JP2008099336A - Portable communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress unnecessary power consumption in a battery by informing a user that an application having been started exists in a background when a terminal body is housed therein, with respect to a foldable portable communication terminal capable of driving a plurality of applications. <P>SOLUTION: The foldable portable communication terminal includes a first case 100 with a display 101, and a second case 200 with an operating portion 201 wherein a plurality of applications can be started. The terminal has a detecting means 301 for detecting the opening and closing of the first case 100 and the second case 200, and an informing portion 205 to inform that the application having been started exists if there is the application having been started in the background, when the opening and closing detecting means 301 detects the closing of the case in the portable communication terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable communication terminal that can be opened and closed (for example, a foldable type or a slide openable type) that can start a plurality of applications, and in particular, there is an application that is running in the background when the terminal body is stored. In the case, it relates to a portable communication terminal capable of notifying the user of it.

  Since a conventional mobile phone is basically processed by a single task, a plurality of applications cannot be started, and it is necessary to start another application after once ending the running application.

  Applications that can be used with a conventional mobile phone include a mail application and a phone book application. For example, if there is an incoming voice call while creating a mail by starting the mail application, the mail data and mail being created After saving the application state, it is necessary to notify the incoming voice call, and when the voice call is finished, it is necessary to activate the mail creation application again to read the saved data and return it to the state before the incoming call.

  On the other hand, with the recent improvement in performance of mobile communication terminals, the types of applications that can be executed on mobile communication terminals have increased, and terminals that can simultaneously activate and process a plurality of applications have also appeared.

  In such portable communication terminals, in addition to applications that can be used in conventional terminals, many applications such as camera applications, Web browsers, music players, and games can be used.

  When starting another application while one application is running on such a terminal, it is not necessary to close the running application, and a new application can be executed in the foreground while the previously started application is executed in the background. It is configured as follows.

  For example, when a mail application is activated while music is being played back by a music player, the mail application is displayed on the screen while the music player continues playing in the background, and mail can be viewed and created.

  However, in the mobile communication terminal that can simultaneously start a plurality of applications as described above, since the display size is originally small, even if a plurality of applications can be started at the same time, a single application often occupies the screen. If the user forgets to close the application, a situation may occur in which many applications continue to be executed in the background without being ended.

  For example, a situation may occur where an incoming mail is received while playing a game and a voice call is received and a voice call is made while a reply to the received mail is being created.

  In this case, the screen of the terminal becomes the incoming call screen while the game and the mail application are executed in the background, and the screen is switched to the call screen in response to the user.

  If the user remembers the active application and calls the background application at the end of the call, there is no problem. The game and mail application are left running.

  If multiple applications remain activated in this way, there is a problem that the performance of the mobile communication terminal decreases due to insufficient resources, or the power consumption increases due to the influence of the activated application. .

  As a conventional mobile communication terminal for solving such a problem, there are other applications that are activated at the time of switching of applications, at the time of an incoming call, or at the end of a call while a plurality of applications are activated. In some cases, the user is notified of this, and the application switching operation is facilitated.

  In addition, for example, in a commercially available foldable mobile phone, there is a product equipped with a function of notifying a missed call or received mail by vibration when the mobile phone is opened.

Applications of portable communication terminals are disclosed in the following patent documents.
JP 2002-232959 A

  However, when the user is frequently notified at the time of application switching, incoming call, end-of-call, etc., as in the above-described conventional mobile communication terminal, the user feels troublesome.

  If you want to reduce battery power consumption when not in use (standby only), detect when the user closes the terminal and notify the user that there is an application running Good.

  In addition, the above-described commercially available foldable mobile phone has a function of notifying missed calls or received mails by vibration when the mobile phone is opened. There is no function to notify the status.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and its purpose is to fold a terminal (or a slide opening / closing type) portable communication terminal capable of starting a plurality of applications when the terminal body is stored. An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile communication terminal capable of notifying a user of an application running in the background and reducing unnecessary power consumption of a battery.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the portable communication terminal of the present invention can be opened and closed between a first housing having a display unit and a second housing having an operation unit. An open / close detecting means for detecting an open / closed state of the first casing and the second casing in the configured mobile communication terminal capable of starting a plurality of applications, and the open / close detecting means When it is detected that the casing of the mobile communication terminal is in a closed state, when there is an active application, notification means for notifying that there is the active application is provided. To do.

