Handheld electronic device and associated method providing time data in a messaging environment

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to handheld electronic devices and, more particularly, to an electronic handheld device and to a method of providing information representative of the 5 times of certain communications in a messaging environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE TECHNIQUE

Numerous types of handheld electronic devices are known. Examples of 10 handheld electronic devices include, for example, personal data assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cell phones, and the like. It has been intended that such handheld electronic devices are generally portable, and therefore relatively small. Many handheld electronic devices also have the feature of being of wireless communication capability, although many such handheld electronic devices 15 are independent devices that are functional without communication with other devices. With advances in technology, handheld electronic devices are being configured to include a greater number of features while having relatively smaller form factors.

Electronic devices, including handheld electronic devices, are capable of numerous types of communication. One type of communication is "messaging" and one type of messaging 20 is "instant messaging", which allows a first device to send a message on a more or less instant basis to a second device. In most of all instant messaging, a given electronic device is provided with an interface that outputs the various communications that have occurred between the electronic device and another electronic device during a messaging "conversation." A sample of the output on an electronic device that is representative of the various communications that have occurred during a conversation can be as follows:

> Hello honey, how was your day?

<Fatal! Larry put me in an embarrassing situation in front of everyone! 30

> What a fool!

<Yes, but later I knocked him on his back with a karate punch!

☺

> You did well.

35

In this example, incoming messages have been indicated with the mathematical symbol of greater than ">", and the output margins have been indicated by a mathematical symbol of less than "<". If the conversation continues quickly, that is, if it is substantially uninterrupted, it is not necessary that a time stamp appears in the messages. In the environment of an electronic handheld device, it would be desirable to avoid unnecessary timestamps and other unnecessary exits, since they occupy too much valuable space on the limited display screen of the handheld electronic device.

In some messaging circumstances, however, it may be desirable that information regarding certain aspects of conversation timing be available to a user. However,

The limited space available on a display screen of a handheld electronic device has made it difficult to find a solution. It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved handheld electronic device and an associated method that provides time data in a messaging environment.

US 2003/060240 (from Graham) refers to a wireless mobile image messaging 5. For a received image message to carry current information, it can be updated through time and / or color presentations.

WO 01/30091 (from Motorola) describes a two-way selective calling device for determining whether a response was received in a message transmitter to a message transmitted to a designation device. 10

Document GB 2 350 746 A (from NEC) describes an email reception indication device that includes: a confirmation section of the email reception, to confirm if an email has been received by a server mail; a section on judging the response, to judge whether an email received includes content that requires a response; a calculation section, designated to calculate the response time / period to calculate a response time limit, after which a reply email must be sent; and a section indicating the status of the response, to inform the recipient of the email of the maximum time limit calculated for the response.

The main aspects of the present invention are those specified in the independent claims. The main subsidiary characteristics are those specified in the 20 subordinate claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An improved handheld electronic device and an associated method are provided by which certain aspects relating to the data of a messaging conversation in an electronic handheld device are made available to a user. Such time data is provided, for example, in situations where an interruption occurred during a messaging conversation. You can also provide time data to a user on demand in certain circumstances.

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention is to provide an improved 30-hand electronic device and a method by which data relative to the times in which certain communications have occurred in a messaging environment are made available to a user.

Another aspect of the invention is to provide an improved handheld electronic device and a method that allows a user to verify certain aspects of timing a conversation in a messaging environment. 35

Another aspect of the invention is to provide an improved handheld electronic device and a method by which data relative to the times in which certain communications have occurred, while making the amount of screen limited, is made available to a user. of presentation that occupy such data.

Another aspect of the invention is to provide an improved handheld electronic device and a method by which data can be provided in relation to the time elapsed since a communication.

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention is to provide an improved method for providing an output in at least one of a first electronic device and a second electronic device, the first electronic device being adapted to be in electronic communication with the second electronic device. The method includes the steps of: determining that a first messaging communication has occurred in a first time between the first device and the second device; output a first indication that is representative of at least a part of the first messaging communication; determine that a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the first time substantially without other communication between the first device and the second device; and output, after the predetermined period of time has elapsed, if substantially no additional communication has occurred during that period of time, to a first timestamp representative of the first half.

