CA2655492A1

CA2655492A1 - System and method for switching between conversations in instant messaging applications

Info

Publication number: CA2655492A1
Application number: CA2655492A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Bradley Benninger
Original assignee: Research in Motion Ltd
Current assignee: BlackBerry Ltd
Priority date: 2009-02-24
Filing date: 2009-02-24
Publication date: 2010-08-24
Anticipated expiration: 2029-02-24
Also published as: CA2655492C

Abstract

A system and method are provided for switching between conversations in instant messaging applications. The instant messaging application is configured for displaying a list of conversations upon detecting selection of the option within a menu or link within the conversation screen and permit navigation to another conversation. The conversations may be prioritized based first on whether the conversation has any unread messages and within the grouping of those conversations having unread messages, may be prioritized based on when the last activity occurred. In this way, the user has easiest access to conversations with the most recent activity with the ability to scroll down the list of conversations to continue an older conversation if desired.

Description

4 TECHNICAL FIELD:
100011 The following relates to switching between conversations in instant messaging 6 applications.

8 [00021 Instant messaging (IM) has become a convenient and popular way of communicating 9 between users, whether using mobile devices, personal computers or both. An IM application typically allows a user to engage in multiple conversations, even across multiple IM platforms.
11 Often, users wish to actively participate in such multiple conversations.
However, this may 12 require closing one conversation, returning to a list of conversations, and then opening another 13 conversation, each time the user wishes to switch or navigate between conversations. This 14 requires multiple steps than can be inconvenient and may increase the time it takes to respond to a message in any given conversation. Since an advantage of IM is the ability to rapidly and 16 conveniently exchange messages, a reduction in responsiveness is typically considered a 17 disadvantage to the user.

19 [00031 The following may provide a method, computer readable medium comprising instructions for implementing the method, and mobile device comprising the computer readable 21 medium, for switching between conversations in an instant messaging application. In one aspect, 22 the method may comprise the steps of providing an option for displaying a list of conversations 23 while in a first conversation screen; upon detecting selection of the option, displaying a list of 24 conversations in the first conversation screen, the list of conversations comprising a plurality of other conversations ordered according to a comparison of recent activity in the other 26 conversations; and upon detecting selection of a desired one of the other conversations, 27 displaying a second conversation screen for the desired one of the other conversations.

28 [00041 In another aspect, the method may comprise the steps of providing directly within a 29 first conversation screen for the instant messaging application, a link for immediately displaying a list of conversations upon selection thereof; upon detecting selection of the link, displaying a 1 list of conversations in the first conversation screen, the list of conversations comprising a 2 plurality of other conversations ordered according to a comparison of recent activity in the other 3 conversations; and upon detecting selection of a desired one of the other conversations, 4 displaying a second conversation screen for the desired one of the other conversations.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

6 [00051 Embodiments will now be described by way of example only with reference to the 7 appended drawings wherein:

8 [00061 Figure 1 is a system diagram illustrating the environment in which data items are 9 pushed from a host system to a mobile device.

[00071 Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a mobile device and a display screen therefor.
11 [00081 Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of another mobile device and a display screen 12 therefor.

13 [00091 Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of yet another mobile device and display screen 14 therefor.

[00101 Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the mobile device of Figure 4.

16 [00111 Figure 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a mobile device.
17 [00121 Figure 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a communication 18 subsystem component of the mobile device of Figure 6.

19 100131 Figure 8 is a screen shot of a home screen displayed by the mobile device.
[00141 Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary ones of the other software 21 applications and components shown in Figure 6.

22 [00151 Figure 10 is a system diagram showing one configuration for instant messaging (IM) 23 on multiple platforms.

24 [00161 Figure 11 is a screen shot of an example user interface (UI) for an IM contacts screen for User A.

1 [0017] Figure 12 is a screen shot of an example UI for an IM conversation screen 2 comprising a conversation between User A and User D.

3 [0018] Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating functional modules utilized by the IM
4 application for switching between conversations.

[0019] Figure 14 is a screen shot of the UI shown in Figure 11 while displaying a condensed 6 menu of options pertaining to an IM conversation.

7 [0020] Figure 15 is a screen shot of the UI shown in Figure 11 while displaying a list of 8 conversations which is displayed upon selection of the Switch Conversation option in the 9 condensed menu shown in Figure 14.

[0021] Figure 16 is a screen shot of an example UI for an IM conversation screen 11 comprising a conversation between User A and User C containing an unread message from User 12 C.

13 [0022] Figure 17 is a screen shot of an example UI for an IM conversation screen 14 comprising a conversation between User A and User D while displaying exemplary links for initiating display of the list of conversations shown in Figure 15.

16 [0023] Figure 18 is a flow diagram illustrating computer executable operations for enabling 17 navigation between conversations using the Switch Conversation option shown in Figures 14 and 18 15.

19 [0024] Figure 19 is a flow diagram illustrating computer executable operations for enabling navigation between conversations using either of the links shown in Figure 17.

22 [0025] It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where considered 23 appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or 24 analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by 26 those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practiced without 27 these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have 1 not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments described herein. Also, the 2 description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein.

3 [00261 As discussed above, in order to switch between conversations, a user typically closes 4 the current conversation screen, returns to a list of contacts and conversations, and opens another conversation screen. This requires multiple steps that can be inconvenient to the user, especially 6 when frequent navigation between multiple active conversations is desired.
To avoid such 7 inconvenience, the instant messaging application can be configured to provide an option for 8 displaying a list of conversations upon detecting selection of the option within a menu or link 9 within the conversation screen and permit navigation to another conversation.

[00271 The conversations may be prioritized based first on whether the conversation has any 11 unread messages and within the grouping of those conversations having unread messages, may 12 be prioritized based on when the last message was sent or received. In this way, the user has 13 easiest access to conversations with the most recent activity with the ability to scroll down the 14 list of conversations to continue an older conversation if desired. This can be particularly advantageous upon detecting that a new conversation has arrived, e.g. upon observing a new 16 incoming message. The user may then simply initiate display of the list of conversations as will 17 be exemplified below, and at the top of the list will be the most recently received, unread 18 message. This enables quick navigation into and out of various conversations facilitating 19 continual participation in these various conversations, in particular to keep up with a conversation as new activity occurs.

21 [00281 Although the following examples are presented in the context of mobile 22 communication devices, the principles may equally be applied to other devices such as 23 applications running on personal computers and the like where appropriate.

24 [00291 For clarity in the discussion below, mobile communication devices will be commonly referred to as "mobile devices". Examples of applicable mobile devices include pagers, cellular 26 phones, cellular smart-phones, wireless organizers, personal digital assistants, computers, 27 laptops, handheld wireless communication devices, wirelessly enabled notebook computers and 28 the like.

1 [0030] The mobile device may be a two-way communication device with advanced data 2 communication capabilities including the capability of communicating with other mobile devices 3 or computer systems through a network of transceiver stations. The mobile device may also have 4 the capability to allow voice communication. Depending on the functionality provided by the mobile device, it may be referred to as a data messaging device, a two-way pager, a cellular 6 telephone with data messaging capabilities, a wireless Internet appliance, or a data 7 communication device (with or without telephony capabilities).

8 [0031] The mobile device may be one that is used in a system that is configured for 9 continuously routing all forms of pushed information from a host system to the mobile device.
One example of such a system will now be described.

11 [0032] Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 is an example system diagram showing the 12 redirection of user data items (such as message A or C) from a corporate enterprise computer 13 system (host system) 250 to the user's mobile device 100 via a wireless router 26. The wireless 14 router 26 provides the wireless connectivity functionality as it acts to both abstract most of the wireless network's 200 complexities, and it also implements features necessary to support 16 pushing data to the mobile device 100. Although not shown, a plurality of mobile devices may 17 access data from the host system 250. In this example, message A in Figure 1 represents an 18 internal message sent from, e.g. a desktop computer within the host system 250, to any number 19 of server computers in the corporate network 260 (e.g. LAN), which may, in general, include a database server, a calendar server, an E-mail server or a voice-mail server.