  Thereby, it is possible to reliably notify the user of the presence of the application being executed.

  In addition, since the number of applications that continue to be executed in the background when the mobile communication terminal is not used can be reduced, wasteful power consumption can be reduced.

  Furthermore, since the number of applications that continue to be executed in the background can be reduced, it is possible to avoid performance degradation due to lack of resources.

  Furthermore, when notifying an active application, the type of the application can be displayed on the display unit, and the user can determine whether to end or continue the application.

  Further, the mobile communication terminal of the present invention is characterized in that the mobile communication terminal is a folding type or a slide opening / closing type mobile communication terminal, and the closed state here means that the display unit of the first casing is It means overlapping with the second housing.

  As a result, the present invention can be applied to both a folding type and a slide opening / closing type portable communication terminal.

  Moreover, the portable communication terminal of the present invention is characterized in that the notification means is based on vibration using a vibrator.

  As a result, most users operate the mobile communication terminal itself by hand, so when closing the mobile communication terminal, the presence of an application running in the background is notified by vibration, and the user is surely running Can notify the existence of an application.

  As described above, in the mobile communication terminal of the present invention, the user can be surely notified of the presence of the application being executed.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The portable communication terminal of the present invention is a foldable (or slide open / close) portable communication terminal capable of starting a plurality of applications, and when there is an application running in the background when storing the mobile communication terminal, It is a mobile communication terminal that provides a function of notifying the user of it.

  For example, when a foldable portable communication terminal is closed and stored, the user is notified that there is an active application by vibration or sound.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a mobile communication terminal according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the first casing 100 includes a display unit 101 that displays character information and image information output from the mobile communication terminal, and the second casing 200 includes Operation units such as a numeric keypad 201a and direction keys are provided.

  The first casing 100 and the second casing 200 are coupled to each other via a coupling portion 300 so that the first casing 100 and the second casing 200 can be opened / closed or rotated, and a first keypad 201a as shown in FIG. 1 (hereinafter referred to as an open state) and a second state (hereinafter referred to as a closed state) in which the numeric keypad 201a and the like are accommodated (not shown).

  A user of a mobile communication terminal generally performs a call or key operation in an open state, and after use, the mobile communication terminal main body is closed and stored in a bag or pocket.

  In addition, the coupling portion 300 between the first casing 100 and the second casing 200 includes an opening / closing detection means (for example, an opening / closing switch) for detecting the opening / closing state of the casing.

  In this example, the coupling unit 300 is provided with an open / close detection means, but may be provided in another part as long as the open / close state can be detected.

  FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration example of the mobile communication terminal according to the present embodiment, and a display unit that displays character information and image information output from the mobile communication terminal is displayed on the first housing 100. 101, an ear speaker 102 that outputs audio information, an imaging unit 103 that has imaging means such as a CCD, and that captures image data.

  The second housing includes a wireless unit 202 for wireless communication and an antenna 202a, a control unit 203 for controlling the entire mobile communication terminal, a storage unit 204 for storing application programs and data files, and a vibrator for incoming notification (for a vibrator) A notification unit 205 using a motor and the like, a driving battery 206, and the like are mounted.

  The control unit 203 can read a plurality of application programs from the storage unit 204 and execute them simultaneously.

  In addition, the coupling unit 300 is provided with an open / close detection means 301 for detecting the open / closed state of the first casing 100 and the second casing 200.

  By pressing the power button of the mobile communication terminal, the control unit 203 starts a program (such as an OS) that realizes the basic functions of the mobile communication terminal from the storage unit 204, initializes the system, and then shifts to a standby state. .

  When an application is activated by a user operation, the control unit 203 stores information on the activated application (application name, number of activated applications, icon information corresponding to the application, etc.) in the storage unit 204 as activated application information. To do.

  When the user terminates the application being used, the control unit 203 deletes information corresponding to the terminated application from the activated application information, and updates the number of activated applications.