The first timestamp may be arranged adjacent to the first indication.

The method may also include the steps of: determining that a second messaging communication has occurred in a second time between the first device and the second device; output a second indication that is representative of at least a part of the second messaging communication; and output a second time stamp representative of the second time.

Another aspect of the invention is to provide an improved handheld electronic device of a type that is adapted to establish electronic communication with another electronic device. The handheld electronic device includes: a processor apparatus that includes a processor and a memory; 20 and an input apparatus; and an output device. The processor apparatus is adapted to receive the input of the input apparatus, and to provide output to the output apparatus, and to determine that a first messaging communication has occurred at a first time between the handheld electronic device and the other electronic device . The output apparatus is adapted to output a first indication that is representative of at least a part of the first communication of messaging. The processing apparatus is adapted to determine that a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the first time, substantially without additional communication between the handheld electronic device and the other electronic device. The output apparatus outputs, after the predetermined period of time has elapsed, if substantially no additional communication has occurred during that period of time, at a first time stamp 30 representative of the first time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full understanding of the invention can be reached in view of the Description of the Preferred Embodiments, read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an example of an electronic handheld device according to the invention, which can be used in conjunction with an improved method according to the invention; 40

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the handheld electronic device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the handheld electronic device of Fig. 1 and another device in a messaging environment;

Fig. 4 is a view of an example of an output provided in accordance with an aspect of the method of the invention;

Fig. 5 is another view of an example output provided in accordance with an aspect of the method of the invention;

Fig. 6a is a view of another example of an output provided in accordance with an aspect of the method of the invention;

Fig. 6b is another view of an example of an output provided in accordance with an aspect of the method of the invention;

Fig. 7 is another view of an example of an output provided in accordance with an aspect of the method of the invention; 10

Fig. 8a is another view of an example of an output provided in accordance with an aspect of the method of the invention;

Fig. 8b is another view of an example of an output provided in accordance with an aspect of the method of the invention;

Fig. 9 is another view of an example of an output provided in accordance with an aspect of the method of the invention; and

Fig. 10 is another view of an example of an output provided in accordance with an aspect of the method of the invention.

Numbers that are similar refer to parts that are similar in the specification. twenty

BEST MODE FOR INVESTING THE INVENTION

In Fig. 1 an improved handheld electronic device 4 in accordance with the invention has been indicated in general, and in Fig. 2 it has been schematically represented. The exemplary handheld electronic device 4 25 includes a housing 8 on which an input device 12, an output device 16, and a processing device 20 are arranged. The input device 12 includes a keyboard 24 that can be said which includes a plurality of keys 28.

The output device 16 includes a display 50. The output device 16 may further include, for example, additional indicators such as lights, and the like, and may also include an audible output, such as a speaker, as well as others. output devices.

The processor apparatus 20 includes a processor 52 which can be, for example, and without limitation, a microprocessor (μP), and which responds to the inputs of the input apparatus 12 and provides output signals to the output apparatus 16. The processor apparatus 20 also includes a memory 56 that includes a routine 60 stored therein. Exemplary routine 60 is a messaging routine that can provide a messaging capability on device 4. It is understood that memory 56 also includes a series of other routines that are not expressly mentioned herein. As the term "a series of" and variations thereof is used herein, it is understood that it refers in general terms to any quantity that is not zero, including the quantity of one. Processor 52 has an interface with memory 56, and routine 60 is executable on processor 52. 40

The device 4 also includes a wireless communication system. As can be seen in Fig. 3, the device 4 with the routine 60 can interface with a messaging service 62 to provide wirelessly the messaging capability in the device 4. In the embodiment

Represented as an example, the messaging service 62 provides an instant messaging capability on the device 4 and other electronic devices that have routines that are subscribed to the messaging service 62. The messaging service 62 has been schematically represented as including a server, although the principles followed here are not limited to the messaging services in which a server is used. For example, the messaging service could provide, for example, a point-to-point communication capability such as that provided by a Bluetooth protocol, or it may provide some other type of communication capability, wireless or not.

