DEVICE AND METHOD FOR GESTURAL OPERATION OF CONTEXT MENUS ON A TOUCH-SENSITIVE DISPLAY

1 . A portable electronic device for gestural operation of context menus comprising:

a touch-sensitive sensor;

a display having the touch-sensitive sensor corresponding to at least a portion of the display, the display providing an activation image and a plurality of transient menu options arranged radially from the activation image in response to detecting a first activation at the touch-sensitive sensor, each transient menu option corresponding to a distinct device action; and

a processor coupled to the touch-sensitive sensor, the processor activating a device action corresponding to a particular transient menu option of the plurality of transient menu options in response to detecting a second activation at the touch-sensitive sensor that corresponds to the particular transient menu option.

2 . The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the touch-sensitive sensor has a planar configuration and overlays at least a portion of the display.

3 . The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the second activation detected at the touch-sensitive sensor is preceded by continuous contact to the touch-sensitive sensor from the first activation to the second activation.

4 . The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the second activation detected at the touch-sensitive sensor is preceded by linear contact to the touch-sensitive sensor between the first and second activations.

5 . The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first activation of the touch-sensitive sensor corresponds to the activation image of the display, and the second activation of the touch-sensitive sensor corresponds to the particular transient menu option of the display.

6 . The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transient menu options are arranged equidistant from the activation image.

7 . The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transient menu options are distributed evenly about the activation image.

8 . The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein at least one transient menu option of the plurality of transient menu options may provide a visual indicator to indicate a state of the distinct device action corresponding to the at least one transient menu option.

9 . The portable electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one transient menu option is associated with a single state among a plurality of possible states, and each state of the plurality of possible states corresponds to a different visual indicator.

10 . A method of a portable electronic device for gestural operation of context menus, the portable electronic device having a display, a touch-sensitive sensor corresponding to at least a portion of the display, and a processor, the method comprising:

detecting, at the touch-sensitive sensor, a first activation;

providing, at the display, an activation image and a plurality of transient menu options radially from the activation image;

detecting, at the touch-sensitive sensor, a second activation that corresponds to a particular transient menu option of the plurality of transient menu options; and

activating, by the processor, a device action corresponding to the particular transient menu option.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising detecting, at the touch-sensitive sensor, continuous contact from the first activation to the second activation before detecting the second activation.

12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising detecting, at the touch-sensitive sensor, linear contact between the first and second activations before detecting the second activation.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein providing an activation image and a plurality of transient menu options radially from the activation image includes providing the plurality of transient menu options equidistant from the activation image.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein providing an activation image and a plurality of transient menu options radially from the activation image includes distributing the plurality of transient menu options evenly about the activation image.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein providing, at the display, an activation image and a plurality of transient menu options radially from the activation image comprises:

providing, at the display, a visual indicator corresponding to at least one transient menu option of the plurality of transient menu options to indicate a state of the device action corresponding to the at least one transient menu option.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising providing, at the display, a second visual indicator corresponding to at least one transient menu option of the plurality of transient menu options to indicate a second state of the device action corresponding to the at least one transient menu option in response to detecting, at the touch-sensitive sensor, the second activation that corresponds to the particular transient menu option of the plurality of transient menu options.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising providing, at the display, a second visual indicator corresponding to at least one transient menu option of the plurality of transient menu options to indicate a second state of the device action corresponding to the at least one transient menu option in response to activating, by the processor, the device action corresponding to the particular transient menu option.