TWI454980B - Handheld electronic device and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Handheld electronic device and control method thereof

The present invention relates to an electronic device and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a handheld electronic device and a control method thereof.

In the development of handheld electronic devices, more and more "light, thin, short, small" handheld electronic devices have been introduced to facilitate users to carry around. In general, the more lightweight the handheld electronic device, the more compact the size and volume, it is usually equipped with a small screen to reduce the size.

However, hand-type electronic devices having small-sized screens have many problems of inconvenient use. One of the problems is that when a user opens multiple applications, since the screen is too small to display multiple application windows at a time, the user needs to switch the application. Such repeated switching can cause inconvenience to the user. For example, when a user opens an e-mail editing program to edit a letter, if they want to use another application, such as a small abacus or an electronic dictionary, they need to switch to another application. After completing another application, switch back to the e-mail editor to continue editing. This type of operation is quite inconvenient. Moreover, in the display screen of the small screen, the display content of the screen is always changed, which makes it difficult for the user to concentrate.

The present invention relates to a handheld electronic device and a method of controlling the same. Thereby, the convenience of use of the handheld electronic device is improved, and the user can obtain a better user experience.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a handheld electronic device includes a housing, a first touch panel, a second touch panel, and a processing module. The first and second touch panels are disposed on the housing. The first and second touch panels have a first state. The first state indicates that the first and second touch panels are turned on to display a user interface. The processing module controls the first touch panel to display a first application in response to the first state in which the first and second touch panels are located, and controls the second touch panel to display at least one hidden page (virtual page) First, each of the at least one hidden page represents one of the auxiliary applications associated with the first application.

According to another first aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling a handheld electronic device is provided, comprising a plurality of steps. Controlling the first touch panel to display a first application. The second touch panel is controlled to display one of the at least one hidden page in response to the first state of the first touch panel and the second touch panel. The first state indicates that the first and second touch panels are turned on to display a user interface. Each of the at least one hidden page represents one of the auxiliary applications associated with the first application.

In order to provide a better understanding of the above and other aspects of the present invention, the preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below.

An embodiment of a handheld electronic device and its control method is presented below. In one embodiment, the handheld electronic device has two touch panels, and the two touch panels are opened for displaying a user interface. The handheld electronic device is used to perform a control method. Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a flow chart of a method for controlling a handheld electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention. In step S110, one of the touch panels is controlled to display a first application. In step S120, in response to the first state of the two touch panels, the second touch panel is controlled to display one of the at least one virtual page. The first state indicates that the two touch panels are opened for displaying a user interface, and each of the at least one hidden page indicates one of the auxiliary applications associated with the first application. When one of the touch panels presents a first application, the other touch panel can display one of the at least one hidden page. In this way, the ease of use of the handheld electronic device is improved, and the use of switching between different applications is reduced, so that the user can concentrate more on the first application. In this way, the user can obtain a better user experience.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a block diagram of a handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2 , the handheld electronic device 100 includes a housing 110 , two touch panels 120 and 130 , a processing module 140 , a memory unit 150 , and a detector 160 . The housing 110 is used to house various components of the handheld electronic device 100. The two touch panels 120 and 130 can be implemented as a touch display panel for displaying various information, and the touch panels 120 and 130 can be implemented in different configurations and sensing forms, such as a resistive touch panel and a capacitor. Touch panel or acoustic wave touch panel. The processing module 140 is configured to perform various arithmetic programs and control programs, such as a micro processing chip or a firmware circuit. The memory unit 150 is configured to store various information, such as storing a storage medium such as an internal memory or an external memory such as a memory card. The detector 160 includes, for example, a mechanical sensing or optical sensing element. In one embodiment, the handheld electronic device 100 further includes a communication unit 170 for data transmission, voice, text or image transmission, such as a combination of an antenna and a radio frequency chip or a wired network component. Therefore, the handheld electronic device 100 of the present embodiment can be implemented as a handheld electronic device capable of providing communication functions, such as a mobile communication phone, an electronic book, a tablet computer, or other electronic device providing a user interface.

