WO2014100948A1

WO2014100948A1 - An apparatus and associated methods

Info

Publication number: WO2014100948A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/087324
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bin Gao; Jing Wu; Chang Liu; Bing Lin; Hongrui SHEN
Original assignee: Nokia Corporation; Nokia (China) Investment Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2012-12-24
Filing date: 2012-12-24
Publication date: 2014-07-03

Abstract

An apparatus, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: reveal information associated with at least one particular application, based on detection of a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location, the predefined location being user indicated as being associated with the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input.

Description

AN APPARATUS AND ASSOCIATED METHODS

Technical Field The present disclosure relates to user interfaces, associated methods, computer programs and apparatus. Certain disclosed aspects/embodiments relate to portable electronic devices, in particular, so-called hand-portable electronic devices which may be hand-held in use (although they may be placed in a cradle in use). Such hand-portable electronic devices include so-called Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones, smartphones and other smart devices, and tablet PCs.

The portable electronic devices/apparatus according to one or more disclosed aspects/embodiments may provide one or more audio/text/video communication functions (e.g. tele-communication, video-communication, and/or text transmission (Short Message Service (SMS)/Multimedia Message Service (MMS)/emailing) functions), interactive/non-interactive viewing functions (e.g. web-browsing, navigation, TV/program viewing functions), music recording/playing functions (e.g. MP3 or other format and/or (FM/AM) radio broadcast recording/playing), downloading/sending of data functions, image capture function (e.g. using a (e.g. in-built) digital camera), and gaming functions.

Background

An electronic device may be used to run different applications. Each application may provide different functionality. For example, a device may be used to run e-mail, SMS and chat message applications, a calling application, a calendar application, an address book application, a music player, a camera application, and games.

The listing or discussion of a prior-published document or any background in this specification should not necessarily be taken as an acknowledgement that the document or background is part of the state of the art or is common general knowledge. One or more aspects/embodiments of the present disclosure may or may not address one or more of the background issues.

Summary

In an example aspect there is provided an apparatus, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: reveal information associated with at least one particular application, based on detection of a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location, the predefined location being user indicated as being associated with the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input.

As an example, a user may be able to slide a finger over a touch sensitive display of an apparatus/device, starting from an edge of the screen and ending on an application icon. The application icon is displayed in a predefined location on the display. The apparatus is configured to reveal information relating to the application icon. The information may be revealed, for example, in a header bar, pop-up screen or pull-down list. This may provide an advantage to a user that they can see information relating to a particular application of interest by performing a simple and intuitive user interaction to reveal information relating to a particular application of interest.

The predefined location may be user indicated as being associated with opening of the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input. Thus the predefined location may be associated with one, two, or more applications. An example is of a region between two application icons (which may themselves each be used to open the respective applications) which may be a predefined location associated with the two icons. Another example is of a region where four corners of four application icons arranged in a 2 x 2 grid meet; the meeting region may be a predefined location associated with the four icons.

The predefined location may be user indicated as being associated with opening one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input. The predefined location may be, for example, over an application icon, at an edge or corner of a display which has been previously predefined as being associated with a particular application, or over a notification icon, for example in a toolbar, associated with a particular application (such as a "new SMS received" notification icon or a "new e-mail received" notification icon).

The predefined location may comprise an icon configured to user indicate at least a portion of the predefined location as being associated with one particular application. The user actuation of the icon may provide for opening of the one particular application. For example, the icon may be associated with a calendar application and tapping/clicking (e.g., using a mouse pointer or finger) or double-tapping the icon may cause the calendar application to load.

The predefined location may also comprise a predefined region around the proximity of the perimeter of the icon. The user actuation of the predefined region around the proximity of the perimeter of the icon may also provide for opening of the particular application. For example, it may be possible to open an application by tapping/clicking on an application icon or within a region, or in a predefined proximity, around the application icon of a predetermined size.

The predefined location may also comprise a predefined region around the proximity of the perimeter of the icon. The predefined region around the proximity of the perimeter of the icon may be configured to not allow for user actuation to provide for opening of the particular application (e.g., tapping/clicking outside the icon border may not allow for opening of the application).

The predefined location may be associated with a plurality of user indicated adjacent applications. The apparatus may be configured to reveal information associated with the particular plurality of user indicated particular adjacent applications based on the particular sliding user input starting at or ending at the predefined location. For example, a predefined location may be between two displayed application icons, and a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at this location may cause information about both applications to be revealed. The predefined location for the plurality of user indicated particular adjacent applications may be substantially equidistant from the plurality of user indicated particular adjacent applications.