21 [0033] Message C in Figure 1 represents an external message from a sender that is not 22 directly connected to the host system 250, such as the user's mobile device 100, some other user's 23 mobile device (not shown), or any user connected to the public or private network 224 (e.g. the 24 Internet). Message C could be e-mail, voice-mail, calendar information, database updates, web-page updates or could even represent a command message from the user's mobile device 100 to 26 the host system 250. The host system 250 may comprise, along with the typical communication 27 links, hardware and software associated with a corporate enterprise computer network system, 28 one or more wireless mobility agents, a TCP/IP connection, a collection of datastores, (for 1 example a data store for e-mail could be an off-the-shelf mail server like Microsoft Exchange 2 Server or Lotus Notes Server), all within and behind a corporate firewall.

3 [0034] The mobile device 100 may be adapted for communication within wireless network 4 200 via wireless links, as required by each wireless network 200 being used.
As an illustrative example of the operation for a wireless router 26 shown in Figure 1, consider a data item A, 6 repackaged in outer envelope B (the packaged data item A now referred to as "data item (A)") 7 and sent to the mobile device 100 from an Application Service Provider (ASP) in the host system 8 250. Within the ASP is a computer program, similar to a wireless mobility agent, running on any 9 computer in the ASP's environment that is sending requested data items from a data store to a mobile device 100. The mobile-destined data item (A) is routed through the network 224, and 11 through a firewall protecting the wireless router 26.

12 [0035] Although the above describes the host system 250 as being used within a corporate 13 enterprise network environment, this is just one embodiment of one type of host service that 14 offers push-based messages for a handheld wireless device that is capable of notifying and preferably presenting the data to the user in real-time at the mobile device when data arrives at 16 the host system.

17 [0036] By offering a wireless router 26 (sometimes referred to as a "relay"), there are a 18 number of major advantages to both the host system 250 and the wireless network 200. The host 19 system 250 in general runs a host service that is considered to be any computer program that is running on one or more computer systems. The host service is said to be running on a host 21 system 250, and one host system 250 can support any number of host services. A host service 22 may or may not be aware of the fact that information is being channelled to mobile devices 100.
23 For example an e-mail or message program 138 (see Figure 6) might be receiving and processing 24 e-mail while an associated program (e.g. an e-mail wireless mobility agent) is also monitoring the mailbox for the user and forwarding or pushing the same e-mail to a wireless device 100. A
26 host service might also be modified to prepare and exchange information with mobile devices 27 100 via the wireless router 26, like customer relationship management software. In a third 28 example, there might be a common access to a range of host services. For example a mobility 29 agent might offer a Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) connection to several databases.

1 [0037] As discussed above, a mobile device 100 may be a hand-held two-way wireless 2 paging computer as exemplified in Figures 2-9, a wirelessly enabled palm-top computer, a 3 mobile telephone with data messaging capabilities, a PDA with mobile phone capabilities, a 4 wirelessly enabled laptop computer, a vending machine with an associated OEM
radio modem, a wirelessly-enabled heart-monitoring system or, alternatively, it could be other types of mobile 6 data communication devices capable of sending and receiving messages via a network 7 connection. Although the system is exemplified as operating in a two-way communications 8 mode, certain aspects of the system could be used in a "one and one-half' or acknowledgment 9 paging environment, or even with a one-way paging system. In such limited data messaging environments, the wireless router 26 still could abstract the mobile device 100 and wireless 11 network 200, offer push services to standard web-based server systems and allow a host service 12 in a host system 250 to reach the mobile device 100 in many countries.

13 [0038] The host system 250 shown herein has many methods when establishing a 14 communication link to the wireless router 26. For one skilled in the art of data communications the host system 250 could use connection protocols like TCP/IP, X.25, Frame Relay, ISDN, 16 ATM or many other protocols to establish a point-to-point connection. Over this connection 17 there are several tunneling methods available to package and send the data, some of these 18 include: HTTP/HTML, HTTP/XML, HTTP/Proprietary, FTP, SMTP or some other proprietary 19 data exchange protocol. The type of host systems 250 that might employ the wireless router 26 to perform push could include: field service applications, e-mail services, stock quote services, 21 banking services, stock trading services, field sales applications, advertising messages and many 22 others. This wireless network 200 abstraction is made possible by the wireless router 26, which 23 implements this routing and push functionality. The type of user-selected data items being 24 exchanged by the host could include: E-mail messages, calendar events, meeting notifications, address entries, journal entries, personal alerts, alarms, warnings, stock quotes, news bulletins, 26 bank account transactions, field service updates, stock trades, heart-monitoring information, 27 vending machine stock levels, meter reading data, GPS data, etc., but could, alternatively, 28 include any other type of message that is transmitted to the host system 250, or that the host 29 system 250 acquires through the use of intelligent agents, such as data that is received after the host system 250 initiates a search of a database or a website or a bulletin board.

1 [0039] The wireless router 26 provides a range of services to make creating a push-based 2 host service possible. These networks may comprise: (1) the Code Division Multiple Access 3 (CDMA) network, (2) the Groupe Special Mobile or the Global System for Mobile 4 Communications (GSM) and the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and (3) the upcoming third-generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) networks like EDGE, UMTS and HSDPA, 6 LTE, Wi-Max etc. Some older examples of data-centric networks include, but are not limited to:
7 (1) the Mobitex Radio Network ("Mobitex") and (2) the DataTAC Radio Network ("DataTAC").
8 [0040] To be effective in providing push services for host systems 250, the wireless router 26 9 may implement a set of defined functions. It can be appreciated that one could select many different hardware configurations for the wireless router 26, however, many of the same or 11 similar set of features would likely be present in the different configurations.

12 [0041] Referring to Figures 2 through 5, one embodiment of a mobile device 100a is shown 13 in Figure 2, another embodiment of a mobile device 100b is shown in Figure 3, and yet another 14 embodiment of a mobile device 100c is shown in Figures 4 and 5. It will be appreciated that the numeral "100" will hereinafter refer to any mobile device 100, including the embodiments 100a, 16 100b and 100c, those embodiments enumerated above or otherwise. It will also be appreciated 17 that a similar numbering convention may be used for other general features common between 18 Figures 2 through 4 such as a display 12, a positioning device 14, a cancel or escape button 16, a 19 camera button 17, and a menu or option button 24.

[0042] The mobile device 100a shown in Figure 2 comprises a display 12a and the cursor or 21 view positioning device 14 shown in this embodiment is a trackball 14a.
Positioning device 14 22 may serve as another input member and is both rotational to provide selection inputs to the main 23 processor 102 (see Figure 6) and can also be pressed in a direction generally toward housing to 24 provide another selection input to the processor 102. Trackball 14a permits multi-directional positioning of the selection cursor 18 (see Figure 8) such that the selection cursor 18 can be 26 moved in an upward direction, in a downward direction and, if desired and/or permitted, in any 27 diagonal direction. The trackball 14a (and similar devices) can also be "flicked" in order to 28 provide a distinguishable input from a normal scroll, e.g. a sideways flick. The trackball 14a is 29 in this example situated on the front face of a housing for mobile device 100a as shown in Figure 1 2 to enable a user to manoeuvre the trackball 14a while holding the mobile device 100a in one 2 hand. The trackball 14a may serve as another input member (in addition to a directional or 3 positioning member) to provide selection inputs to the processor 102 and can preferably be 4 pressed in a direction towards the housing of the mobile device 100b to provide such a selection input.