Please refer to FIGS. 3A and 3B , which are respectively schematic diagrams showing an example of the appearance of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 2 . In this example, the housing 110 of the handheld electronic device 100 includes two shell layers 111 and 112. The two touch panels 120 and 130 are respectively disposed on the shell layers 111 and 112. The two touch panels 120 and 130 are slidably disposed on the housing 110, for example and without limitation, to slide between a coincident position and an open position, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, respectively. The two touch panels 120 and 130 have a first state. The first state indicates that the two touch panels 120 and 130 are turned on to display a user interface. In this embodiment, the first states of the two touch panels 120 and 130 are, for example, the state in which the two touch panels 120 and 130 are slid to the open position as shown in FIG. 3B. When the touch panels 120 and 130 are in the open position, a user interface GUI can be formed via the displayed two screens f1 and f2.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , which is a detailed flowchart of an example of a control method of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 1 . In order to clearly explain the operation of the above various elements and the control method of the handheld electronic device of the present embodiment, the following is a detailed description of the following with the flowchart of FIG. However, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can understand that the control method of the present embodiment is not limited to the above-described handheld electronic device, nor is it limited to the sequence of steps of the flowchart.

In step S410, the processing module 140 controls the touch panel 120 to display a first application. The first application displayed by the processing module 140 is determined, for example, by the user. For example, the user can use the touch input method to find and launch the desired application from the touch panel 120. The first application may be, for example but without limitation, an electronic mail editing program, a web browser, a notebook, or an electronic map. The first application displayed by the processing module 140 is generated, for example, in response to an event, such as a newly received email.

In step S420, the detector 160 detects whether the two touch panels 120 and 130 are in the first state. The detector 160 detects, for example, the positions of the two touch panels 120 and 130. For example, the detector may be disposed at a junction of the two shells 111 and 112, such as a hinge, and detect whether the two touch panels 120 and 130 are in an open position by mechanical sensing or optical sensing. In this manner, when the two touch panels 120 and 130 are detected to slide to the open position, the detector 160 can generate a detection signal S1 representative of the first state and provide the processing to the processing module 140. If the two touch panels 120 and 130 are in the first state, the process proceeds to step S430.

In step S430, the processing module 140 accesses a lookup table in the memory unit 150. The lookup table has association information between at least one or more applications and at least one or more of the auxiliary applications of each of the applications. The following assumes that each application has three auxiliary applications as an example, but the implementation of the comparison table is not limited to the number of auxiliary applications. Thus, one of the comparison tables is implemented as shown in Table 1:

Table I

In step S440, the processing module 140 searches the comparison table for the first application that is being executed and displayed on the touch panel 120.

In step S450, the processing module 140 determines whether the first application is found. If not, the method ends, and if so, the process proceeds to step S460.

In step S460, the processing module 140 determines a plurality of auxiliary applications of the first application. For example, when the first application in step 410 is an e-mail editing program, referring to the associated information of the comparison table, the processing module 140 determines three auxiliary applications such as a small abacus, a keyboard, and a file manager. .

In step S470, the processing module 140 generates at least one virtual page according to the associated information of the storage table. The so-called hidden page is a software graphic design. As shown in FIG. 3B, the hidden page is, for example, a part of the screen f2 displayed by the touch panel 130. In detail, the size of the screen f2 displayed by the touch panel 130 may be actually larger than the display range thereof, so the touch panel 130 can only display a part of the screen f2 at a time. In an embodiment, in order to correspond to the number of auxiliary applications, the screen f2 may be divided into three display areas having the same dimensions as the touch panel 130, and each display area may be referred to as a hidden page. Each hidden page is used to display a helper application. Thus, the picture f2 of FIG. 3 includes three hidden pages, which are respectively called left hidden page Vf-L, middle hidden page Vf-C, and right hidden page Vf-R, for displaying three auxiliary applications. The touch panel 130 can display one of the hidden pages at a time. In an implementation, the implementation of the hidden page can be achieved by referring to the application interface and the software platform provided by the operating system used by the handheld electronic device 100, such as the Android operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance. Apple's iOS operating system, or Microsoft's mobile operating system, has the usual knowledge to understand the display hidden page of this embodiment.