The at least one particular application may comprise at least one of a calendar application, an e-mail application, a messaging application, a chat application, a social media application, voice calling application, video calling application, a news application, a game, a music application, a movie application, a camera application, and an internet browser application. The revealed information may be at least one of:

one or more calendar updates from a calendar application such as an upcoming or overdue event or appointment; one or more e-mail updates from an e-mail application such as the latest sent and/or received e-mails;

one or more message updates from a messaging application such as the latest sent and/or received SMS and/or MMS messages;

one or more chat message updates from a chat application such as the latest send and/or received chat messages from one or more chat sessions;

one or more status updates from a social media application, such as a friend's status update, a user's status update, an invitation sent using the social media application, a relationship update, a location update, or a personal message sent using the social media application;

one or more call updates from a voice calling application such as a list of the last calls received, made, held and/or missed;

one or more call updates from a video calling application such as a list of the last calls received, made, held and/or missed;

one or more news updates from a news application such as one or more RSS news feed alerts;

one or more game updates from a game such as the last score obtained, the total play time so far, the last character used, or the last level achieved;

one or more music information updates from a music application such as the last song(s) or album(s) played or downloaded, or the currently playing track from an audio player application or an internet/digital broadcasting radio station;

one or more movie information updates from a movie application such as the name, time and/or length of the last movie viewed or recorded;

one or more image information updates from a camera application such as the total number of images stored, the last time a photograph was taken, or the location at which the last photograph was taken; and

one or more internet browsing updates from an internet browser application such as the last website(s) viewed. The revealed information may be a notification relating to a particular application, for example notifying the user of a newly received e-mail, SMS, MMS or chat message, a newly posted social media status update or microblog entry, the completion of installation of a game or software update, the completion of the transfer of a file such as an album, movie, document or other file, a notification of a missed telephone call, or a notification of the availability of a software update or new version of an application, for example. The particular sliding user input may be configured to correspondingly move an area associated with the predefined location with the particular sliding user input when the detection is based on the sliding user input starting at the predefined location. Thus, for example, as a user slides a stylus across a touch-sensitive display, the icons displayed at the predefined location such as a displayed homepage, may move across corresponding to the movement of the stylus to reveal the information.

The apparatus may be configured to reveal the information by displaying the information over other information displayed before the detection of the particular sliding user input. The apparatus may be configured to reveal the information associated with the at least one particular application in an area revealed upon detection of the particular sliding user input. For example, the apparatus may be configured to reveal the information by displaying the information in a pop-up area, in a pull-down area ("pulled" from any side of the display) or in taskbar/toolbar region displaying other content prior to detection of the particular sliding user input. The information may be revealed at one or more of: a top portion, a bottom portion, a left portion, a right portion, and a central position of a display.

The apparatus may be configured to reveal the information associated with the at least one particular application in an area revealed opposite to the direction of the particular sliding user input. For example, if a user makes a sliding user input from left to right, the information may be revealed in a pop-up or pull-across area at the left of the screen, revealed opposite to the direction of the user sliding user input from left to right.

The apparatus may be configured to progressively reveal further information with progressive continuation of the particular sliding user input. Thus as the particular sliding user input progresses in a direction, the information may be progressively revealed. It may be that more information items are revealed as the user input progresses (for example, an increasing number of messages are revealed). It may be that more information about a particular information item is revealed as the user input progresses (for example, more text from the body of a message or e-mail is revealed).

The particular direction of the particular sliding user input may determine the particular information revealed for the at least one particular application. For example, a sliding user input from an SMS messaging application icon from left to right may reveal the recently sent SMS messages, whereas a sliding user input from an SMS messaging application icon from right to left may reveal the recently received SMS messages. The predefined locations may be indicated on a homescreen. The homescreen may comprise a plurality of predefined locations each associated with the at least one particular application. The apparatus may be configured to one or more of: detect the particular sliding user input; provide signalling to display the revealed information; and reveal the information by itself displaying the revealed information.

The apparatus may be configured to one or more of: remove the revealed information upon termination of the particular sliding user input; cause the revealed information to remain displayed for a predetermined period of time following termination of the particular sliding user input, or cause the information to remain displayed following termination of the particular user input until a further user input is detected. The apparatus may be configured to reveal further information associated with at least one particular further application, based on detection of a further particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a further predefined location. The further predefined location may be user indicated as being associated with the at least one particular further application prior to the detection of the further particular sliding user input.

The particular sliding user input may be a continuously detected translational actuation. The particular sliding user input may be a hold followed by translational movement, or a pinch followed by translational movement. The particular sliding user input may be a touch input and/or a hover user input dependent on the input sensing functionality available (that is, whether the device used to accept user input is touch sensitive or hover sensitive).

