JP4884514B2 - Electronic device and menu item selection method and program thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device, a menu item selection method, and a program thereof, and in particular, a menu item having a function for selecting a specific menu item from a menu displayed on an operation screen in an electronic device such as a mobile phone or a personal computer. The present invention relates to a selection method and a program thereof.

  In recent years, multifunctional electronic devices such as mobile phones and personal computers, that is, electronic devices having various functions in a single device often have a function of performing a specific action on a specific person. That is, in many cases, the cellular phone has a telephone function, the personal computer has an electronic mail function, and more recently, each of these devices has a structure having both a telephone function and an electronic mail function. In these multifunctional electronic devices, so-called menus are often used for selecting functions. 1, (A), (B), (C) show an example of such a menu.

  The menu shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C is an example of what is displayed on the display screen (LCD display) of the mobile phone. In this example, the display menu is “mail function”, “memo”. “Function”, “Image registration function”, “Ring melody registration function”, “Address book function”, “Wake-up function” (FIG. 1, (A)). When you want to call a specific action for a desired person using this menu, for example, Mr. A, first press the “Address Book” button indicating “Address Book Function” to activate the function. Then, the “address list” screen shown in FIG. 1B is displayed. Next, Mr. A is selected from this address list and the “OK” button is pressed. After that, it is possible to make a call to Mr. A by activating a predetermined telephone transmission function.

  As described above, in the conventional technology, when a specific action is to be performed on a specific person, the function menu is first displayed, and the corresponding function is selected and input from there, and then the corresponding person is selected and input. Furthermore, an operation for starting the corresponding action is required. In general, there are many cases where a specific person as an opponent who takes action in this way is limited to some extent (about several people). It is necessary to go through an operation consisting of a large number of stages.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention is an apparatus and method for enabling an action to be performed with a relatively simple operation when an action is taken with respect to a specific partner (person) who is likely to take an action. The purpose is to provide. Here, “action” refers to all actions performed using a mobile phone or the like, for example, making a call to a person, sending an e-mail, or displaying related data of the person.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention makes it possible to register information representing a specific person who receives an action as a menu item. That is, when a mobile phone or the like as an electronic device is used, there are many cases where telephone communication with a specific person, mail exchange, etc. are performed. In this case, a specific person who is an object for which an operator wants to perform an action By registering information that represents a specific person as a menu item as in the present invention, it is not necessary for the operator to recognize the function in particular, thus providing an easy-to-use operating environment. Is possible.

  In addition, it is possible to register such a person as a menu item, and also to register a function as a menu item, so that the user can configure an arbitrary menu configuration according to the usage form. Registration is possible. That is, a user can register two people as menu items as menu items, register three types of functions as menu items, and eventually register a menu of five items. It is also possible for the user to register six specific persons as menu items, and not to register functions as menu items, and to register a total of six menu items. In this way, the system can be flexibly applied to the usage pattern of individual users, or can be applied flexibly even when the usage pattern changes over time even for the same user. Can be provided.

  By registering information representing a specific person as a menu item as in the present invention, it is not necessary for the operator to recognize the function in particular, so that it is possible to provide an easy-to-use operating environment.

  In addition, it is possible to provide a system that can be flexibly applied to each user's usage pattern, or can be applied flexibly even when the usage pattern changes over time even for the same user. It is.

(A), (B), (C) is a figure for demonstrating the aspect of a menu item selection of an example of the past. It is a figure for demonstrating notably the aspect of the menu item selection operation | movement by one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the mobile telephone which can implement the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement flow of the menu display operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is FIG. (1) which shows the structure of the menu structure file used with the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is FIG. (2) which shows the structure of the menu structure file used with the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the icon data file used with the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. (A), (B), (C), (D) is a figure (the 1) for demonstrating the procedure of the menu item registration in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. (A), (B), (C), (D) is a figure (the 2) for demonstrating the procedure of the menu item registration in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. (A), (B), (C), (D) is a figure (the 3) for demonstrating the procedure of the menu item registration in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart (the 1) which shows the flow of the menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the structural example of the person information storage file used in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart (the 2) which shows the flow of the menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart (the 3) which shows the flow of the menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart (the 4) which shows the flow of the menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart (the 5) which shows the flow of the menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is FIG. (1) for demonstrating the example of an actual menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. It is FIG. (2) for demonstrating the example of an actual menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. (A), (B), (C) is a figure (the 3) for demonstrating the example of an actual menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. (A), (B), (C) is a figure (the 4) for demonstrating the example of an actual menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. (A), (B), (C) is a figure (the 5) for demonstrating the example of an actual menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. (A), (B), (C) is a figure (the 6) for demonstrating the example of an actual menu item selection operation | movement in the menu item selection method by one Example of this invention. 1 is a perspective view of a notebook personal computer to which the present invention is applicable. 1 is a perspective view of a desktop personal computer to which the present invention is applicable.