Fig. 3 also represents another device 104 that is a device that has a routine that is another subscriber to the messaging service 62. Specifically, the device 104 is an electronic device 10 that has a routine 160 therein, which can communicate with the messaging service 62 to provide a messaging capability in the device 104. Although the devices 4 and 104 that serve as examples have been represented with a wireless connection with the messaging service 62, it is understood that one or the other of the devices 4 and 104, or both, can employ a non-wireless communication capability, and not deviate from the concept of the invention. It is further understood that although they have only been represented in Fig. 3 two devices 4 and 104 as subscribers to the messaging service 62, there may be many more subscribers to the messaging service 62, but which have not been expressly represented in Fig. 3.

During the course of an electronic conversation, such as that shown in Fig. 4, between, for example, devices 4 and 104, a series of messages 68 are communicated between devices 4 and 104. 20 An input message 72 received in , for example, device 4, provides a visual indication of a communication that has been transmitted from, for example, device 104 to device 4. As can be seen in Fig. 4, an input message 72 includes an input symbol 66 and an input text portion 70. In the output that is exemplified herein, the input symbol 66 is a mathematical symbol of greater than ">". Text part 70 is a linguistic output that serves as an example, which could be of many types of forms, such as in different languages, and may also include, for example, symbols and the like that do not need to be part of any particular language

An output message 76 has been represented as including an output symbol 74 and an output text portion 78. In the example output shown here, the output symbol 74 30 is a mathematical symbol of less than "<" . Text portion 78 is a linguistic output that serves as an example that could be of many types of forms.

As can also be seen in Fig. 4, the example conversation represented therein includes a plurality of input messages 72 and a plurality of output messages 76 that are transmitted between devices 4 and 104 at the speed of a conversation, that is, at a speed in which consecutive communications between devices 4 and 104 take place without a significant delay between them. Due to the speed of the conversation, in consecutive communications the messages 68 do not include indications of the times at which such messages were transmitted 68, it being assumed that, in general, in such circumstances the specific time in which it took place A message given within such a conversation may not be significant to a user.

At a certain point in the conversation that serves as an example, however, an example message 68 which, for example, can be an outgoing message 76, can also become a

Message 80 not answered, which means that following its transmission there is substantially no additional communication between devices 4 and 104 in a period of time of a predetermined duration. More specifically, as the conversation goes on, incoming messages 72 and consecutive outgoing messages 76 are presented adjacent to each other. However, after a predetermined length of time has expired, after the transmission of a message 68, for example of ten minutes, during which there has been substantially no additional communication between the devices 4 and 104, it is determined that the Message 68, in accordance with the invention, is an unanswered message 80, and in response to such determination a first time stamp 84 adjacent to the unanswered message 80 is output. For example, if the unanswered message 80 was transmitted at 2:44 PM (in the afternoon), and if substantially no additional communication occurs between devices 4 and 104 between 2:44 pm and 2:54 pm, at 5:54 pm, the first time stamp 84 "2:44 pm" is released to provide users of devices 4 and 104 with an indication that the conversation was interrupted at 2:44 a.m. late. Such selective output of the first time stamp 84, generally only in response to a message 68 of some significance, such as the terminal message of a conversation, saves space on the presentation screen 50. It is noted that the presentation of the message First time stamp 84 will typically take place on both device 4 and device 104.