The particular sliding user input may be detected by one or more of: a touch detector, a hover detector, or a peripheral device such as a mouse, trackball, joystick or wand. The particular sliding user input may be provided by a user's finger(s), thumb, stylus, pen, mouse/trackball pointer, or joystick/wand for example. A hover input may be, for example, an input made by a user's finger, hand or stylus being positioned over and/or moving in proximity to a hover sensitive surface but not necessarily physically touching it. The hover sensitive surface may be associated with a display of a device in some examples.

A pinch user input may be made by placing a thumb over one predefined region and a finger over a second predefined region. The user can bring the finger and thumb together in a pinch gesture and then slide the pinch across the screen, revealing information relating to the two particular predefined regions initially touched by the finger and thumb. A pinch user input may alternatively be made by the user making a pinch gesture such that the user's finger and thumb touch each other in a pinch at/over a predefined region. The user may then slide the pinched finger and thumb across the display, revealing information related to the predefined region where the pinch gesture ended.

The apparatus may be: an electronic device, a portable electronic device, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a graphics tablet, a digital camera, a navigator, a laptop computer, a server, a non-portable electronic device, a desktop computer, a monitor/display, or a module/circuitry for one or more of the same.

According to a further example aspect, there is provided a method, the method comprising: revealing information associated with at least one particular application, based on detection of a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location, the predefined location being user indicated as being associated with the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input.

According to a further example aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising computer program code, the computer program code being configured to perform at least the following: reveal information associated with at least one particular application, based on detection of a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location, the predefined location being user indicated as being associated with the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input.

A computer program may be stored on a storage media (e.g. on a CD, a DVD, a memory stick or other non-transitory medium). A computer program may be configured to run on a device or apparatus as an application. An application may be run by a device or apparatus via an operating system. A computer program may form part of a computer program product.

According to a further example aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for revealing information associated with at least one particular application, based on detection of a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location, the predefined location being user indicated as being associated with the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input. The present disclosure includes one or more corresponding aspects, embodiments or features in isolation or in various combinations whether or not specifically stated (including claimed) in that combination or in isolation. Corresponding means and corresponding function units (e.g. an information revealer, an input sensor, a sliding user input sensor, an output device) for performing one or more of the discussed functions are also within the present disclosure.

Corresponding computer programs for implementing one or more of the methods disclosed are also within the present disclosure and encompassed by one or more of the described embodiments.

The above summary is intended to be merely exemplary and non-limiting.

Brief Description of the Figures

A description is now given, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: figure 1 illustrates an example apparatus embodiment comprising a number of electronic components, including memory and a processor, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

figure 2 illustrates an example apparatus embodiment comprising a number of electronic components, including memory, a processor and a communication unit, according to another example embodiment of the present disclosure;

figure 3 illustrates an example apparatus embodiment comprising a number of electronic components, including memory, a processor and a communication unit, according to another example embodiment of the present disclosure;

figures 4a-4d illustrate an example apparatus revealing information relating to a calendar application based on a particular sliding user input according to examples disclosed herein;

figures 5a-5b illustrate an example apparatus revealing information relating to a calendar application and an e-mail application based on a particular sliding user input according to examples disclosed herein;

figures 6a-6b illustrate another example apparatus revealing information relating to a calendar application and an e-mail application based on a particular sliding user input according to examples disclosed herein; figures 7a-7d illustrate an example apparatus revealing information relating to an e-mail application based on two different particular sliding user inputs according to examples disclosed herein;

figures 8a-8d illustrate an example apparatus revealing information relating to a calendar application based on a particular sliding user input, and revealing information relating to an e-mail application based on a further particular sliding user input according to examples disclosed herein;

figures 9a-9d illustrate an example apparatus revealing information relating to an e-mail application based on a particular sliding user input according to examples disclosed herein;

figures 10a-10b illustrate an example apparatus in communication with a remote server/cloud, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

figure 1 1 illustrates a flowchart according to an example method of the present disclosure; and

figure 12 illustrates schematically a computer readable medium providing a program. Description of Example Aspects/Embodiments

An electronic device may be used to run different applications. Each application may provide different functionality. For example, a device such as a smartphone or personal digital assistant may be used to run e-mail, SMS and chat message applications, a calling application, a calendar application, an address book application, a music player, a camera application, and games. Such an apparatus may provide many different types of functionality, such as communication, personal organisation, gaming, internet access, and audio and video recording and playback, for example.

Generally, if a user wants to see the latest information relating to a particular application they can open the application and see the relevant information in the open application. For example, if a user wants to see the latest received chat messages, they can open the chat application and view the latest messages sent and received using that application. However, opening an application to view information within that application may take some time, for example, in waiting for the application to load. Also the user may need to navigate within the application (for example, from the chat application welcome screen to a particular chat window, and then scroll within the chat window to find the latest chat messages sent/received). As another example, a user may wish to see the next appointment stored in a calendar application. To see this, the user may need to open the calendar application and move to different days within the calendar to determine/calculate when the next appointment is scheduled. Such requirements for opening and navigating within applications may not be convenient for a user who wishes to quickly glance at their device and see the latest information relating to a particular application easily.