  The configuration of the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 conceptually shows a mode in which a registration menu is used by a menu item selection method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this case, a mobile phone will be described as an example.

  As shown in the figure, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a person's face photo is directly used as a menu. If the item of Mr. A's face photo in this menu screen is selected, for example, an “off hook” key When “” is pressed, the telephone call operation for Mr. A is automatically started, and when the “mail” key is pressed, the e-mail transmission operation for Mr. A is automatically started, and the “Determination” key When is pressed, “Mr. A information” stored in advance is automatically displayed on the screen.

  With this configuration, the operator can recognize the operation target as a “person” rather than a “function”. For example, if you want to call Mr. A or send an e-mail as in the case of the above example, the operator's consciousness is a person named “Mr. A” rather than a “function” such as a phone book function. It is thought that consciousness of Accordingly, by adding “person” to the menu as in the configuration according to the present invention and selecting “person”, the operation procedure can be closer to the movement of the operator's consciousness, and the user can be operated more. It is possible to provide a friendly man-machine interface. Note that when the person registered in the menu item is displayed on the screen, the actual display on the screen is not limited to a facial photograph as in this example, and any person who can identify the person may be used. , An identification mark, or a simple name plate.

  Next, the configuration of one embodiment of the present embodiment will be described more specifically.

  FIG. 3 is an internal block diagram of the mobile phone 20 that can implement the menu item selection method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The cellular phone 20 includes an antenna 1 that transmits and receives signals to and from a base station, and a radio transmission and reception unit 2 that processes radio frequency signals transmitted and received by the antenna 1 to convert them into audio signals and image signals, or vice versa. A baseband processing unit 3 and an audio input / output unit 9, a speaker 10 and a microphone 11 for inputting and outputting audio signals, a display control unit 7 for controlling display of image signals, a main LCD (liquid crystal display device, display) 21 and Sub LCD 23, main operation unit 25 including various keys for user operation input, input operation unit 5 including rear key 22, registration unit 6a for registering various information such as telephone number, mail address, URL, and operation history Stores a memory 6 comprising a history unit 6b for storing the data, a control unit 4 for integrating and controlling each of the above-mentioned units, and various data described later. Including the ROM4a to be.

  Here, when the “menu” key on the main operation unit 25 of the input operation unit 5 of the cellular phone 20 is pressed by the operator, the screen of the main LCD 25 of FIG. A rotary menu as shown at the left end is displayed. FIG. 4 shows an operation flow of the mobile phone 20 until such a menu screen is displayed.

  In FIG. 4, when the “menu” key is pressed by the operator in step S1, the control unit 4 receives this operation input and executes a menu activation operation in step S2. Specifically, in step S3, a menu configuration acquisition operation is first performed. That is, the control unit 4 reads the menu configuration data from the menu configuration file 61 (see FIG. 5) stored in advance in the registration unit 6a of the memory 6.

  Here, the menu configuration file 61 is configured in units of folders as shown in FIG. 5, and each folder has a folder name for identifying the folder itself as shown in the figure, and is further displayed as a menu. “Function”, “Person”, and “Folder” (child folder) are registered as the number of items registered as each menu item and the attribute of each item. As shown in the figure, in the case of a “function” item, a “start program ID”, a “function name” of a program for starting the function, and an “icon ID” of an icon image when the item is displayed on the screen. In the case of “person”, “person name” and “image ID” of the person's face photo are registered. In the case of “folder”, “folder name” and “folder number” for identification are registered. Is done. The “image ID” of the person's face photograph is stored in a “person information storage file” (registered in the registration unit 6a of the memory 6) described later.

  An example is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, six items are registered in the folder F1 named “top menu”, and the breakdown is as shown in the figure, with persons A, B, and C (menu items m1, m2, and m3 in FIG. 2). "Time display" as a function (corresponding to m4), "Mail menu" as a folder (corresponding to m5), and "Schedule book" as a function (m6) Corresponding to). Furthermore, in the folder “Mail Menu” F2, two items of the functions “Create Mail” and “Received Mail List” are registered.