It is understood, however, that the duration of ten minutes is only an example, and that the duration could be set for any duration. It is also understood that the first timestamp 84 may be output in response to occurrence of additional and / or other predetermined events. In addition, it is noted that the predetermined length of time may be variable, depending on the characteristics of the conversation. For example, if the messages are being exchanged on a more infrequent basis, such as every nine minutes, the predetermined length of time, after which the first time stamp 84 is output, can be adjusted to be twenty minutes , for example. 25

By way of another example, and as generally presented in Fig. 5, another message 68 can then be communicated between devices 4 and 104. Since message 68 corresponds to a resumption of communication between devices 4 and 104 after an interruption period, the message 68 is determined to be a resume message 88, and a second time stamp 92 adjacent to the resume message 88 is output. The user can thus determine, in view of the output on the presentation screen 50, the period of time during which the conversation was suspended, that is, the time between the transmission of the unanswered message 80 and the transmission of the message Resumption 88 The selective output of the second timestamp 92 saves space on the display 50. In this example shown, the first timestamp 84 is arranged, for example, adjacent to the unanswered message 80, and the second timestamp 92 is arranged, for example, adjacent to the resume message 88. It is also noted that the second timestamp 92 is arranged, for example, between the unanswered message 80 and the resume message 88.

By continuing the conversation after transmission of the resume message 88, one of the users of devices 4 and 104 may determine that it would be desirable to present a 40-time mark in association with a message 68, such as if the user wishes to highlight , for himself or herself, or for the other user, the time in which the message 68 was transmitted. If such a timestamp is desired, the user can activate a user interface 96, such as user interface 96

serving as an example of Fig. 6a, which can manually produce the output of an inserted time stamp 98 adjacent to message 68, as in Fig. 6b. As mentioned above, it can be made that the inserted time stamp 98 appears both on the device 4 and on the device 104, and it is also noted that, if desired, the inserted time stamp 98 could be made appears on only one or the other of devices 4 and 104. 5

As can be seen in Fig. 7, the output could provide an unanswered message 180 and a resume message 188, a first time stamp 184 being arranged adjacent to the unanswered message 180, and a second adjacent time stamp 192 being arranged to resume message 188. However, at the exit of Fig. 7 As an example, the first timestamp 184 and the second timestamp 192 are arranged adjacent to each other and are both arranged between the unanswered message 180 and the resume message 188. Such a presentation that serves as an example of the first and second time stamps 184 and 192 illustrates the length of time that has elapsed in the conversation between the transmission of the unanswered message 180 and the transmission of the resume message 168. It is noted that the first timestamp 184 and the second timestamp 192 may have been generated in a manner similar to the generation of the first timestamp 84 and the second timestamp 92.

As can be seen in Figs. 8a and 8b, timestamps can be output elsewhere. For example, a text part of an unanswered message 280 may have a beginning 282 and an end 286. Similarly, a text part of a resume message 288 may have a beginning 290 and an end 294. According to another aspect of the invention, a first time stamp 284 may be output at either the beginning 282 or the end 286 of the text portion of the unanswered message 280, and in the example of Fig 8a, the first timestamp 284 is output at the beginning 282. A second timestamp 292 can also be output at either the beginning 290 or the end 294 of the text portion of the resume message. 288, and in the example of Fig. 8a, the second timestamp that serves as an example 292 is output at the beginning 290. Within the concept of the invention other positions of the first timestamp 284 and the second timestamp 292 are possible.

For example, and as another example, in Fig. 8b the first timestamp 284 is shown as an example as an output given at the end 286, while the second timestamp 292 that serves as an example has been given as output at the beginning 290. In Figs., 8a and 8b, 30 different forms have been represented as examples, in which the first and second time stamps 284 and 292 can be output to provide time data to a user . In Fig. 8a, the first and second timestamps 284 and 292 are arranged in a consistent place, that is, in principles 282 and 290 of the text parts of the unanswered message 280 and the resume message 288. In Fig. 8b the first and second timestamps 284 and 292 are generally arranged between the end 286 of the unanswered message 280 and the beginning 290 of the resume message 288, which concentrates the user's attention in the interval during which it was interrupted the conversation. Other ways of exiting the first and second timestamps 284 and 292 will be apparent.

In Fig. 9, another way of providing time stamps is shown so as to save space on the presentation screen 50. Specifically, messages 368 40 are output without presentation output marks, but when moving a cursor 374 or another pointing device or other device in the vicinity of a given message 368, a corresponding required time stamp is output adjacent to message 368. In this way, messages 368 can be provided without

present time stamps, but if a time stamp is desired in any of the messages 368, a required time stamp 378 can easily be output. In this regard, the required timestamp 378 can be output for only a predetermined duration of time, for example, a few seconds, and / or the required timestamp 378 can be deleted from presentation 50 upon the occurrence of the detection of another input, such as from the input device 5 12, or otherwise. In this regard, all messages 368 may have timestamps associated with them that are not presented until they are required.