6 [00431 The display 12 may include a selection cursor 18 that depicts generally where the 7 next input or selection will be received. The selection cursor 18 may comprise a box, alteration 8 of an icon or any combination of features that enable the user to identify the currently chosen 9 icon or item. The mobile device 100a in Figure 2 also comprises a programmable convenience button 15a to activate a selected application such as, for example, a calendar or calculator.
11 Further, mobile device 100a includes an escape or cancel button 16a, a camera button 17a, a 12 menu or option button 24a and a keyboard 20. The camera button 17 is able to activate photo-13 capturing functions when pressed preferably in the direction towards the housing. The menu or 14 option button 24 loads a menu or list of options on display 12a when pressed. In this example, the escape or cancel button 16a, the menu option button 24a, and keyboard 20 are disposed on 16 the front face of the mobile device housing, while the convenience button 15a and camera button 17 17a are disposed at the side of the housing. This button placement enables a user to operate 18 these buttons while holding the mobile device 100 in one hand. The keyboard 20 is, in this 19 embodiment, a standard QWERTY keyboard.

[00441 The mobile device 100b shown in Figure 3 comprises a display 12b and the 21 positioning device 14 in this embodiment is a trackball 14b. The mobile device 100b also 22 comprises a menu or option button 24b, a cancel or escape button 16b, and a camera button 17b.
23 The mobile device 100b as illustrated in Figure 3, comprises a reduced QWERTY keyboard 22.
24 In this embodiment, the keyboard 22, positioning device 14b, escape button 16b and menu button 24b are disposed on a front face of a mobile device housing. The reduced QWERTY
26 keyboard 22 comprises a plurality of multi-functional keys and corresponding indicia including 27 keys associated with alphabetic characters corresponding to a QWERTY array of letters A to Z
28 and an overlaid numeric phone key arrangement.

1 [00451 Referring to Figures 4 and 5, the mobile device 100c is shown comprising a touch-2 sensitive display, also commonly referred to as a "touchscreen". In Figure 4, the touch sensitive 3 display 28 allows a user to interact with the mobile device 100c. In this embodiment, the mobile 4 device 100c also comprises a menu or option button 24c and a cancel or escape button 16c. In this example, a convenience button 15c and camera button 17c are disposed on the sides of the 6 housing.

7 [00461 As best shown in Figure 5, the housing 30 of the mobile device 100c includes a back 8 35, a frame 36, which surrounds the touch-sensitive display 28, sidewalls 29 that extend between 9 and generally perpendicular to the back 35 and the frame 36, and a base 37 that is spaced from and generally parallel to the back 35. The base 37 can be any suitable base and can include, for 11 example, a printed circuit board or flex circuit board. The back 35 includes a plate (not shown) 12 that is releasably attached for insertion and removal of, for example, a battery and a 13 SIM/RUIMIUSIM card 126 (see Figure 6). It will be appreciated that the back 35, the sidewalls 14 29 and the frame 36 can be injection molded, for example. In the exemplary mobile device 100c shown in Figure 4, the frame 36 is generally rectangular with rounded corners although other 16 shapes are possible.

17 [00471 The display device 32 and the overlay 34 can be supported on a support tray 31 of 18 suitable material such as magnesium for providing mechanical support to the display device 32 19 and overlay 34. The display device 32 and overlay 34 are biased away from the base 37, toward the frame 36 by biasing elements 33 such as gel pads between the support tray 31 and the base 21 37. Compliant spacers 38, which can also be in the form of gel pads for example, are located 22 between an upper portion of the support tray 31 and the frame 36. The touch screen display 28 is 23 moveable within the housing 30 as the touch screen display 28 can be moved toward the base 37, 24 thereby compressing the biasing elements 33. The touch screen display 28 can also be pivoted within the housing 30 with one side of the touch screen display 28 moving toward the base 37, 26 thereby compressing the biasing elements 33 on the same side of the touch screen display 28 that 27 moves toward the base 37.

28 [00481 In the present example, the switch 39 is supported on one side of the base 37 which 29 can be printed circuit board while the opposing side provides mechanical support and electrical 1 connection for other components (not shown) of the mobile device 100c. The switch 39 can be 2 located between the base 37 and the support tray 31. The switch 39, which can be a mechanical 3 dome-type switch, for example, can be located in any suitable position such that displacement of 4 the touch screen display 28 resulting from a user pressing the touch screen display 28 with sufficient force to overcome the bias and to overcome the actuation force for the switch 39, 6 depresses and actuates the switch 39. In the present embodiment the switch 39 is in contact with 7 the support tray 31. Thus, depression of the touch screen display 28 by user application of a 8 force thereto, causes actuation of the switch 39, thereby providing the user with a positive tactile 9 quality during user interaction with the user interface of the portable electronic device 20. The switch 39 is not actuated in the rest position shown in Figure 5, absent applied force by the user.

11 It will be appreciated that the switch 39 can be actuated by pressing anywhere on the touch 12 screen display 28 to cause movement of the touch screen display 28 in the form of movement 13 parallel with the base 37 or pivoting of one side of the touch screen display 28 toward the base 14 37. The switch 39 is connected to a processor (e.g. main processor 102) and can be used for further input to the processor when actuated. Although a single switch is shown any suitable 16 number of switches can be used and can be located in any suitable position.

17 [00491 The touch screen display 28 can be any suitable touch screen display such as a 18 capacitive touch screen display. A capacitive touch screen display 28 includes the display 32 19 and the touch-sensitive overlay 34, in the form of a capacitive touch-sensitive overlay 34. It will be appreciated that the capacitive touch-sensitive overlay 34 includes a number of layers in a 21 stack and is fixed to the display 32 via a suitable optically clear adhesive. The layers can 22 include, for example a substrate fixed to the LCD display 32 by a suitable adhesive, a ground 23 shield layer, a barrier layer, a pair of capacitive touch sensor layers separated by a substrate or 24 other barrier layer, and a cover layer fixed to the second capacitive touch sensor layer by a suitable adhesive. The capacitive touch sensor layers can be any suitable material such as 26 patterned indium tin oxide (ITO).

27 [00501 In the present example, the X and Y location of a touch are both determined with the 28 X location determined by a signal generated as a result of capacitive coupling with one of the 29 touch sensor layers and the Y location determined by the signal generated as a result of 1 capacitive coupling with the other of the touch sensor layers. Each of the touch-sensor layers 2 provides a signal to the controller 36 as a result of capacitive coupling with a suitable object such 3 as a finger of a user or a conductive object held in a bare hand of a user resulting in a change in 4 the electric field of each of the touch sensor layers. The signals represent the respective X and Y
touch location values. It will be appreciated that other attributes of the user's touch on the touch 6 screen display 28 can be determined. For example, the size and the shape of the touch on the 7 touch screen display 28 can be determined in addition to the location (X and Y values) based on 8 the signals received at the controller 36 from the touch sensor layers.

9 (00511 As will be appreciated, a controller interprets touch events detected on the touch screen display 28, and controls the portable electronic device 20 accordingly.
As used herein, a 11 touch event can be, for example, a single touch, a combination of touches, such as a "double 12 touch", a "touch and hold", a "touch and drag", or a touch made with sufficient force to depress 13 the switch 39 described above. The interpretation of a given touch event will depend on the 14 software and implementation details used by the portable electronic device 20. According to an embodiment, an activation touch event, also referred to as a "click" touch event or "clicking", is a 16 touch event where sufficient force is applied to the touch screen 38 to depress or activate the 17 switch 39, and to provide tactile feedback to the user. Such an activation touch event invokes an 18 action as determined by the underlying application and as displayed to the user in a graphical 19 user interface (GUI). As used herein, a user selection is made by such an activation touch event.
According to an embodiment, a highlighting touch event, also referred to as a "focus" touch 21 event, is a touch event where the touch screen display 28 is touched lightly without sufficient 22 force to activate the switch 38, and causes the item so touched to be highlighted, or otherwise 23 visibly selected, for further action.