  Returning to FIG. 4, in step S <b> 4, the control unit 4 analyzes each of the folders read from the registration unit 6 a of the memory 6. That is, in step S5, the attribute of each item stored in the folder is determined. As a result, when the item attribute is “function”, the item information “start program ID”, “function name”, and “icon ID” are read and written to a predetermined address in the RAM built in the control unit 4. Next, in step S7, the control unit 4 first reads the icon storage location and icon file name from the icon data file 62 (see FIG. 7) regarding the icon identified by the icon ID, and information on the corresponding icon according to the read information. (Image information) is acquired and displayed as menu items (m4, m6) on the menu screen (step S12).

  If the item attribute is “person” in step S5, the “person name” and “image ID” are read from the menu configuration file 61 and written to a predetermined address in the RAM in step S8. In step S9, for the image information identified by the image ID, first, information on the storage destination and the corresponding image file is read from the “person information storage file”, and the corresponding image information is read from the ROM according to the information. It is read and displayed as menu items (m1, m2, m3) on the menu screen (S12).

  If the item attribute is “folder” (child folder), “folder name” (child folder name) is written to the RAM (step S10), the folder icon image is read from the ROM, and the menu item is displayed on the menu screen (m5). (S12).

  In this way, a menu screen as shown at the left end of FIG. 2 is displayed on the main LCD 21 via the display control unit 7.

  Next, based on FIG. 8 thru | or FIG. 10, the menu registration operation | movement according to the menu item selection method of one Example of this invention is demonstrated.

  First, when the operator inputs a predetermined menu registration activation operation input through the main operation unit 25 of the mobile phone 20, an initial screen as shown in FIG. When an operation of selecting the “person registration” item displayed in this state is performed, an “address book selection list” as shown in FIG. 8B is displayed. Further, for example, when the operator selects and operates “Mr. A” in the display list, a face photograph of Mr. A is displayed as shown in FIG. The face picture is displayed by executing the predetermined image display program stored in the ROM by the control unit 4 and using the “person information storage file” to obtain a corresponding image file ImageNo. 2 (see FIG. 6) is executed by reading from the ROM. In this way, the menu registration for the person “Mr. A” is completed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8D, the name of Mr. A and the corresponding face photo image file ID are registered in the menu configuration file 61 as the folder F1 (top menu).

  Next, when registering the “function” item, as shown in FIGS. 9, (A), (B), (C), and (D), the “function registration” item is selected and operated (FIG. 9, ( A)), “Function selection list” shown in FIG. 9 and (B) is displayed. By selecting and operating the “Schedule book” item, registration of the “Schedule book” function is completed. As a result, FIG. 9. As shown in (D), in the menu configuration file 61, the corresponding function activation program ID, the function name, and the corresponding icon ID are registered as the next item of the folder F1 (top menu). The

  Similarly, when registering a “folder” item, as shown in FIGS. 10, (A), (B), (C), and (D), a “folder registration” item is selected and operated (FIG. 10, (A )), A “folder name setting” screen shown in FIG. 10 (B) is displayed. By inputting the desired folder name into the box, registration of the “folder” function is completed. 10 and (D), the name of the folder and the corresponding folder number are registered in the menu configuration file 61 as the next item of the folder F1 (top menu).

  It should be noted that a program for starting each function of the mobile phone, and “icon ID”, “icon data file”, “address book selection list”, “function” of icon images used when displaying each item on the screen Data such as “selection list”, “folder name setting” screen, and the like are stored in the ROM 4a shown in FIG. 3 and read by the control unit 4 as necessary.

  Next, the operation of the control unit 4 of the mobile phone 20 when a desired action is actually caused from the state where the menu screen as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed (step S12 in FIGS. 4 and 11) will be described.