It is also noted that the requested time stamp 378 does not need to be requested by the cursor 374, and that it could rather be requested by virtually any other type of desired input, such as with a punch and a touch screen, by actuating a 10 key, or by using alternative or other pointing devices. Other ways of managing the output of the requested timestamp 378 for any of the messages 368 will be apparent.

It is noted that the aspect of the various timestamps in question here is an example in its entirety, and that the timestamps could be provided in any format without exceeding the concept of the invention. In this regard, and in accordance with another aspect of the invention, a given time stamp may be an intelligent time stamp and provide additional information that depends on the prevailing circumstances. For example, if the first timestamp 84 of Fig. 4 It was output as indicated above, and if the conversation did not resume until the next day, the first timestamp 84 could potentially be set to automatically change from being presented as "2:44 pm" in the day of communication of message 80 no 20 responded to be presented as, for example, "2:44 pm Thursday" or, for example, "2:44 PM September 17, 2004" or, for example, "2:44 pm yesterday "the next day, although other configurations that will be within the concept of the invention will be evident.

In addition, in this respect, timestamps can be configured to present relative times, that is, elapsed times, rather than absolute times. For example, and as shown in general in Fig. 10, a time stamp 478 associated with a message 468 can be output to say, for example, "less than a minute ago," which means that message 468 that has been activated by cursor 474 has been transmitted less than one minute before the current time.

Such a timestamp 478 could be configured to be an active timestamp, which means that it would change as time progresses. For example, timestamp 478 30 could gradually change from saying "less than a minute ago" to saying "a minute ago," "two minutes ago," "forty-five minutes ago," and the like, as you go time. Such a timestamp could also be configured, for example, to re-present an absolute time after the expiration of a given duration. For example, once message 468 is one hour old, for example, timestamp 478 could be configured to no longer output 35 at a relative time such as "fifty-nine minutes ago", and output at change to an absolute time such as "2:54 pm". Other variations can be provided without exceeding the concept of the invention.

If it is desired to provide such timestamps that output at relative times, it may also be desirable to output such timestamps in any of the ways set forth above, and such timestamps could potentially be configured to be given. exit without first detecting a delay or an interruption in the "conversation". For example, the timestamp "less than a minute ago" could be presented immediately that a message is received on the

Handheld electronic device 4 if such configuration is desired. In such a configuration, and in order to save space on the display 50, the handheld electronic device 4 can be configured to provide such a relative time stamp only for the most recently transmitted message. That is, in response to the detection of the transmission of a message, the handheld electronic device can be configured to essentially output immediately a 5-time mark such as "less than a minute ago." After a minute has elapsed, the timestamp can be altered to say "a minute ago," and the like. However, by transmitting an additional message, the timestamp for the previous message can be deleted and a new timestamp such as "less than a minute ago" with respect to the new message can be provided.

Such relative timestamps provide the user with an easy understanding of the 10 aspects of message timing. That is, the user can understand an aspect of the transmission time without having to refer to the current time. This advantageously saves effort on the part of the user, since the mental step of determining the current time and subtracting from it an absolute time presented by a timestamp to determine the time elapsed since the transmission of the message is eliminated. fifteen

The different ways of selectively providing intelligent time data in the form of selectively output timestamps advantageously save valuable space on the display 50. In addition, such selective output of the timestamps advantageously avoids unnecessary visual concealment in the display 50 .

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, those who are skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of all the teachings provided by this exposition. Consequently, the particular provisions described are to be understood as being only illustrative and not limiting the scope of the invention, which is given in full extent by the accompanying claims and by any and all equivalents thereof. 25

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention is directed to a handheld electronic device and a method of providing information representative of the times of certain communications in a messaging environment.