24 [00521 It will be appreciated that for the mobile device 100, a wide range of one or more positioning or cursor/view positioning mechanisms such as a touch pad, a positioning wheel, a 26 joystick button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a set of arrow keys, a tablet, an accelerometer (for 27 sensing orientation and/or movements of the mobile device 100 etc.), or other whether presently 28 known or unknown may be employed. Similarly, any variation of keyboard 20, 22 may be used.
29 It will also be appreciated that the mobile devices 100 shown in Figures 2 through 5 are for 1 illustrative purposes only and various other mobile devices 100 are equally applicable to the 2 following examples. Other buttons may also be disposed on the mobile device housing such as 3 colour coded "Answer" and "Ignore" buttons to be used in telephonic communications.
4 Furthermore, the housing for the mobile device 100 should not be limited to the single-piece configurations shown in Figures 2 through 5, other configurations such as clamshell or "flip-6 phone" configurations are also applicable.

7 [00531 To aid the reader in understanding the structure of the mobile device 100 and how it 8 communicates with the wireless network 200, reference will now be made to Figures 6 through 9 9.

[00541 Referring first to Figure 6, shown therein is a block diagram of an exemplary 11 embodiment of a mobile device 100. The mobile device 100 comprises a number of components 12 such as a main processor 102 that controls the overall operation of the mobile device 100.
13 Communication functions, including data and voice communications, are performed through a 14 communication subsystem 104. The communication subsystem 104 receives messages from and sends messages to a wireless network 200. In this exemplary embodiment of the mobile device 16 100, the communication subsystem 104 is configured in accordance with the Global System for 17 Mobile Communication (GSM) and General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) standards, which is 18 used worldwide. Other communication configurations that are equally applicable are the 3G and 19 4G networks such as EDGE, UMTS and HSDPA, LTE, Wi-Max etc. New standards are still being defined, but it is believed that they will have similarities to the network behaviour 21 described herein, and it will also be understood by persons skilled in the art that the 22 embodiments described herein are intended to use any other suitable standards that are developed 23 in the future. The wireless link connecting the communication subsystem 104 with the wireless 24 network 200 represents one or more different Radio Frequency (RF) channels, operating according to defined protocols specified for GSM/GPRS communications.

26 [00551 The main processor 102 also interacts with additional subsystems such as a Random 27 Access Memory (RAM) 106, a flash memory 108, a display 110, an auxiliary input/output (I/O) 28 subsystem 112, a data port 114, a keyboard 116, a speaker 118, a microphone 120, a GPS
29 receiver 121, short-range communications 122, and other device subsystems 124.

1 [0056) Some of the subsystems of the mobile device 100 perform communication-related 2 functions, whereas other subsystems may provide "resident" or on-device functions. By way of 3 example, the display 110 and the keyboard 116 may be used for both communication-related 4 functions, such as entering a text message for transmission over the network 200, and device-resident functions such as a calculator or task list.

6 [0057) The mobile device 100 can send and receive communication signals over the wireless 7 network 200 after required network registration or activation procedures have been completed.
8 Network access is associated with a subscriber or user of the mobile device 100. To identify a 9 subscriber, the mobile device 100 may use a subscriber module component or "smart card" 126, such as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), a Removable User Identity Module (RUIM) and a 11 Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM). In the example shown, a 12 is to be inserted into a SIM/RUIM/USIM interface 128 in order to communicate with a network.
13 Without the component 126, the mobile device 100 is not fully operational for communication 14 with the wireless network 200. Once the SIM/RUIM/USIM 126 is inserted into the SIM/RUIM/USIM interface 128, it is coupled to the main processor 102.

16 (00581 The mobile device 100 is a battery-powered device and includes a battery interface 17 132 for receiving one or more rechargeable batteries 130. In at least some embodiments, the 18 battery 130 can be a smart battery with an embedded microprocessor. The battery interface 132 19 is coupled to a regulator (not shown), which assists the battery 130 in providing power V+ to the mobile device 100. Although current technology makes use of a battery, future technologies such 21 as micro fuel cells may provide the power to the mobile device 100.

22 [00591 The mobile device 100 also includes an operating system 134 and software 23 components 136 to 146 which are described in more detail below. The operating system 134 and 24 the software components 136 to 146 that are executed by the main processor 102 are typically stored in a persistent store such as the flash memory 108, which may alternatively be a read-only 26 memory (ROM) or similar storage element (not shown). Those skilled in the art will appreciate 27 that portions of the operating system 134 and the software components 136 to 146, such as 28 specific device applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarily loaded into a volatile store such 1 as the RAM 106. Other software components can also be included, as is well known to those 2 skilled in the art.

3 [00601 The subset of software applications 136 that control basic device operations, 4 including data and voice communication applications, may be installed on the mobile device 100 during its manufacture. Software applications may include a message application 138, a device 6 state module 140, a Personal Information Manager (PIM) 142, a connect module 144 and an IT
7 policy module 146. A message application 138 can be any suitable software program that allows 8 a user of the mobile device 100 to send and receive electronic messages, wherein messages are 9 typically stored in the flash memory 108 of the mobile device 100. A device state module 140 provides persistence, i.e. the device state module 140 ensures that important device data is stored 11 in persistent memory, such as the flash memory 108, so that the data is not lost when the mobile 12 device 100 is turned off or loses power. A PIM 142 includes functionality for organizing and 13 managing data items of interest to the user, such as, but not limited to, e-mail, text messages, 14 instant messages, contacts, calendar events, and voice mails, and may interact with the wireless network 200. A connect module 144 implements the communication protocols that are required 16 for the mobile device 100 to communicate with the wireless infrastructure and any host system 17 250, such as an enterprise system, that the mobile device 100 is authorized to interface with. An 18 IT policy module 146 receives IT policy data that encodes the IT policy, and may be responsible 19 for organizing and securing rules such as the "Set Maximum Password Attempts" IT policy.

[0061] Other types of software applications or components 139 can also be installed on the 21 mobile device 100. These software applications 139 can be pre-installed applications (i.e. other 22 than message application 138) or third party applications, which are added after the manufacture 23 of the mobile device 100. Examples of third party applications include games, calculators, 24 utilities, etc.

[0062] The additional applications 139 can be loaded onto the mobile device 100 through at 26 least one of the wireless network 200, the auxiliary 1/0 subsystem 112, the data port 114, the 27 short-range communications subsystem 122, or any other suitable device subsystem 124.

28 [0063] The data port 114 can be any suitable port that enables data communication between 29 the mobile device 100 and another computing device. The data port 114 can be a serial or a 1 parallel port. In some instances, the data port 114 can be a USB port that includes data lines for 2 data transfer and a supply line that can provide a charging current to charge the battery 130 of the 3 mobile device 100.

4 [0064] For voice communications, received signals are output to the speaker 118, and signals for transmission are generated by the microphone 120. Although voice or audio signal output is 6 accomplished primarily through the speaker 118, the display 110 can also be used to provide 7 additional information such as the identity of a calling party, duration of a voice call, or other 8 voice call related information.

9 [0065] For composing data items, such as e-mail messages, for example, a user or subscriber could use a the touch-sensitive overlay 34 on the display 32 that are part of the touch screen 11 display 28, in addition to possibly the auxiliary I/O subsystem 122. The auxiliary I/O subsystem 12 112 may include devices such as: a mouse, track ball, infrared fingerprint detector, or a roller 13 wheel with dynamic button pressing capability. A composed item may be transmitted over the 14 wireless network 200 through the communication subsystem 104.

[0066] Referring now to Figure 7, an exemplary block diagram of the communication 16 subsystem component 104 is shown. The communication subsystem 104 includes a receiver 150, 17 a transmitter 152, as well as associated components such as one or more embedded or internal 18 antenna elements 154 and 156, Local Oscillators (LOs) 158, and a processing module such as a 19 Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 160. The particular design of the communication subsystem 104 is dependent upon the communication network 200 with which the mobile device 100 is intended 21 to operate. Thus, it should be understood that the design illustrated in Figure 5 serves only as one 22 example.