In step S480, if the touch panel 130 is preset as the hidden page Vf-C in the display, the processing module 140 displays a corresponding auxiliary application to hide the page Vf-C, for example, the second auxiliary application. Keyboard app. In this way, the two touch panels 130 can simultaneously display an application and a user interface GUI of the auxiliary application. With the user interface GUI, the user can obtain the auxiliary application provided in the other touch panel in addition to the first application that can use one touch panel. In this way, the usability can be improved.

Further, the processing module 140 can also switch at least one hidden page generated in step S470 in response to a touch signal S2. The touch signal S2 used for switching is, for example, a touch action performed by the user on the touch panel 130, for example, by sliding the finger or the stylus to slide left or right to generate a hidden switch. The touch signal of the page. When using an application on a touch panel, switching different hidden pages on another touch panel can effectively switch a variety of different auxiliary applications, thereby effectively improving the usability.

Please refer to FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D , FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram showing an example of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 3B for the user to switch the hidden page, and FIGS. 5B and 5C respectively show the handheld electronic device of FIG. 5A for A schematic diagram of the user after switching, and FIG. 5D is a flow chart showing an example of switching between three hidden pages of FIG. 5A. In this example, first, in step S510, the processing module 140 controls the touch panel 130 to display a hidden page, such as the hidden page Vf-C in FIG. 5A. Next, as shown in step S520, the processing module 140 determines that the touch signal S2 represents switching to the left or to the right. If it is determined to switch to the left, the process proceeds to step S530, and the processing module 140 controls the touch panel 130 to switch from the hidden page Vf-C in the display to a hidden page on the left, for example, the left hidden page Vf-L of FIG. 5B. In contrast, if it is determined to switch to the right, the process proceeds to step S540, and the processing module 140 controls the touch panel 130 to switch from the hidden page Vf-C in the display to a hidden page on the right, for example, the right hidden page Vf of the 5Cth image. R.

In this embodiment, two touch panels are used to form a user interface that improves usability. With the handheld electronic device of the present embodiment, the user can conveniently use the auxiliary application provided by the hidden page of the other touch panel when using the application of one touch panel. Moreover, the hidden page of this embodiment can also switch in response to the user's operation, providing more kinds of auxiliary applications. In this way, the convenience of use of the handheld electronic device can be increased, and the use mode of switching between different applications can be reduced, so as to avoid causing the user's attention to be difficult to concentrate. In this way, the user can obtain a better user experience.

In addition, the present invention further provides a setting method for providing a comparison table of the memory unit 150. In one embodiment, the processing module 140 controls the touch panel 120 to display an edit window as shown in Table 1 for the user to input application information of each field to create a first application and Information about the association between the secondary applications.

In another embodiment, the processing module 140 sets a comparison table of the memory unit 150 in response to one of the touch panels S1 of the touch panel 120, for example, when the touch panels 120 and 130 are in the first state. In detail, when the touch panels 120 and 130 are in the first state, the processing module 140 accesses the lookup table of the memory unit 150 to prepare for setting. When the touch panel 120 is displaying the first application, and the user drags an application window or icon from the touch panel 120 and moves toward the touch panel 130, the processing module 140 detects the application. The window or icon of the program is close to the edge of the display area, and the application is displayed on a hidden page of the touch panel 130 and stored in a corresponding position in the lookup table. In the example of FIG. 3B, when an application window or icon is dragged to the lower right corner of the touch panel 120, the processing module 140 displays the application on the right hidden page Vf-R, and The application is correspondingly set to the third auxiliary application in the comparison table. Other hidden pages are set in a similar way. In this way, the user interface formed by the two touch panels of the embodiment can be regarded as a user interface that can be set to automatically set the association information between the applications according to the user's operation, thereby effectively improving the use. Convenience.

Please refer to FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B . FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram showing an example of a handheld electronic device for exchanging data between two touch panels according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6B is a 6A diagram. A flow chart of an example of a control method performed by the handheld electronic device of the figure. The handheld electronic device of this example operates to copy the object Obj of the picture f2 onto the picture f1. The object Obj is, for example, a picture file or other file file. As shown in step S610, the handheld electronic device 100 displays a hidden page, such as a hidden page Vf-R as shown in FIG. 6A. As shown in step S620, it is determined whether an object Obj in the hidden page is selected. As shown in step S630, it is judged whether or not the selected object Obj is dragged to the edge of the screen f2 near the screen f1 and released. As shown in step S640, when the object Obj is dragged to the edge of the screen f2 near the screen f1 and released, the handheld electronic device 100 copies the object Obj and displays it on the screen fl.