Further, if a user wishes to see the latest information relating to more than one application, he/she may be required to open multiple applications and navigate within each of them to find the latest information (such as opening an e-mail application to find the latest received e-mails, opening a calling application/call history to see the last received calls, and opening a social media application to view the latest friend status updates). The need to open and navigate multiple applications may be tiresome and inconvenient for a user.

Certain electronic devices may provide an automatic notification of a new event to a user without the user needing to use the associated application to view the latest information. However, such notifications are temporary and once viewed, they are generally not readily accessible again. Thus if a user views a notification relating to a new received e- mail, for example, but later wants to check the latest e-mails received, they would be required to open the e-mail application and navigate within to find the latest sent/received messages as the notification, having been viewed once, disappears.

Certain electronic devices may provide a list of recent events which relate to the applications and activity of the device. However, if the device runs several applications, the list of recent events may include a large number of different types of information including recently received messages of several types (e.g., e-mail, chat, SMS, MMS, various social media and RSS feeds), software updates, software update availability alerts, connectivity issues (e.g., the availability of Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi), current battery power level, and other information. If a user is interested in one or a small number of particular recent events relating to one or a few applications, it may be difficult to quickly see such information in a list of all recent events, and recent events of interest to the user may be "pushed off' the bottom of the list by other notifications. It may be advantageous for an apparatus to provide a user interface which allows a user to quickly and easily see the latest information relating to a particular application without requiring extensive navigation within an application, nor requiring the application to be opened. It may also be advantageous to allow a user to view the latest information relating to a particular application at the user's convenience, including multiple viewings when the user desires in relation to any application or applications of interest to the user and/or which allows the viewing of information relating to a readily selectable small number of applications of particular interest.

Examples disclosed herein may be considered to provide a solution to one or more problems noted above. Disclosed herein is an apparatus configured to reveal information associated with at least one particular application, based on detection of a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location, the predefined location being user indicated as being associated with the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input.

Thus a user may perform a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location (such as a slide ending on a calendar application icon, or a slide starting next to an SMS messaging application icon). Based on the detection of this user input, information is revealed associated with the particular application(s) associated with the predefined locations. Thus, for example, updates relating to the calendar, or SMS messaging application, may be revealed to the user based on a simple and intuitive slide user input.

Other embodiments depicted in the figures have been provided with reference numerals that correspond to similar features of earlier described embodiments. For example, feature number 100 can also correspond to numbers 200, 300 etc. These numbered features may appear in the figures but may not have been directly referred to within the description of these particular embodiments. These have still been provided in the figures to aid understanding of the further embodiments, particularly in relation to the features of similar earlier described embodiments. Figure 1 shows an apparatus 100 comprising memory 107, a processor 108, input I and output O. In this embodiment only one processor and one memory are shown but it will be appreciated that other embodiments may utilise more than one processor and/or more than one memory (e.g. same or different processor/memory types). In this embodiment the apparatus 100 is an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) for a portable electronic device with a touch sensitive display. In other embodiments the apparatus 100 can be a module for such a device, or may be the device itself, wherein the processor 108 is a general purpose CPU of the device and the memory 107 is general purpose memory comprised by the device.

The input I allows for receipt of signalling to the apparatus 100 from further components, such as components of a portable electronic device (like a touch-sensitive display) or the like. The output O allows for onward provision of signalling from within the apparatus 100 to further components such as a display screen, speaker, or vibration module. In this embodiment the input I and output O are part of a connection bus that allows for connection of the apparatus 100 to further components.

The processor 108 is a general purpose processor dedicated to executing/processing information received via the input I in accordance with instructions stored in the form of computer program code on the memory 107. The output signalling generated by such operations from the processor 108 is provided onwards to further components via the output O.

The memory 107 (not necessarily a single memory unit) is a computer readable medium (solid state memory in this example, but may be other types of memory such as a hard drive, ROM, RAM, Flash or the like) that stores computer program code. This computer program code stores instructions that are executable by the processor 108, when the program code is run on the processor 108. The internal connections between the memory 107 and the processor 108 can be understood to, in one or more example embodiments, provide an active coupling between the processor 108 and the memory 107 to allow the processor 108 to access the computer program code stored on the memory 107.