23 [0067] Signals received by the antenna 154 through the wireless network 200 are input to the 24 receiver 150, which may perform such common receiver functions as signal amplification, frequency down conversion, filtering, channel selection, and analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion.
26 A/D conversion of a received signal allows more complex communication functions such as 27 demodulation and decoding to be performed in the DSP 160. In a similar manner, signals to be 28 transmitted are processed, including modulation and encoding, by the DSP
160. These DSP-29 processed signals are input to the transmitter 152 for digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion, 1 frequency up conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission over the wireless network 200 2 via the antenna 156. The DSP 160 not only processes communication signals, but also provides 3 for receiver and transmitter control. For example, the gains applied to communication signals in 4 the receiver 150 and the transmitter 152 may be adaptively controlled through automatic gain control algorithms implemented in the DSP 160.

6 [00681 The wireless link between the mobile device 100 and the wireless network 200 can 7 contain one or more different channels, typically different RF channels, and associated protocols 8 used between the mobile device 100 and the wireless network 200. An RF
channel is a limited 9 resource that must be conserved, typically due to limits in overall bandwidth and limited battery power of the mobile device 100.

11 100691 When the mobile device 100 is fully operational, the transmitter 152 is typically 12 keyed or turned on only when it is transmitting to the wireless network 200 and is otherwise 13 turned off to conserve resources. Similarly, the receiver 150 may be periodically turned off to 14 conserve power until it is needed to receive signals or information (if at all) during designated time periods.

16 [00701 Turning now to Figure 8, the mobile device 100 may display a home screen 40, which 17 may be the active screen when the mobile device 100 is powered up or may be accessible from 18 other screens. The home screen 40 generally comprises a status region 44 and a theme 19 background 46, which provides a graphical background for the display 12.
The theme background 46 displays a series of icons 42 in a predefined arrangement on a graphical 21 background. In some themes, the home screen 40 may limit the number icons 42 shown on the 22 home screen 40 so as to not detract from the theme background 46, particularly where the 23 background 46 is chosen for aesthetic reasons. The theme background 46 shown in Figure 8 24 provides a grid of icons. It will be appreciated that preferably several themes are available for the user to select and that any applicable arrangement may be used. One or more of the series of 26 icons 42 is typically a folder 52 that itself is capable of organizing any number of applications 27 therewithin.

28 [00711 The status region 44 in this embodiment comprises a date/time display 48. The theme 29 background 46, in addition to a graphical background and the series of icons 42, also comprises a 1 status bar 50. The status bar 50 provides information to the user based on the location of the 2 selection cursor 18, e.g. by displaying a name for the icon 53 that is currently highlighted.

3 100721 An application, such as an IM application 54 (see also Figure 9) may be initiated 4 (opened or viewed) from display 12 by highlighting a corresponding icon 53 using the positioning device 14 and providing a suitable user input to the mobile device 100. For example, 6 IM application 54 may be initiated by moving the positioning device 14 such that the icon 53 is 7 highlighted by the selection box 18 as shown in Figure 8, and providing a selection input, e.g. by 8 pressing the trackball 14b. Alternatively, in a mobile device 100c such as in Figures 4 and 5, an 9 application may be initiated (opened or viewed) from a touch screen display 28 by executing a "click" touch event or "clicking" the touch screen display 28 at the X and Y
position of the 11 corresponding icon 53.

12 [00731 Figure 9 shows an example of the other software applications and components 139 13 that may be stored on and used with the mobile device 100. Only examples are shown in Figure 14 9 and such examples are not to be considered exhaustive. In this example, an IM application 54, internet browser 56, phone application 58, address book 60 and a profiles application 62 are 16 shown to illustrate the various features that may be provided by the mobile device 100. Also 17 shown in Figure 9 is the message application 138, which in the following will be referred to as 18 an email application 138 for clarity. It will be appreciated that the various applications may 19 operate independently or may utilize features of other applications. For example, the phone application 62 and email application 138 may use the address book 60 for contact details. IM
21 application 54 may be implemented as a PIN-to-PIN system (where PIN refers to a personal 22 identification number) or may be a locally installed application for use with a 3rd party system, 23 details of which are described below and shown in Figure 8. As such, it can be appreciated that 24 the mobile device 100 may facilitate the use of multiple IM clients operated by respective systems and the IM application 54 generally represents any one or more IM
protocols and 26 platforms stored on and available to the user of the mobile device 100.

27 [00741 IM application 54 comprises or otherwise has access to an IM message store 61, 28 which is used to store instant messages and IM sessions or conversations, for the IM application 29 54, each comprising one or more messages exchanged with a particular correspondent or buddy.

1 The IM application 54 also comprises or otherwise has access to an IM
contact list 63, which 2 may or may not be a subset of the contacts in the address book 60. The IM
Contact List 63 3 comprises the buddies with which the user of the mobile device 100 can engage in an instant 4 messaging conversation, using the system associated with the IM application 54. The IM
application 54 also comprises or otherwise has access to a database or other memory structure 6 for IM protocols 64, which may be included where multiple IM protocols are utilized, either 7 through different interfaces or through a unified interface. The IM
protocols 64 are used to keep 8 track of presence information and provides the ability for the IM
application 54 to handle 9 incoming and outgoing messages with contacts associated with different IM
platforms.

[00751 Turning now to Figure 10, a configuration suitable for a user of mobile device A, 11 hereafter referred to as mobile device 100A, to participate in instant messaging with buddies 12 included in their IM contact list 63 is shown. It can be seen in Figure 10 that two examples of 13 instant messaging systems are shown. A PIN-based messaging system is shown that utilizes the 14 wireless router 26 and a 3rd party IM service is also shown that utilizes a 3d party IM server 86 accessed by mobile device I OOA through the network 200. As can be seen, the 3rd parry IM
16 server 86 may also communicate with desktop users 85 thus facilitating instant messaging 17 between desktop users 85 and between a mobile device user 100 and a desktop user 85.
18 Similarly, the PIN-based messaging system may also facilitate communications with desktop 19 users 85.

100761 In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 10, the PIN-based messaging system is 21 implemented using a server-based communication infrastructure, such as one that provides 22 email, SMS, voice, Internet and other communications. Particularly suitable for hosting a peer-23 to-peer messaging server 80, is the wireless router 26 used in systems such as those shown in 24 Figure 1. In Figure 10, the wireless router 26 facilitates communications such as instant messaging between mobile device 100A and mobile devices for User B, User C and User D, 26 denoted by 100B, 1000 and 100D respectively. It will be appreciated that the number of users 27 participating in the example shown in Figure 10 is for illustrative purposes only. Instant 28 messaging is provided by the instant messaging program 54 stored on each mobile device I OOA
29 - I OOD which is initiated from the home screen 40 by highlighting and selecting the IM icon 53 1 as illustrated in Figure 8. The wireless router 26 routes messages between the mobile devices 2 100A-I00D according to a PIN-to-PIN protocol 82.

3 [0077] A PIN-to-PIN based instant message is generally denoted by numeral 68 in Figure 10.
4 In this embodiment, the message 68 is a PIN-based message. In a PIN-based messaging protocol 82, each message 68 has associated therewith a PIN corresponding to the mobile device 100 6 which has sent the message 68 (source) and includes a destination PIN
identifying the intended 7 recipient (destination). Further detail of an example structure for the messages 68 is also shown 8 in Figure 10. Each message 68 generally comprises a body 75, which contains the content for 9 the message 68 (e.g. text), and a header 69, which contains various fields used for transmitting and processing each message 68. In this example, the header 69 includes a message type field 70 11 to specify the type of transmission (e.g. PIN, SMS etc.), a source field 71 to specify the device 12 address for the sender, a destination field 72 to specify the device address for the intended 13 recipient, a conversation ID field 73 to identify which conversation thread the message 68 14 corresponds to (e.g. such that each message 68 is identified by the conversation in which it was sent), and a timestamp field 74 to indicate the time (and if desired, the date) at which the 16 message 68 was sent by the designated sender.

