Mobile telephone with improved man machine interface
The present invention envisages a GSM mobile telephone in which a line of icons is displayed on a display. As a user navigates through the displayed line of icons, the positions of the icons alter so that the selectable icon moves to the head of the line. This approach makes it very clear (i) which icon is selectable at any time and (ii) where that icon sits in relation to other icons at the same functional level (e.g. only first level icons will be present in one line). First level icons typically relate to the following functions: phonebook; messages; call register; counters; call diversion; telephone settings; network details; voice mail and IrDA activation.
1. A mobile telephone comprising: a display operable to display a plurality of icons, each icon representing an operation or set of operations; a memory in communication with a graphical user interface, wherein the graphical user interface controls the display, and wherein the memory stores data representing each of the plurality of icons; and a navigational tool for selecting an icon out of the plurality of icons shown on the display, wherein the graphical user interface controls the display to alternately display an idle screen for a first timed period and an alert screen for a second timed period such that the idle screen repeatedly alternates with the alert screen while the mobile telephone receives an alert.
2. The mobile telephone of claim 1 , wherein the alert screen comprises one of a Missed SMS alert, a Voice Mail alert and a Missed Call alert.
3. The mobile telephone of claim 1 , wherein the navigational tool is one of a joystick and a rocker switch.
4. The mobile telephone of claim 1 , wherein the alert screen and the idle screen repeatedly alternate in a predetermined cycle until the navigational tool is actuated.
5. The mobile telephone of claim 4 , wherein when the navigational tool is actuated, the graphical user interface displays on the display a static alert screen displaying one icon for every pending event.
6. The mobile telephone of claim 1 , wherein in response to a user's accessing the alert screen, the graphical user interface displays on the display one or more menus that allow the user to respond to the alert.
7. The mobile telephone of claim 1 , wherein each of the idle screen and the alert screen are alternately displayed for predetermined time periods.
8. A method for alerting a user of a mobile telephone comprising: displaying on a display of the mobile telephone a plurality of icons on an idle screen, each icon representing an operation or set of operations; and displaying on the display of the mobile telephone an alert screen displaying an alert, wherein the idle screen and the alert screen are alternately displayed for predetermined timed periods such that the idle screen repeatedly alternates with the alert screen at a predetermined rate while the mobile telephone receives an alert.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising providing control of the display through a navigational tool of the mobile telephone.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising, in response to actuation of the navigation tool, displaying on the display a static alert screen displaying one icon for every pending event.
11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising, in response to a user's accessing the alert screen, displaying on the display one or more menus that allow the user to respond to the alert.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the navigational tool is one of a joystick and a rocker switch.
13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the alert screen comprises one of a Missed SMS alert, a Voice Mail alert and a Missed Call alert.
14. A mobile telephone comprising: a display operable to display a first screen showing plurality of icons, each icon representing an operation or set of operations; and a navigational tool for selecting an icon out of the plurality of icons shown on the display, wherein the display is also operable to display a second screen alerting the user that the mobile telephone has received an alert, and to repeatedly alternate the first screen displayed for a first timed period with the second screen displayed for a second timed period while the mobile telephone receives the alert.
15. The mobile telephone of claim 14 , wherein the navigational tool is one of a joystick and a rocker switch.
16. The mobile telephone of claim 14 , wherein the second screen displays at least one of a Missed SMS alert, a Voicemail alert and a Missed Call alert.
17. The mobile telephone of claim 14 , wherein the first screen and the second screen repeatedly alternate at a predetermined rate until the navigational tool is actuated, and when the navigational tool is actuated, the display is static and shows only the second screen.
18. The mobile telephone of claim 17 , wherein when the navigational tool is actuated, the second screen shows one icon for each pending event.
19. The mobile telephone of claim 14 , wherein when the navigational tool is actuated, the display displays one or more menus that allow the user to respond to the alert.
20. The mobile telephone of claim 14 , wherein when the navigational tool is actuated, the second screen shows one icon for each alert received by the mobile telephone.