In this example the input I, output O, processor 108 and memory 107 are all electrically connected to one another internally to allow for electrical communication between the respective components I, O, 107, 108. In this example the components are all located proximate to one another so as to be formed together as an ASIC, in other words, so as to be integrated together as a single chip/circuit that can be installed into an electronic device. In other examples one or more or all of the components may be located separately from one another. Figure 2 depicts an apparatus 200 of a further example embodiment, such as a mobile phone. In other example embodiments, the apparatus 200 may comprise a module for a mobile phone (or PDA or audio/video player), and may just comprise a suitably configured memory 207 and processor 208. The apparatus in certain embodiments could be an electronic device, a portable electronic device, a mobile phone, a Smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a graphics tablet, a digital camera, a navigator, a laptop computer, a server, a non-portable electronic device, a desktop computer, a monitor/display, or a module/circuitry for one or more of the same.

The example embodiment of figure 2, in this case, comprises a display device 204 such as, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), e-lnk or touch-screen user interface. The apparatus 200 of figure 2 is configured such that it may receive, include, and/or otherwise access data. For example, this example embodiment 200 comprises a communications unit 203, such as a receiver, transmitter, and/or transceiver, in communication with an antenna 202 for connecting to a wireless network and/or a port (not shown) for accepting a physical connection to a network, such that data may be received via one or more types of networks. This example embodiment comprises a memory 207 that stores data, possibly after being received via antenna 202 or port or after being generated at the user interface 205. The processor 208 may receive data from the user interface 205, from the memory 207, or from the communication unit 203. It will be appreciated that, in certain example embodiments, the display device 204 may incorporate the user interface 205. Regardless of the origin of the data, these data may be outputted to a user of apparatus 200 via the display device 204, and/or any other output devices provided with apparatus. The processor 208 may also store the data for later use in the memory 207. The memory 207 may store computer program code and/or applications which may be used to instruct/enable the processor 208 to perform functions (e.g. read, write, delete, edit or process data).

Figure 3 depicts a further example embodiment of an electronic device 300, such as a tablet personal computer, a portable electronic device, a portable telecommunications device, a server or a module for such a device, the device comprising the apparatus 100 of figure 1. The apparatus 100 can be provided as a module for device 300, or even as a processor/memory for the device 300 or a processor/memory for a module for such a device 300. The device 300 comprises a processor 308 and a storage medium 307, which are connected (e.g. electrically and/or wirelessly) by a data bus 380. This data bus 380 can provide an active coupling between the processor 308 and the storage medium 307 to allow the processor 308 to access the computer program code. It will be appreciated that the components (e.g. memory, processor) of the device/apparatus may be linked via cloud computing architecture. For example, the storage device may be a remote server accessed via the internet by the processor. The apparatus 100 in figure 3 is connected (e.g. electrically and/or wirelessly) to an input/output interface 370 that receives the output from the apparatus 100 and transmits this to the device 300 via data bus 380. Interface 370 can be connected via the data bus 380 to a display 304 (touch-sensitive or otherwise) that provides information from the apparatus 100 to a user. Display 304 can be part of the device 300 or can be separate. The device 300 also comprises a processor 308 configured for general control of the apparatus 100 as well as the device 300 by providing signalling to, and receiving signalling from, other device components to manage their operation.

The storage medium 307 is configured to store computer code configured to perform, control or enable the operation of the apparatus 100. The storage medium 307 may be configured to store settings for the other device components. The processor 308 may access the storage medium 307 to retrieve the component settings in order to manage the operation of the other device components. The storage medium 307 may be a temporary storage medium such as a volatile random access memory. The storage medium 307 may also be a permanent storage medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a remote server (such as cloud storage) or a non-volatile random access memory. The storage medium 307 could be composed of different combinations of the same or different memory types.

Figures 4a-4c, 5a-5b, 6a-6b, 7a-7d, 8a-8d and 9a-9d described below relate to example embodiments of an apparatus/device 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 such as those depicted in figures 1-3. The apparatus/devices 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 800 are portable electronic devices such as a mobile phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants, personal media players or tablet computers.

Figures 4a-4c illustrate an example embodiment of an apparatus/device 400 with a touch-sensitive display 402. In this example, the apparatus/device 400 is displaying a homescreen comprising several application icons 404, 406 on the display 402. Each application icon 404, 406 is associated with a particular application. For example, the calendar application icon 406 is associated with a calendar application. Each application icon 404, 406 is displayed in a predefined location on the display 402 of the apparatus/device 400. There are a plurality of predefined locations each associated with a particular application icon 404, 406. Actuating the calendar application icon 406 (for example by tapping it) results in the calendar application opening on the apparatus/device 400. The open calendar application may be displayed over substantially the whole display area, and may take some time to load, which may be a disadvantage to a user wishing to view upcoming calendar events quickly and easily.