  When the user finishes using the mobile communication terminal and changes the mobile communication terminal from the open state to the closed state, the state change is detected by the open / close detection means 301 in the coupling unit 300, and the state change from the open state to the closed state If so, the control unit 203 acquires the number of running applications.

  At this time, if another application is activated in addition to the normal telephone function, this is notified to the user by vibration caused by driving of the vibrator in the notification unit 205 or sound of a warning sound.

  Note that the notification to the user may be a combination of a warning sound and vibration, or only vibration when the manner mode is set.

  Further, the notification period may be until the user performs a stop operation, or may be notified several times to several seconds in order to reduce power consumption.

  On the other hand, when the state is changed from the closed state to the open state, the user prepares to use the mobile communication terminal, such as lighting of the main display and lighting of the key LED.

  In addition, when notifying the user of the presence of a running application, the display unit is on the surface that is visible to the user in the closed state (the sub display on the back if it is a foldable type, the display that is the main display that is always on the surface with a slide open / close type) In addition, information that can identify the running application may be displayed.

  In this case, the name of the application being activated may be displayed as text, or the icon of the application being activated may be displayed.

  With this display, the user can easily determine the type of application and determine whether to end the application or continue the active application.

  FIG. 2 shows the processing flow when the first housing and the second housing are folded (closed).

  In the portable communication terminal, the open / closed state of the casing is always detected (steps S101 and S102), and if it is not detected that the casing has shifted from the open state to the closed state, the currently running application, etc. The display lighting / key LED lighting related to is continued (step S103).

  If it is detected that the housing has shifted from the open state to the closed state, information on the currently activated application is acquired (step S104). If there is an activated application, a vibrator is activated or a warning is issued. A sound is emitted (steps S105 and S106).

If there is no active application, the process ends.

  Although the embodiment has been described above, the portable communication terminal is not limited to the above-described illustrated example, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  As described above, in the mobile communication terminal of the present embodiment, the mobile communication terminal configured to be openable and closable with the housing including the display unit and the housing including the operation unit, and capable of starting a plurality of applications. When the open / closed state of the housing is detected and it is detected that the housing is in the closed state, when there is an active application, the user is notified that there is an active application.

  Thereby, it is possible to reliably notify the user of the presence of the application being executed.

  In addition, since the number of applications that continue to be executed in the background when the mobile communication terminal is not used can be reduced, wasteful power consumption can be reduced.

  Furthermore, since the number of applications that continue to be executed in the background can be reduced, it is possible to avoid performance degradation due to lack of resources.

  Furthermore, when notifying an active application, the type of the application can be displayed on the display unit, and the user can determine whether to end or continue the application.

  Further, in the mobile communication terminal of the present embodiment, the mobile communication terminal is a foldable or slide open / close type mobile communication terminal, so that both the foldable and slide open / close type mobile communication terminals are provided. The present invention can be applied to a terminal.

  Further, in the mobile communication terminal of the present embodiment, since the notification means is vibration using a vibrator, most of the users operate the mobile communication terminal main body by hand. You can be notified of the existence of a running application.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the portable communication terminal by this invention. It is a figure which shows the flow of a process in the case of folding a 1st housing | casing and a 2nd housing | casing (it is set as a closed state).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 1st housing | casing 101 Display part 102 Ear speaker 103 Image pick-up part 200 2nd housing | casing 201 Operation part 201a Numeric keypad 202 Radio | wireless part 202a Antenna 203 Control part 204 Storage part 205 Notification part 206 Driving battery 300 Coupling part 301 Opening / closing detection means

Claims (4)

In the mobile communication terminal in which the first casing including the display unit and the second casing including the operation unit are configured to be openable and closable and capable of starting a plurality of applications,
Open / close detection means for detecting the open / closed state of the first housing and the second housing;
When there is an application running in the background when the open / close detection means detects that the casing of the mobile communication terminal is closed, to notify that there is an application running in the background An informing means,
A mobile communication terminal comprising:   The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the closed state is a state in which the display unit is covered by the second housing overlapping the first housing.   The portable communication terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the portable communication terminal is a foldable or slide-type portable communication terminal.   The mobile communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the notification means is based on vibration using a vibrator.

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