17 [0078] It will be appreciated that other information or attributes may be included in the 18 message 68, such as a subject field (not shown) to enable a subject for part or all of the 19 conversation to be transported with the message 68 (e.g. to create new subjects, modify subjects, notify others of subjects, etc.). Although not shown in Figure 10, one or more tags can also be 21 used to indicate to the IM application 54, upon receipt of a message 68, that the message 68 has 22 certain attributes such as a subject that is to be displayed, whether additional information is being 23 transported (i.e. data or information in addition to the message content), or whether the message 24 68 is being used for some other purpose such as provisioning, synchronization, etc.

[0079] In general, in a PIN based messaging protocol 82, the sender of the message 68 26 knows the PIN of the intended recipient. This is preferably established when the two devices 27 request to add each other to their respective contact or buddy lists. At the time of requesting new 28 contacts, in traditional PIN-to-PIN protocols 82, the two respective PIN
numbers may be 29 exchanged via request e-mails which are configured to be intercepted by respective IM

1 applications 54 so as to not appear in the message list or "inbox" of the user. In other 2 embodiments, to avoid the exchange of email messages to add a buddy to the IM contact list 63, 3 a global address list (GAL) application (at the host system 250 - not shown) may instead be 4 accessed in order to obtain the PIN for the intended recipient directly.
Alternatively, the user may simply ask for the PIN from another user and enter it manually.

6 [00801 In the example shown in Figure 10, mobile device 100A can communicate directly 7 with any of the mobile devices 100B-100D through the peer-to-peer messaging server 80 as 8 indicated by the short-dashed line. Instant messaging can also be accomplished through the 3`d 9 party IM server 86 by sending 3`d party based instant messages 84 over the wireless network 200 as indicated by the long-dashed line.

11 [00811 When conducting a PIN-to-PIN instant messaging session according to the 12 embodiment shown in Figure 10, the mobile devices 100A-100D can communicate directly with 13 the wireless router 26 in a client based exchange where, similar to other peer-to-peer programs, 14 an intermediate server is not required. A message 68 sent by one mobile device 100 is received by the wireless router 26, which obtains the PIN number for the intended recipient from 16 information associated with the message 324 (e.g. a data log) or from the message 324 itself.
17 Upon obtaining the recipient's PIN according to the PIN-to-PIN protocol 82, the wireless router 18 26 then routes the message 68 to the recipient associated with the mobile device 100 having such 19 a PIN. The wireless router 26 typically also provides a delivery confirmation to the original sender, which may or may not be displayed to the user. The destination device can also provide 21 such delivery information. The wireless router 26 should be capable of routing messages 68 22 reliably and hold onto the messages 68 until they are successfully delivered. Alternatively, if 23 delivery cannot be made after a certain timeout period, the wireless router 26 may provide a 24 response indicating a failed delivery. The wireless router 26 may choose to expire a message 68 if a certain waiting period lapses.

26 [00821 It will also be appreciated that, as noted above, instant messaging can be implemented 27 using any other suitable protocol such as SMS. In SMS, a message is transmitted to an SMC
28 center (SMSC) within a carrier's infrastructure, and then delivered to the mobile phone number I of the destination device. The SMSC would also be configured to hold onto messages and 2 deliver then once the destination device is within coverage.

3 [00831 When conducting an instant messaging session using a 3d party IM
application, 4 access to the 3`d party instant messaging server 86 is first established and instant messages 84 exchanged over the wireless network 200 according to the appropriate protocol used by the 3`d 6 party. It will be appreciated that the principles discussed below are equally applicable to both 7 PIN-to-PIN messaging and other Internet service-based instant messaging systems hosted by 8 such 3`d parties.

9 [00841 Figure 11 shows an example user interface (UI) for a contacts screen 230 provided by the IM application 54, displayed for User A. The contacts screen 230 in this example organizes 11 contacts or "buddies" into separate lists, a first list 232 of current or active or open conversations, 12 and a second list 234 of all contacts, the lists being distinguished according to the status of User 13 A's contacts. In this example, User A has current conversations pending with Users B and C, as 14 shown in the first list 232; and four of eight contacts are available to User A at this time, as shown in the second list 234. For each contact listed in the contacts screen 230, a name 233 and 16 emoticon 234 or other icon may be displayed in the appropriate list according to the current 17 status or presence of that contact. Each contact listing may also comprise the most recent 18 message 236 in the conversation history to identify the nature of the conversation, as well as the 19 avatar 235 or other distinguishable icon or representation of the contact.
The contacts screen 230 also comprises a contacts list header 231 comprising a name 238, tagline 240, and avatar 241 21 (similar to each contact listing) for the user associated with the contacts screen 230, in this 22 example User A. The tagline 240 comprises user-definable text, e.g. a message regarding what 23 the user is currently doing, an announcement they wish to share, etc.

24 [00851 User A may continue a current conversation (e.g. with User B or User C) by highlighting and selecting the corresponding contact listing in the first list 232. User A may also 26 begin a new conversation by highlighting and selecting the appropriate contact listing in the 27 second list 234. New conversations can also be initiated with a contact having an existing 28 conversation (i.e. multiple conversations with the same contact). As shown in Figure 11, User A
29 may begin a new conversation with User D by selecting User D's contact listing, which the IM

I application 54 detects and initiates a conversation screen 242 with User D, the UI for which is 2 shown in Figure 12.

3 [0086] The conversation screen 242 comprises a message history portion 244, which lists the 4 messages exchanged in the conversation with, in this example, User D. In this example, the messages are added to the bottom of the history, the most recent message being denoted by 6 numeral 248 in Figure 12. The conversation screen 242 also comprises a message entry and 7 status portion 250. The message entry and status portion 250 comprises a message entry box 252 8 to enable User A to type a message, and a notification bar 256 for notifying User A of new 9 messages as they arrive and who they are from. A status icon 258 may also be provided with a new notification to indicate the status or presence of the user sending the new message. Also 11 shown in Figure 12 is an emoticon link 254, which can be used to add emoticons into the 12 message being composed. The conversation screen 242 also comprises a conversation header 13 243, which comprises the name 233 and avatar 235 for the recipient, User D
in this example.

14 [0087] As discussed above, in order to switch between conversations, a user typically closes the current conversation screen 242, returns to the contacts screen 230, and opens another 16 conversation screen 242. This requires multiple steps that can be inconvenient to the user, 17 especially when frequent navigation between multiple active conversations is desired. To avoid 18 such inconvenience, the IM application 54 can be configured or otherwise programmed to 19 display a list of conversations upon detecting selection of an option via a menu item or link within the conversation screen 242. Figure 13 provides a block diagram illustrating one 21 embodiment for implementing an IM conversation switcher module 264 for the IM application 22 54. The conversation switcher module 264 is able to monitor and access data pertaining to the 23 conversations stored in the IM message store 61 and IM contact list 63, which can communicate 24 via the various IM protocols 64 (if applicable). The coordination of the conversation switcher module 264 with the IM message store 61, IM contact list 63 and IM protocols 64, facilitates the 26 participation in instant messaging using multiple IM platforms (e.g. see also Figure 10). The data 27 pertaining to the conversations is used to determine which conversations should be listed and in 28 what order. Based on such determinations, the conversation switcher module 264 provides data 1 to an IM GUI module 266 for displaying a list of conversations available to the user and 2 subsequently displaying another conversation selected by the user.

3 [00881 The conversation switcher module 264 may access the IM message store 61 to 4 determine the date and time and the read vs. unread status of messages in each conversation for determining the order in which to display the conversations the user may navigate to. As 6 discussed above, the conversation switcher module 264 prioritizes the conversations based first 7 on whether the conversation has any unread messages to create a first group of conversations and 8 within this first group of conversations having unread messages, prioritizes based on when the 9 last activity occurred. A second group of conversations having no unread messages can also be created and those conversations within the second group are also prioritized based on when the 11 last activity occurred. In this way, the user has easiest and most immediate access to 12 conversations with the most recent activity (with unread messages having highest priority) with 13 the ability to scroll down the list of conversations to locate and initiate a relatively "older"
14 conversation if desired. This can be particularly advantageous upon detecting that a new conversation has arrived, e.g. by observing a message in the notification bar 256. The user may 16 then simply initiate the display of a list of conversations as will be exemplified below, and at the 17 top of the list will be the most recently received unread message. This enables quick navigation 18 into and out of various conversations facilitating participation in these various conversations, in 19 particular to keep up with a conversation as new activity occurs.

