or after power down of the touch-sensitive display.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising

displaying a second control in response to detecting a second touch;

associating a first set of functions with the displayed control;

associating a second set of functions with the second control;

associating a third set of controls to a combination of touches associated with the displayed control and the second control.

11 . A computer-readable device having computer-readable code executable by at least one processor of the portable electronic device to perform the method of claim 1 .

12 . An electronic device comprising:

a touch-sensitive display;

a processor configured to:

detect a touch on a touch-sensitive display at a location not associated with a control;

in response to detecting the touch, display a plurality of different controls;

identify a selected control from the plurality of different controls;

display, in association with the location, the selected control as a displayed control;

activate the displayed control.

13 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to activate the displayed control by associating the location with at least one function associated with the displayed control.

14 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to perform a function associated with the displayed control when a subsequent touch associated with the displayed control is detected.

15 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the selected control is a control panel.

16 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to display an option to locate the displayed control.

17 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to display the plurality of different controls in an alternate format.

18 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to move the displayed control to another location in response to detecting a touch event.

19 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to move the displayed control to a second location, wherein the first location is located on a first segment of the touch-sensitive display and the second location is located on a second segment of the touch-sensitive display, wherein the first segment and the second segment are physically separated.

20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:

display a second control in response to detecting a second touch;

associate a first set of functions with the displayed control;

associate a second set of functions with the second control;

associate a third set of controls to a combination of touches associated with the displayed control and the second control;

wherein a first subset of the first set of functions is common with a first subset of the second set of functions, wherein a second subset of the first set of functions is different from a second subset of the second set of functions, and wherein display of the first control overlaps in time with display of the second control.