  First, in step S21 of FIG. 11, a key operation input on the main operation unit 25 is determined. As a result, when the “decision” key is pressed, the attribute of the item (menu item) that is in the selected state is determined in step S31 of FIG. As a result, when the item is “person” (for example, Mr. A), information about the person is read from the “person information storage file” in step S32. This person information storage file is for registering the name, telephone number, mail address, URL, face photo image file ID, etc. for each person as shown in FIG. It is stored in the registration unit 6a. This person information storage file is registered in advance when the operator operates the main operation unit 25 with respect to the mobile phone 20. Returning to FIG. 13, in step S33, functions (actions) related to the information are determined on the basis of various information of the specific person thus acquired, and a list is displayed. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, when personal information of Mr. A includes a mobile phone number, a home phone number, and a mobile phone mail number, actions for those are listed and displayed. When the operator selects a desired action from among them, the control unit 4 executes an actual action corresponding to the selection operation. In the case of the example in FIG. 17, since “call to mobile phone” is selected, a calling operation for the phone number of Mr. A's mobile phone is executed. Note that the present invention is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 17, and an arbitrary action can be set, for example, a list of URLs related to the person is displayed.

  If the item attribute is “function” in step S31, the function activation program registered as the item of the corresponding folder is activated (step S34).

  If the item attribute is “Folder” (child folder) in step S31, the contents of the corresponding folder are analyzed and the corresponding menu is displayed (in the example of FIG. 6, “Create Mail” and “Received Mail”). Display two items of "List display").

  If the "off hook" key is pressed in step S21, the attribute of the item that was selected when the key was pressed is determined in step S41 of FIG. 14, and the result is not "person". In this case, since it is determined that the key operation is not valid, the process returns to step S21 to wait for the next key operation.

  If the item attribute is “person” in step S41, the telephone number of the specific person is read from the person information storage file of FIG. 12, and it is determined whether or not the number of registered telephone numbers is one (step S42). . When the result is two or more, a list of telephone numbers registered for the specific person is displayed on the main LCD 21 in step S43. The uppermost flow in FIG. 18 and FIGS. 19, (A), (B), and (C) show the operation flow in that case. That is, a list as shown in FIG. 19B is displayed, and a desired phone number is selected in that state (in the case shown, the phone number of Mr. A's mobile phone is selected). The calling function for Mr. A's mobile phone is activated. If the result of determination in step S42 is that there is only one registered telephone number, a call function for that telephone number is activated. As a result, radio waves are transmitted to the base station via the baseband processing unit 3 and the wireless transmission / reception unit 2, and a call operation for the corresponding telephone number is performed.

  If the “mail” key is pressed in step S21, the attribute of the item that was selected when the key was pressed is determined in step S51 of FIG. 15, and the result is not “person”. In this case, since it is determined that the key operation is not valid, the process returns to step S21 to wait for the next key operation.

  If the item attribute is “person” in step S51, the mail address of the specific person is read from the person information storage file of FIG. 12, and it is determined whether or not the number of registered mail addresses is one (step S52). . If the result is two or more, a list of mail addresses registered for the specific person is displayed on the main LCD 21 in step S53. The second-stage flow from the top of FIG. 18 and FIGS. 20, (A), (B), and (C) show the operation flow in that case. That is, a list as shown in FIG. 20 (B) is displayed, and a desired mail address is selected in that state (in the case shown, the mail address of Mr. A's mobile phone is selected). , The mail address of the mobile phone of Mr. A is set as the destination of the e-mail to be transmitted. If the result of determination in step S42 is that there is only one registered email address, that email address is set as the destination of the email to be sent. In step S55, radio waves are transmitted to the base station via the baseband processing unit 3 and the wireless transmission / reception unit 2, and a transmission operation for the corresponding mail address is performed.

  If the result of key determination in step S21 is that the “XX key” has been pressed, the operation shown in FIG. 16 is executed. In this case, the XX key is a key for designating all information registered with respect to the person. At that time, the key was selected in step S61 in FIG. 16 when the key was pressed. The attribute of the item is determined, and if the result is not “person”, it is determined that the key operation is not valid, so the process returns to step S21 to wait for the next key operation.

  If the item attribute is “person” in step S61, all information registered for the specific person is read from the person information storage file of FIG. 12, and it is determined whether the number of registered information is one. (Step S62). If the result is two or more, a list of all information registered for the specific person is displayed on the main LCD 21 in step S63. The flow in the third stage from the top of FIG. 18 and FIGS. 21, (A), (B), and (C) show the operation flow in that case. That is, a list as shown in FIG. 21 (B) (in this example, Mr. A's personal information list) is displayed, and by selecting desired information in that state (in the case shown, the item “AB” "Is selected), the breakdown of Mr. A's personal address book is displayed.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the above example. For example, when the “i-mode key” is pressed, a list of URLs related to Mr. A is displayed as shown in FIGS. 22, (A), (B), and (C). Arbitrary functions / actions can be set, such as displaying the corresponding home page by the URL selection operation.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since information representing a person can be registered as a menu item, when the operator tries to take an action on a specific person, an operation in accordance with the flow of thought of the operator is provided. it can. Therefore, it is possible to provide a user-friendly electronic device, and when performing an action on a specific person, it is possible to perform it with a simple and smooth operation.