The user in this example wishes to quickly see the upcoming calendar events stored in the calendar application. In figure 4b, the user performs a particular sliding user input 408 in which his finger 410 starts on the calendar application icon 406 and moves down towards the bottom of the display 402. The particular sliding user input 408 starts at the predefined location of the area of the display 402 showing the application icon 406. The predefined location is user indicated (that is, shown as an icon so the user is aware which application the icon/location is associated with) as being associated with the at least one particular application, the calendar application, prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input 408.

Figure 4c shows that the particular sliding user input 408 starting from the calendar application icon 406 has been detected. As a result, the apparatus/device 400 has revealed information associated with the calendar application in a pull-down region 412 at the top of the display 402. Because the particular sliding user input 408 started on the calendar application icon 406, only information about the calendar is displayed in the pull-down region 412. In this example, the next upcoming appointment 412 is revealed: a meeting at 16:30 today. The user wishes to see a further upcoming appointment and so continues to perform the particular sliding user input 414 towards the bottom of the display 402 as shown in figure 4c. The apparatus/device 400 is configured to progressively reveal further information with progressive continuation of the particular sliding user input 408, 414. In this example the information about the calendar application may be, for example, an upcoming appointment, a previous appointment, a missed appointment, a re-scheduled appointment, a calendar alarm providing a time, date and/or name for the alarm, or similar.

Thus, as shown in figure 4d, the apparatus/device 400 has revealed further information associated with the calendar application in the pull-down region 416 at the top of the display. Because the particular sliding user input 414 has progressed/continued, the pull- down region 416 in figure 4d is larger (when the particular sliding user input 408 had moved a longer distance down the display 402) than the pull-down region 412 shown in figure 4c (when the particular sliding user input 408 had moved a shorter distance down the display 402). Because the particular sliding user input 408, 414 continued and the pull-down area 416 has expanded, a further upcoming calendar event is shown to reveal a total of two calendar entries: a meeting at 16:30 today, as before, and also dinner with Maria at 19:45.

The ability of a user to be able to progressively reveal information as their particular sliding user input progresses may provide benefits to the user. For example, the user has a simple and intuitive way of viewing as much or as little information about a particular application as he wished. By simply sliding his finger further during the sliding user input, more information is revealed.

Figures 4c and 4d show that as the user's sliding user input moved starting from the calendar application icon 406 down to the bottom of the display 402, the images (icons) displayed on the display 402 correspondingly move down the display 402 so that they are not obscured by the information revealed in the pull-down area 412, 416. Thus the particular sliding user input 408, 414 is configured to correspondingly move an area associated with the predefined location (the calendar application on the home screen) with the particular sliding user input 408, 414. In this example the homescreen displaying the calendar application icon 406 at which the user begins their particular sliding input 408, 414 (and other icons 404) is moved down the display 402 as the user's finger moves down 408, 414.

The particular sliding user input 408, 414 moves starting from the calendar application icon 406 down towards the bottom of the display 402. The information associated with the at least one particular application (calendar application) is revealed in an area 412, 416 opposite to the direction of the particular sliding user input. That is, as the user's finger 410 moves down toward the bottom of the screen, the information is revealed from the top (the opposite side) of the screen. This may allow for a natural and intuitive user experience as the user may perceive that they are dragging the homescreen away to reveal the information, or pulling the information down from the top of the display 402 by pulling their finger down the display screen 402.

The information is revealed in an area 412, 416 which is revealed upon detection of the particular sliding user input 408, 414. Before the particular sliding user input 408, 414, there was no area 412, 416 displayed in which to reveal the information. This allows the display screen 402 to be used efficiently, because there is no display space 412, 416 which is reserved for revealed information; the area 412, 416 is only displayed upon detection of the particular sliding user input 408, 414. In other examples, information may be revealed in an area which is already available but which may be displaying other information. For example, information may be revealed in a top task-bar region which, prior to the particular sliding user input, may display operation information such as remaining battery power, network connectivity (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) and the current time, for example.

After the user has viewed the revealed information, the apparatus may be configured to (e.g., automatically) remove the revealed information upon termination of the particular sliding user input 408, 414. That is, when the user removes his finger 410 from the display 402, the pull-down area 412, 416 is (e.g., automatically) removed from display and the user can continue to use his apparatus/device without further input required to return to the home screen. In other examples the apparatus/device 400 may be configured to cause the revealed information to remain displayed for a predetermined period of time following termination of the particular sliding user input. For example, the user may remove his finger 410 from the display 402, and the information may remain displayed for a period of five seconds before the information is removed from display. This period of five seconds (which may of course be longer, shorter, and may be user-set in the user preferences of the apparatus/device 400) may allow the user to read the revealed information, and then continue to use the apparatus/device 400 without any further input or action being required. In other examples, the apparatus/device 400 may be configured to cause the information to remain displayed following termination of the particular user input until a further user input is detected. That is, the pull-down area 412, 416 displaying the revealed information may remain displayed until a further user input is detected, such as a tap on the area 412, 416 for example. This may allow the user to take as much time as they like to read the revealed information before removing it from display with a simple further user input.