Please refer to FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B. FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram showing another example of a handheld electronic device for exchanging data between two touch panels according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7B is a diagram showing A flowchart of an example of a control method performed by the handheld electronic device of FIG. 7A. Different from the examples shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the handheld electronic device of this example operates to copy the object Obj of the picture f1 and present it on the screen f2. As shown in step S710, the handheld electronic device 100 displays a hidden page, such as a hidden page Vf-R as shown in FIG. 7A. As shown in step S720, it is judged whether or not an object Obj in the picture f1 is selected. As shown in step S730, it is judged whether or not the selected object Obj is dragged to the edge of the screen f1 near the screen f2 and released. As shown in step S740, when the object Obj is dragged to the edge of the screen f1 near the screen f2 and released, the handheld electronic device 100 copies the object Obj and displays it on the current hidden page of the screen f2, such as the hidden page Vf-R. .

Please refer to FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, and FIG. 8C. FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram showing an example of a user interface presented when the handheld electronic device is in the first state according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram showing an example of an auxiliary application for the user to set a hidden page in the handheld electronic device of FIG. 8A. FIG. 8C is a flow chart showing an example of a control method performed by the handheld electronic device of FIGS. 8A and 8B. The handheld electronic device of this example is for the user to operate to set the auxiliary application corresponding to the hidden page in the picture f2.

As shown in step S810, the handheld electronic device 100 displays a hidden page, such as the hidden page Vf-R as shown in FIG. 8A, and its corresponding auxiliary application will be reset. As shown in Fig. 8A, there are a plurality of application diagrams Ic1 to Ic3 on the screen f1. As shown in step S820, it is judged whether or not the icon of an application on the screen f1 is selected. Assume that the icon Ic2 is selected. As shown in step S830, it is judged whether or not the selected icon Ic2 is dragged to the edge of the screen f1 near the screen f2 and released. As shown in step S840, when the selected icon Ic2 is dragged to the edge of the screen f1 near the screen f2 and released, the application corresponding to the icon Ic2 replaces the current hidden page in the picture f2 such as the hidden page Vf. The auxiliary application corresponding to -R. At this time, the auxiliary application presented by the hidden page Vf-R is the application of the icon Ic2. Then, as shown in step S850, the user's operation is responded to determine whether to store the settings in step S840 in the comparison table, for example, to reset the related information in the comparison table.

For example, when the first application is an e-mail editing program, referring to Table 1, it can be seen that the auxiliary applications of the three hidden pages Vf-L, Vf-C, and Vf-R included in the screen f2 are respectively small abacus, Keyboard, file manager application. In Figure 8A, the hidden page Vf-R initially corresponds to the file manager application, and it is assumed that the selected icon Ic2 in Figure 8B is an illustration of the address book. Therefore, after detecting that the icon Ic2 is dragged toward the screen f2 and released at the edge of the screen f1, the hidden page Vf-R is changed to an application for displaying the address book. After that, if the user confirms the storage settings, the address book will replace the file manager, and the results will be stored in the comparison table, as shown in Table 2:

In the above disclosure, the two touch panels are used to implement the handheld electronic device and the control method thereof. However, the invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the handheld electronic device can also include three or more touch panels, and appropriately control the touch panels to present a user interface for the user to interact with the handheld electronic device. The presentation and interaction methods are more diversified and easy to use.

The embodiment of the invention further discloses a computer-readable information storage medium, on which a program is stored, which can be used to execute the control method for the handheld electronic device according to the embodiment of the invention.

The handheld electronic device and the control method thereof according to the present embodiment of the present invention can form a user interface capable of improving usability by using two touch panels. Through the user interface, the embodiment allows the user to conveniently use the auxiliary application provided by the hidden page of the other touch panel when using the application of one touch panel. Moreover, the hidden page can also switch in response to the user's operation, and provide the user with more kinds of auxiliary applications. In this way, the ease of use of the handheld electronic device can be effectively increased, so that the user can concentrate more on the first application. In this way, the user can obtain a better user experience.