[00891 As noted, in order to initiate the conversation list to facilitate switching between 21 conversations, the conversation switcher module 264 detects one or more inputs provided 22 through certain input devices, such as those indicated in Figure 13. Upon detecting a first input 23 to select an option for switching between conversations, the conversation switcher module 264 24 may then determine the conversation hierarchy by either determining this in real time or referring to data that is periodically updated, and display the list of conversations.
The way in which the 26 list of conversations is initiated is typically dependent on the input devices available. In some 27 embodiments, an option for loading the list is provided in a menu initiated by the user, and in 28 other embodiments, options may be provided directly in the conversation screen 242 via a link, 29 i.e. to enable the list of conversations to be displayed without the need to first access a menu.

1 [0090] Turning now to Figure 14, a condensed menu 270 is shown, which can be initiated by 2 the user using an appropriate input device, e.g. pressing the trackball 14a, 14b or selecting a 3 menu or option button 24. The condensed menu 270 can also be initiated and displayed by 4 detecting selection of a convenience key 15. The condensed menu 270 in this example provides quick access to a selected list of options, including a Switch Conversation option 272, an Add 6 Smiley option 274, a View Contact List option 276, and a Full Menu option 278. The Add 7 Smiley option 274 is similar to the emoticon link 254 and allows the user to insert a smiley face 8 emoticon into the message being composed. The View Contact List option 276 provides a 9 shortcut to navigate to the contacts screen 230, and the Full Menu option 278 enables a more complete menu (not shown) with a greater number of options to be displayed.
The Switch 11 Conversation option 272, when selected (e.g. by highlighting the Switch Conversation option 12 272 using a selection bar 280 and pressing the trackball 14a, 14b), initiates a determination by 13 the IM conversation switcher module 264 of the hierarchy of conversations, and the display of 14 the user's conversations, according to the hierarchy discussed above and shown in Figure 15.
[0091] A list of conversations 290 is shown in Figure 15 and comprises, in this example, a 16 pop-up window or selection box which contains a conversation listing 292 for each conversation 17 in which User A is/has engaged, according to a particular hierarchy. The hierarchy can be 18 predetermined or set according to user preferences. In this example, the hierarchy is 19 predetermined to place priority on unread messages and if more than one conversation has an unread message, a first group of conversations having unread messages are listed in the order of 21 most recent activity. Following this first group of conversations may then be a second group of 22 other conversations that do not have an unread message, which would be listed within the second 23 group in order based on most recent activity. This allows the most current activity to be quickly 24 accessed but also provides a way to access and switch into any conversation, e.g. by scrolling through the list of conversations 290. It can be seen in Figure 15 that since a message has just 26 arrived from User C and has not yet been read, a conversation listing 292 for User C is placed 27 first in the list of conversations 290, followed by a conversation listing 292 for User D which 28 would have more recent activity than the conversation with User B since the list of conversations 29 290 is being displayed within the conversation screen 242 associated with User D. It may be noted however that if the list of conversations 290 is initiated before any messages are sent or 1 received in the conversation with User D, the most recent activity for those conversations with 2 no unread messages may be a different conversation such as the conversation with User B.

3 [0092] By highlighting the conversation listing 292 for User C using a selection bar 294 4 provided in the list of conversations 290, and selecting the conversation listing 292, e.g. by pressing the trackball 14a, 14b; User A is navigated from the conversation with User D to the 6 conversation with User C, in which there is an unread message 302, also being the most recent 7 message 248 shown in Figure 16. Figures 14 to 16 illustrate that a condensed menu 270 can be 8 initiated from directly within the conversation screen 242, a Switch Conversation option 272 9 then provided and, upon selecting the Switch Conversation option 272, a list of conversations 290 displayed directly within the conversation screen 242 to provide quick access to various 11 conversations listings 292 arranged in an order dictated by a hierarchy.
The hierarchy in this 12 example puts priority on unread messages first and then on most recent activity.

13 [0093] In some embodiments, accessing a menu in order to initiate the conversation list 292 14 can be avoided by providing a link directly in the conversation screen 242, which can be selected using a suitable input mechanism to then immediately display the list of conversations 290.
16 Figure 17 provides two such examples, although it will be appreciated than only one link would 17 typically be used. In one embodiment, the link is comprised of a conversation switch button 306, 18 in this example placed to the left of the message entry box 252. By placing the conversation 19 switch button 306 close to the message entry box 252, an input mechanism such as the trackball 14a, 14b may be translated or "flicked" in a horizontal direction, i.e.
towards the button 306.
21 This would highlight the switch button 306 and pressing the trackball 14a, 14b or an equivalent 22 selection mechanism would cause the list of conversations 290 to be immediately displayed as 23 shown in Figure 15. In this example, the trackball 14a, 14b would be free to scroll vertically 24 within the conversation screen 242, e.g. to highlight the message notification 256 but a horizontal flick or scroll towards the switch button 306 would place focus on the switch button 26 306 to facilitate access to the list of conversations 290 while distinguishing such an input from 27 normal scrolling of the trackball 14a, 14b. The switch button 306 can also be located on other 28 parts of the conversation screen 242, however, to minimize scrolling required to highlight the 1 switch button 306, it should be placed close to the message entry box 252 which is typically the 2 most used portion of the conversation screen 242.

3 [00941 When other input mechanisms are available, e.g. if a touchscreen 28 is employed as 4 shown in Figures 4 and 5, the link may be placed anywhere within the conversation window 242 since that location only needs to be touched by the user to highlight the link. In another 6 embodiment, also shown in Figure 17, a hyperlink style switch link 304 is placed in the 7 conversation header 243 and when the conversation switcher module 264 detects a touch event at 8 that location, causes the list of conversations 290 to be immediately displayed as shown in 9 Figure 15. It can be appreciated that such touch events can be effected using a finger, stylus or other similar device.

11 [00951 Figure 18 illustrates a set of computer executable instructions that may be employed 12 to populate and display the conversation list 290 by providing the Conversation Switch option 13 272 in the condensed menu 270 according to the example shown in Figures 14 to 16. When a 14 conversation screen 242 is open, the conversation switcher module 264 in the IM application 54 first detects the initiation of the condensed menu 270 at 400. Upon receiving a first input for 16 initiating the condensed menu 270, e.g. by detecting depression of the trackball 14a, 14b, the 17 condensed menu 270 is displayed at 402 and is populated to include the Switch Conversation 18 option 272 as shown in Figure 14. While the condensed menu 270 is being displayed in the 19 conversation screen 242, the conversation switcher module 264 may then look for and detect a second input selecting the Switch Conversation option 272 at 404, e.g. by detecting a second 21 depression of the trackball 14a, 14b or selection of a menu or option button 24. Upon detecting 22 the second input at 404, the conversation switcher module 264 would obtain the read/unread 23 status of the conversations and the time at which the last activity occurred by accessing the 24 necessary information from the IM message store 61 and IM contact list store 63 and instruct the IM GUI module 266 to display the conversation list 290 at 406. While the conversation list 290 26 is being displayed, the IM GUI module 266 would allow the user to scroll through the 27 conversation list 290 and highlight a desired conversation 292. The IM GUI
module 266 would 28 then look for and detect a third input selecting one of the conversation listings 292 at 408, which 29 would then be communicated to the conversation switcher module 264 for accessing the selected 1 conversation from the IM message store 61 and provide the associated data to the IM GUI
2 module 266 for displaying the selected conversation at 410. Referring to the example shown in 3 Figures 14 to 16, the operations performed in Figure 18 would enable navigation from the 4 conversation with User D to the conversation with User C to read the unread message 302. A
similar sequence of operations may then be performed to navigate to yet another conversation or 6 to navigate back to the conversation with User D.