Figures 5a-5b illustrate an example embodiment of an apparatus/device 500 with a touch sensitive display 502. The apparatus/device 500 is displaying a homescreen 504 comprising several application icons 506, 508, 510 on the display 502. Each application icon 506, 508, 510 is associated with a particular application. The calendar application icon 508 is associated with a calendar application and the e-mail application icon 510 is associated with an e-mail application. Actuating an application may be performed by providing an actuating user input to an application icon 506, 508, 510. Opening an application may take a period of time, and once open, the user may need to navigate within the open application to see the latest information. For example, within the e-mail application, the user may actuate the e-mail application, wait for the e-mail application to load, and possibly navigate to a "recent items", "sent items" or "received items" folder and sort the entries by date order in order to see the latest messages of interest. In this example, the user wants to see the next upcoming calendar entry, and see the last e-mail sent or received. In figure 5a, the user performs a particular sliding user input 516, 518 in which one finger 512 starts on the calendar application icon 508 and another finger 518 starts on the e-mail application icon 510. The two fingers 512, 514 slide 516, 518 down the display 502 towards the bottom of the display 502. The particular sliding user input 516, 518 starts at the respective predefined locations of the areas of the display 502 showing the application icons 508, 510. The predefined locations are user indicated as being associated with two particular applications (by the display of respective application icons), the calendar application and the e-mail application, prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input 512, 514.

In figure 5b, the particular sliding user input 512, 514 has been detected and caused the apparatus/device 500 to reveal the next upcoming calendar entry 520, and the last received e-mail 522. The user may find it simple to slide two fingers over the display 502 and reveal information relating to the applications associated with the application icons 508, 510 on which his user input 516, 518 started. It may be imagined that if the user was required to open each application separately and navigate within each one to find the relevant latest/upcoming information this may take time, effort, and a level of knowledge/familiarity with the separate applications. The user may advantageously in this example provide a simple sliding gesture 516, 518 and see the relevant information quickly and easily.

Figures 6a-6b illustrate an example embodiment of an apparatus/device 600 with a touch sensitive display 602. The apparatus/device 600 is displaying a homescreen 604 comprising several application icons 606, 608, 610 on the display 602 as per the example described in relation to figures 5a-5b. Each application icon 606, 608, 610 is associated with a particular application. The calendar application icon 608 is associated with a calendar application and the e-mail application icon 610 is associated with an e- mail application. In this example, the user is interested in two applications, and wants to see the next upcoming calendar entry and also see the last e-mail sent or received. In figure 6a, the user performs a particular sliding user input 612 in which one finger 614 starts between the calendar application icon 608 and the e-mail application icon 610. The finger 614 slides 612 down the display 602 towards the bottom of the display 602. The particular sliding user input 512 starts at the predefined locations of the area of the display 602 between the two application icons 608, 610 of interest.

In this example, the predefined location comprises the application icon display regions 608, 610 and also a predefined region 613 around the proximity of the perimeter of the icons 608, 610. The predefined region 613 is configured to not allow for user actuation to provide for opening of the particular application. That is, the user is not able to interact with the region 613 between the icons 608, 610 and cause the applications associated with the icons 608, 610 to open. To open the application, he can provide an actuating user input, such as a touch, on the application icons 608, 610. In other examples, the predefined location may comprise a predefined region around the proximity of the perimeter of the icon (associated with the application of interest), the user actuation of which also provides for opening of the particular application. For example, providing an actuating user input, such as a tap, on or in a region around the proximity of the perimeter of the icon may open the associated application.

The predefined location 613 in this example is associated with two user indicated adjacent applications 608, 610. The apparatus/device 600 is configured to reveal information associated with the particular plurality of two user indicated particular adjacent applications 608, 610 based on the particular sliding user input 612 starting at the predefined location 613 associated with the two application icons 608, 610. In this example, the predefined location 613 for the plurality of user indicated particular adjacent applications 608, 610 is substantially equidistant from the plurality of user indicated particular adjacent applications 608, 610 (that is, the user input is made starting at a point approximately equally between the two application icons 608, 610.

In figure 6b, the particular sliding user input 612 has been detected and caused the apparatus/device 600 to reveal the next upcoming calendar entry 616 and the last received e-mail 618. As with the example shown in figures 5a-5b, the user may find it simple to slide a finger over the display 602 from a point between two application icons 608, 610, and reveal information relating to the applications associated with the application icons 608, 610 between which his user input 616, 618 started.