  As described above, the specific person who can be registered as a menu is not limited to a specific “individual” as in the above example, but a specific organization, that is, a company, a government office, etc., a “corporate”, or an identification. It can be anything if possible, and it can be just an “organization”.

  Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone, and a plurality of functions (or a single function and a plurality of persons) can be performed by a single electronic device such as a notebook personal computer or a desktop personal computer as shown in FIGS. Can be widely applied to electronic devices having a configuration in which they are displayed in a menu format or a similar method, and the user selects a desired function or person by looking at it.

The present invention includes configurations described in the following supplementary notes.
(Appendix 1)
An apparatus for selecting a desired item from a menu including a plurality of predetermined items,
An apparatus comprising means for registering information representing a specific person as each of the plurality of items.
(Appendix 2)
The apparatus according to appendix 1, further comprising means for registering a predetermined function as each item of the plurality of items.
(Appendix 3)
The apparatus according to any one of appendix 1 or 2, wherein the specific person is a partner who performs a communication operation.
(Appendix 4)
The device according to any one of appendices 1 to 3, wherein the specific person is a partner who performs an information transmission operation.
(Appendix 5)
The device according to any one of supplementary notes 1 to 4, wherein the specific person is a target for displaying information related thereto.
(Appendix 6)
The apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 5, wherein the menu is displayed on a display device of a mobile phone, and the specific person is a target to receive the functional operation of the mobile phone.
(Appendix 7)
The apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 6, wherein the menu is displayed on a display device of a personal computer, and the specific person is a target to be subjected to the functional operation of the personal computer.
(Appendix 8)
A method for selecting a desired item from a menu consisting of a plurality of predetermined items,
A method comprising a step of registering information representing a specific person as each item of the plurality of items.
(Appendix 9)
The method according to appendix 8, further comprising the step of registering a predetermined function as each item of the plurality of items.
(Appendix 10)
The method according to appendix 8 or 9, wherein the specific person is a partner who performs a communication operation.
(Appendix 11)
The method according to any one of appendices 8 to 10, wherein the specific person is a partner who performs an information transmission operation.
(Appendix 12)
The method according to any one of appendices 8 to 11, wherein the specific person is a target of a display operation of information related thereto.
(Appendix 13)
The method according to any one of appendices 8 to 12, wherein the menu is displayed on a display device of a mobile phone, and the specific person is an object to be subjected to the functional operation of the mobile phone.
(Appendix 14)
14. The method according to any one of appendices 8 to 13, wherein the menu is displayed on a display device of a personal computer, and the specific person is an object to be subjected to execution of a functional operation of the personal computer.

4 Control unit 5 Input operation unit 6 Memory 6a Registration unit 6b History unit 7 Display control unit

Claims (5)

Display means for the function icon and the character icon for a specific person to display a screen that is registered mixed,
Selecting means for selecting a person icon of the screen displayed on the display means;
Operation keys assigned to the specific person for calling and mailing, respectively,
After the selection of the specific person, by operating the operation keys assigned respectively to the call and mail functions for the specific person, an activation unit that activates the call and mail functions for the specific person;
An electronic device characterized by comprising:   2. The function assigned to each of the operation keys includes a call calling operation, an e-mail transmission operation, a specific person information list display, and a specific person URL display function. Electronic equipment. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the screen is a menu screen. A display step of the function icon and the character icon for a specific person to display a screen that is registered mixed,
A selection step of selecting a person icon on the screen displayed in the display step;
After the selection of the specific person, an operation step in which the call and mail functions for the specific person are activated by operating the operation keys assigned respectively to the call and mail functions for the specific person;
A menu item selection method comprising: Electronics
Display means for the function icon and the character icon for a specific person to display a screen that is registered mixed,
Selecting means for selecting a person icon of the screen displayed on the display means;
After selecting a specific person, a program for operating the call and mail functions for the specific person by operating the operation keys assigned to the call and mail functions for the specific person, respectively. .