System for providing a user interface for use by portable and other devices

1. A method of processing a touch input by a portable terminal, the method comprising:

detecting a hover input of a stylus physically separated from a touch screen of the portable terminal without physical contact with the touch screen;

detecting a first touch input of a user's finger concurrent with the hover input, the finger being in physical contact with the touch screen;

calculating a first distance between positions of the hover input and the first touch input;

detecting a second touch input of the user's finger concurrent with the hover input, the finger being in physical contact with the touch screen;

calculating a second distance between positions of the hover input and the second touch input;

selecting a distance from the first distance and the second distance by comparing the first distance and the second distance;

comparing the selected distance with a predetermined threshold; and

performing one of:

(a) ignoring at least one of the first touch input and the second touch input in response to detecting the selected distance exceeds the threshold, and

(b) processing at least one of the first touch input and the second touch input, in response to detecting the selected distance is within the threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 , further including selecting and executing an object corresponding to at least one of the first touch input and the second touch input.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected distance is a length between the hover input and one of the first touch input and the second touch input.

4. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium embodied with program instructions for causing a processor to execute a method in a device, the method comprising:

detecting a hover input of a stylus physically separated from a touch screen of the device without physical contact with the touch screen;

detecting a first touch input of a user's finger concurrent with the hover input, the finger being in physical contact with the touch screen;

calculating a first distance between positions of the hover input and the first touch input;

detecting a second touch input of the user's finger concurrent with the hover input, the finger being in physical contact with the touch screen;

calculating a second distance between positions of the hover input and the second touch input;

selecting a distance from the first distance and the second distance by comparing the first distance and the second distance;

comparing the selected distance with a predetermined threshold; and

performing one of:

(a) ignoring at least one of the first touch input and the second touch input in response to detecting the selected distance exceeds the threshold, and

(b) processing at least one of the first touch input and the second touch input, in response to detecting the selected distance is within the threshold.

5. A portable terminal comprising a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium embodied with program instructions for causing a processor to execute a method in a device, the method comprising:

detecting a hover input of a stylus physically separated from a touch screen of the device without physical contact with the touch screen;

detecting a first touch input of a user's finger concurrent with the hover input, the finger being in physical contact with the touch screen;

calculating a first distance between positions of the hover input and the first touch input;

detecting a second touch input of the user's finger concurrent with the hover input, the finger being in physical contact with the touch screen;

calculating a second distance between positions of the hover input and the second touch input;

selecting a distance from the first distance and the second distance by comparing the first distance and the second distance;

comparing the selected distance with a predetermined threshold; and

performing one of:

(a) ignoring at least one of the first touch input and the second touch input in response to detecting the selected distance exceeds the threshold, and

(b) processing at least one of the first touch input and the second touch input, in response to detecting the selected distance is within the threshold.

6. A portable terminal for processing a touch input, the portable terminal comprising:

a touch screen configured to display input data and detect a hover input concurrent with a first touch input and a second touch input of a user's fingers being in physical contact with the touch screen, said hover input comprising at least one input of a stylus physically separated from the touch screen without physical contact with the touch screen; and

a controller configured to:

calculate a first distance between positions of the hover input and the first touch input in response to detection of the first touch input concurrent with the hover input;

calculate a second distance between positions of the hover input and the second touch input in response to detection of the second touch input concurrent with the hover input;

selecting a distance from the first distance and the second distance by comparing the first distance and the second distance;

compare the selected distance with a predetermined threshold; and

perform one of: (a) ignoring at least one of the first touch input and the second touch input in response to detecting the selected distance exceeds the threshold, and (b) processing at least one of the first touch input and the second touch input, in response to detecting the selected distance is within the threshold.

7. The portable terminal of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to select and execute an object corresponding to at least one of the first touch input and the second touch input.