7 [00961 Figure 19 illustrates a set of computer executable instructions that may be employed 8 to enable navigation to another conversation using one of the links shown in Figure 17. While in 9 the conversation screen 242, e.g. as shown in Figure 17, the conversation switcher module 264 looks for and detects either the selection of the hyperlink style switch link 304, e.g. by detecting 11 a touch event at or near the X-Y position of the switch link 304; or a trackball flick or scroll 12 accompanied by selection of the switch button 306 at 502 (e.g. towards and then highlighting the 13 switch button 306 and subsequent selection). Regardless of which input mechanism and link are 14 used, the conversation switcher module 264, similar to the above example, would obtain the read/unread status of the conversations and the time at which the last activity occurred by 16 accessing the necessary information from the IM message store 61 and IM
contact list store 63 17 and instruct the IM GUI module 266 to instead immediately display the list of conversations 290 18 at 504, i.e. without first loading and displaying a menu. While the list of conversations 290 is 19 being displayed, the IM GUI module 266 would allow the user to scroll through the conversation listings 292 and highlight a desired conversation listing 292, e.g. by highlighting the desired 21 conversation using the selection bar 294. The IM GUI module 266 would then look for and 22 detect another input selecting one of the conversations 292 at 506, which would then be 23 communicated to the conversation switcher module 264 to access the selected conversation from 24 the IM message store 61 and provide the associated data to the IM GUI
module 266 for displaying the selected conversation 292 at 508. In this example, it can be appreciated that use 26 of the condensed menu 270 is avoided and the list of conversations 290 can be displayed 27 immediately in the conversation screen 242 by simply selecting the link which is provided 28 directly within the conversation screen 242.

1 [0097] It will be appreciated that the principles described herein may be applied to only 2 conversations associated with the same IM protocol 64 or may be applied to all conversations 3 across multiple IM platforms. The conversation switcher module 264 is therefore capable of 4 accessing data for multiple IM protocols and arranging the conversation list 290 to include any conversation, regardless of the IM platform in which it exists. This can be accomplished by 6 providing the conversation switcher module 264 with access to IM message stores 61 and IM
7 contact lists 63 associated with all IM protocols 64 available to and used by the mobile device 8 100.

9 [0098] As shown herein, to avoid inconveniences associated with closing a conversation and opening another conversation from a contacts screen in order to navigate between such 11 conversations, the IM application 54 can be configured to display a list of conversations 290 12 upon detecting selection of a menu item 272 or link 304, 306 within the conversation screen 242 13 and permit navigation to another conversation.

14 [0099] The conversations may be prioritized based first on whether the conversation has any unread messages and within the grouping of those conversations having unread messages, may 16 be prioritized based on when the last activity occurred. In this way, the user has easiest and most 17 immediate access to conversations with the most recent activity with the ability to scroll down 18 the list of conversations 290 to continue a relatively "older" conversation if desired. This can be 19 particularly advantageous upon detecting that a new conversation has arrived, e.g. upon observing a new incoming message. The user may then simply initiate display of the list of 21 conversations 290, and at the top of the list is the most recently received, unread message. This 22 enables quick navigation into and out of various conversations facilitating participation in these 23 various conversations, in particular to keep up with a conversation as new activity occurs.

24 [00100] It will be appreciated that the particular options, outcomes, applications, screen shots and icons shown in the figures and described above are for illustrative purposes only and many 26 other variations can be used according to the principles described.

27 [00101] Although the above has been described with reference to certain specific 28 embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art as 29 outlined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for switching between conversations in an instant messaging application comprising the steps of:
- providing an option for displaying a list of conversations while in a first conversation screen;
- upon detecting selection of said option, displaying a list of conversations in said first conversation screen, said list of conversations comprising a plurality of other conversations ordered according to a comparison of recent activity in said other conversations; and - upon detecting selection of a desired one of said other conversations, displaying a second conversation screen for said desired one of said other conversations.

2. The method according claim 1 wherein said recent activity comprises the presence of unread messages, said list of conversations being ordered with a first group of conversations having said unread messages coming before a second group of conversations without unread messages.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein said recent activity further comprises a time at which a most recent message was sent or received, said first group of conversations being ordered based on said time and said second group of conversations being separately ordered based on time.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said recent activity comprises a time at which a most recent message was sent or received, said list of conversations being ordered based on said time.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said option is provided in a menu, said method further comprising: upon detecting a first input, displaying said menu in said first conversation screen and including said option in said menu.

6. The method according to claim 5 wherein said menu is a condensed menu including another option for initiating a full menu.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein said option is provided by displaying a link within said first conversation screen and selection of said link selects said option.

8. The method according to claim 7 wherein said selection of said link comprises receiving a first input via a touch event or detecting movement of a trackball towards said link.

9. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for switching between conversations in an instant messaging application, said computer executable instructions comprising instructions for:
- providing an option for displaying a list of conversations while in a first conversation screen;
- upon detecting selection of said option, displaying a list of conversations in said first conversation screen, said list of conversations comprising a plurality of other conversations ordered according to a comparison of recent activity in said other conversations; and - upon detecting selection of a desired one of said other conversations, displaying a second conversation screen for said desired one of said other conversations.

10. The computer readable medium according claim 9 wherein said recent activity comprises the presence of unread messages, said list of conversations being ordered with a first group of conversations having said unread messages coming before a second group of conversations without unread messages.

11. The computer readable medium according to claim 10 wherein said recent activity further comprises a time at which a most recent message was sent or received, said first group of conversations being ordered based on said time and said second group of conversations being separately ordered based on time.

12. The computer readable medium according to any one of claims 9 to 11 wherein said recent activity comprises a time at which a most recent message was sent or received, said list of conversations being ordered based on said time.

13. The computer readable medium according to any one of claims 9 to 12 wherein said option is provided in a menu, said computer readable medium further comprising instructions for:
upon detecting a first input, displaying said menu in said first conversation screen and including said option in said menu.

14. The computer readable medium according to claim 13 wherein said menu is a condensed menu including another option for initiating a full menu.

15. The computer readable medium according to any one of claims 9 to 14 wherein said option is provided by displaying a link within said first conversation screen and selection of said link selects said option.

16. The computer readable medium according to claim 15 wherein said selection of said link comprises receiving a first input via a touch event or detecting movement of a trackball towards said link.

17. A mobile device comprising a display, a processor, one or more input mechanisms and the computer readable medium according to any one of claims 9 to 16.

18. A method for switching between conversations in an instant messaging application comprising the steps of:

- providing directly within a first conversation screen for said instant messaging application, a link for immediately displaying a list of conversations upon selection thereof;
- upon detecting selection of said link, displaying a list of conversations in said first conversation screen, said list of conversations comprising a plurality of other conversations ordered according to a comparison of recent activity in said other conversations; and - upon detecting selection of a desired one of said other conversations, displaying a second conversation screen for said desired one of said other conversations.

19. The method according claim 18 wherein said recent activity comprises the presence of unread messages, said list of conversations being ordered with a first group of conversations having said unread messages coming before a second group of conversations without unread messages.

20. The method according to claim 19 wherein said recent activity further comprises a time at which a most recent message was sent or received, said first group of conversations being ordered based on said time and said second group of conversations being separately ordered based on time.

21. The method according to claim 18 wherein said recent activity comprises a time at which a most recent message was sent or received, said list of conversations being ordered based on said time.

22. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21 wherein said list of conversations can also be accessed through a menu, said method further comprising: upon detecting a first input, displaying said menu in said first conversation screen and including said link as an option in said menu.

23. The method according to claim 22 wherein said menu is a condensed menu including another option for initiating a full menu.

24. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 23 wherein said selection of said link comprises receiving a first input via a touch event.

25. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 24 wherein said selection of said link comprises detecting movement of a trackball towards said link to highlight said link.

26. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 18 to 25.

27. A mobile device comprising a display, a processor, one or more input mechanisms and the computer readable medium according to claim 26.