In conclusion, the present invention has been disclosed in the above preferred embodiments, and is not intended to limit the present invention. A person skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100. . . Handheld electronic device

110. . . case

111, 112. . . Shell

120, 130. . . Touch panel

140. . . Processing module

150. . . Memory unit

160. . . Detector

170. . . Communication unit

F1, f2. . . Picture

GUI. . . user interface

Ic1~Ic3. . . Icon

Obj. . . object

S1. . . Detection signal

S2. . . Touch signal

S3. . . Drag signal

S110~S120, S410~S480, S510~S540, S610~S640, S710~S740, S810~S850. . . Process step

Vf-L, Vf-C, Vf-R. . . Hide page

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a control method of a handheld electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention.

2 is a block diagram of a handheld electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

3A and 3B are respectively schematic views showing an example of the appearance of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a detailed flow chart showing an example of a control method of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram showing an example of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 3B for the user to switch the hidden page.

5B and 5C are respectively schematic diagrams of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 5A for the user to switch.

Figure 5D is a flow chart showing the steps of an example of switching between three hidden pages of Figure 5A.

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram showing an example of a handheld electronic device for a user to exchange data between two touch panels according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6B is a flow chart showing an example of a control method performed by the handheld electronic device of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of another example of a handheld electronic device for a user to exchange data between two touch panels according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7B is a flow chart showing an example of a control method performed by the handheld electronic device of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram showing an example of a user interface presented when the handheld electronic device is in the first state according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram showing an example of an auxiliary application for the user to set a hidden page in the handheld electronic device of FIG. 8A.

FIG. 8C is a flow chart showing an example of a control method performed by the handheld electronic device of FIGS. 8A and 8B.

S110~S120. . . Process step

Claims (13)

A handheld electronic device includes: a housing; a first touch panel; a second touch panel, wherein the first touch panel is disposed on the housing, and the first and second touch panels have a first state, the first state indicating that the first and second touch panels are turned on for displaying a user interface; and a processing module responsive to the first and second touch panels In the first state, controlling the first touch panel to display a first application, and controlling the second touch panel to display one of at least one virtual page, wherein each of the at least one hidden page represents A helper application associated with the first application. The handheld electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processing module is further configured to switch the at least one hidden page in response to a touch signal of the user interface. The handheld electronic device of claim 1, further comprising: a memory unit for storing a look-up table having the first application and the at least one auxiliary application Related information. The handheld electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the at least one auxiliary application associated with the first application in response to a touch signal of the user interface. The handheld electronic device of claim 4, wherein the processing module determines that the touch signal of the at least one auxiliary application is a drag signal. The handheld electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first touch panel and the second touch panel are slidably disposed on the housing to overlap with the first touch panel. Sliding between a position and an open position, wherein the first state indicates a state when the first and second touch panels are slid to the open position. The handheld electronic device of claim 6 further comprising: a detector for detecting the positions of the first and second touch panels, and the first and second touches When the panel slides to the open position, a detection signal representative of the first state is generated to the processing module. A method for controlling a handheld electronic device includes: controlling a first touch panel to display a first application; and controlling a first state of the first touch panel and a second touch panel to control the first state The second touch panel displays one of at least one virtual page, wherein the first state indicates that the first and the second touch panels are turned on to display a user interface, and each of the at least A hidden page indicates one of the auxiliary applications associated with the first application. The control method of claim 8, further comprising: switching the at least one hidden page in response to a touch signal of the user interface. The control method of claim 8, wherein in the step of controlling the second touch panel to display one of the at least one hidden page, a look-up table is stored according to a memory unit. To display, the comparison table has the associated information of the first application and the auxiliary applications. The control method of claim 8, further comprising: determining, by the touch signal of the user interface, the at least one auxiliary application associated with the first application. The control method of claim 11, wherein the touch signal used to determine the at least one auxiliary application is a drag signal. The control method of claim 8, further comprising: detecting a position of the first and second touch panels; and when the first and second touch panels are slid to an open position, A detection signal representative of the first state is generated.