International Business Machines Corporation

William Villafana

James Robert Lewis

Francis James Canova, Jr

David J Allard

Raymond L Yee

Charles S Lanier

Byron K Tiller

Debra A Johnson

Julie F Goodwin

Bradley J DeBauche

Brent A Beatty

Daniel Ming-Te Hsieh

Jean Luter Stout

Connie Yudip Au

Jose L Rivero

Neal A Osborn

Wayne P Whitley

Peter Rowland Eastwood

Robert Bedford Ferrier

James Christian Wulf

Roger L Cox

Russell Stephen Padgett

Thomas T Murakami

Danile M Hsieh

Anthony F Corkell

In a personal communications device having a touch sensitive display screen, text may be marked by a user to be used with different applications. In particular, to begin marking, a user has to maintain his touch at a location on the screen for a short predetermined period of time until the system detects that the position is held over the same character for a delayed period, at which time the system beeps to provide an indication that there has been a change of operation mode. The marking mode continues in operation until the user removes his contact from the touch screen. Thus, text over which the contact point passes after the initiation of the marking mode is marked, until the user removes his contact point from the touch screen. A second beep is sounded to alert the user of the termination of the marking mode, and the appearance of a menu of operations on the screen. The menu of operations echoes the marked text for user confirmation. The marked text may be used by the user in a number of applications, among which include a calling application whereby the marked text is used to place a call.

Apparatus and method for marking text on a display screen in a personal

A mobile, hand-held personal communicator includes a casing for housing a cellular phone, modem, and data processing system. Graphics image files are stored and can be selectively displayed on a touchscreen display. A zoom function magnifies areas of a graphics image, such as a fax image, that has been received and stored in the PC. When the zoom function is selected, the user touches the screen, and a magnification frame or window appears. When the user removes his/her finger, the area within the frame is magnified. The user can also drag the frame around the screen, while still touching the screen, to select a specific area to be magnified when the user releases the screen. A pan function allows the user to shift the image within a viewing area. The user can pan the image by touching the display at an initial touch point, and moving his/her finger keeping it in contact with the screen, to shift the touch point to a new touch point. Upon releasing the new touch point, the image is redrawn in a new position corresponding to the change in position between the initial and new touch points.

Personal communicator having improved zoom and pan functions for editing

An option attach connector has a first indicator bit combination that alerts the device that a public switched telephone network connection has been made to it. The presence of the first indicator bit combination is a signal to the device that telephone, FAX, and E-MAIL communications applications are to be conducted over a PSTN link. The presence of the first indicator bit combination invokes a stored computer program to provide appropriate connections between the PSTN link and the telephone, FAX, and modem hardware in the device. The connections are made by an audio multiplexer that receives control signals from the system CPU, while executing the stored computer program. The program determines the communications application selected by the user and selectively configures the PSTN link to be connected to the either the ear piece and microphone for voice communications, or to the FAX/modem for FAX communications, or to the modem alone for E-MAIL communications. The absence of the option attach connector invokes a default indicator bit combination that alerts the device that a cellular telephone network connection is desired by the user. The presence of the default indicator bit combination is a signal to the device that telephone, FAX, and E-mail communications applications are to be conducted over a cellular network.

Selective reconfiguration method and apparatus in a multiple application

A personal communicator has a touch sensitive overlay coupled with a liquid crystal display (LCD). The communicator has two external (non-screen) up/down buttons for adjusting the volume of a cellular phone speaker. These volume buttons are also used to allow the user to adjust contrast. In accordance with one operation, contrast is adjusted in response to the user touching a predetermined area of the screen at the same time as one of the up or down buttons is actuated. In accordance with another operation, contrast is adjusted in response to the user first pressing both speaker volume buttons to enter a contrast adjustment mode, and thereafter pressing one or the other of such buttons, to increase or decrease contrast as desired.

Personal communicator having improved contrast control for a liquid

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Davie, FL, United States of America

William Villafana