The user may be able to design his own homescreen, and therefore may choose, for example, to locate icons relating to similar applications together as a group. For example, the similar applications may be social media applications. The user may then provide a user input with one finger starting at a point located between any two social media application icons, or any four social media application icons (at a point between proximal corners of the four application icons), for example, and reveal information relating to the two/four associated applications. This may be much simpler and easier than opening and navigating two or four separate social media applications to see the latest status updates, news and events.

The particular scrolling user input may be provided in a certain way in some examples to distinguish it from other recognised user inputs. For example, in one example a one finger sliding gesture may be performed to provide a scrolling input and cause the contents shown on the display to be scrolled. To distinguish from the one-finger sliding user gesture for scrolling, a two-finger sliding gesture may be used as the particular sliding user input to reveal information associated with a particular application or applications. As another example, a sliding gesture along a long edge of the display of a device may provide a scrolling input. To distinguish from the scrolling input, a particular sliding user input for revealing information may be made in a central portion of the display and not along a long edge of the display. As a further example, a moving hover user input may be recognised as a particular sliding user input for revealing information, whereas touch user input gestures may be recognised for other inputs. Of course, in other examples, there may be no categorisation of user input types for revealing information or otherwise, and a sliding user input may be recognised as an input to reveal information because the particular sliding user input starts on, or ends on, a particular location such as an application icon.

Figures 7a-7d illustrate an example embodiment of an apparatus/device 700 with a touch sensitive display 702. The apparatus/device 700 is displaying a homescreen 704 comprising several application icons 706, 708 on the display 702 as per examples above. Each application icon 706, 708 is associated with a particular application. The e-mail application icon 708 is associated with an e-mail application.

In this example, the user wants to see the latest sent e-mails, and separately, see the latest received e-mails. In figure 7a, the user performs a particular sliding user input 712 in which one finger 710 starts on the e-mail application icon 708 and slides 712 from the application icon 708 to the right of the display 702, and is then removed. In figure 7b, the particular sliding user input 712 has been detected and caused the apparatus/device 700 to reveal the latest sent e-mail messages in a pop-up information box 714. Only the latest sent e-mails are displayed due to the particular sliding user input being made to the right of the display 702. The apparatus/device 700 in this example is configured to detect a slide to the right as associated with sent messages. For example, if the user later made a particular sliding user input from an SMS application icon to the right, the apparatus would display the latest sent SMS messages. To close the pop-up information box 714, the user can in this example tap on the "tap to hide" note/area 718 to remove the revealed information 714, 716, from display.

The user then decides to view the latest received e-mail messages. Figure 7c shows the user performing a particular sliding user input 720 in which one finger 710 starts on the e-mail application icon 708 and slides 720 from the application icon 708 to the left of the display 702. In figure 7d, the particular sliding user input 720 has been detected and caused the apparatus/device 700 to reveal the latest received e-mail messages 724 in a pop-up information box 722. Only the latest received e-mails 724 are displayed due to the particular sliding user input being made to the left of the display 702. The apparatus/device 700 in this example is configured to detect a slide to the left as associated with received messages only. For example, if the user later made a particular sliding user input from a chat application icon to the left of the display, the apparatus would display the latest received chat messages. To close the pop-up information box 722, the user can in this example tap on the "tap to hide" area 726 to remove the revealed information 722, 724, from display. In other examples, a particular sliding user input from the e-mail application icon 708 towards the bottom of the display 702 may display both sent and received e-mail messages, and a particular sliding user input from the e-mail application icon 708 towards the top of the display 702 may display draft e-mail messages, for example. By displaying a particular type of most recent information according to the direction of the particular sliding user input, the user may be able to quickly and easily see a particular subset of recent information relating to a particular application. In general, the particular direction of the particular sliding user input 712, 720 determines the particular information 716, 724 revealed for the at least one particular application. While the information in figures 7b and 7d is revealed in a pop-up box appearing in the central portion of the display 702, in other examples the information may be revealed in a drop-down region which pulls down from the top of the display 702, a pop-up region which slides up from the bottom of the display 702, or a side area which is pulled across from the left or right edge of the display 702. The way of displaying the revealed information may be specified by a user in a user settings option in certain examples. In other examples, it may be envisaged that the particular sliding user input is a hold and slide, wherein the user touches a particular location for a predetermined hold period (for example, two seconds) before making the slide user input gesture. After the hold of two seconds, the apparatus may be configured to display prompting indicators at different regions on the display according to what information will be revealed if the user slides his contacting finger towards a particular indicator. In this way, a user need not remember which slide directions correspond to which types of information relating to a particular application (such as right for sent messages and left for received messages).

In certain examples any number of indicators may be displayed according to the different types of information which may be revealed associated with a particular application. For example, if a user provides a particular sliding user input starting at a location associated with a calendar application, upon holding a touch user input at the location for a predetermined period, a series of indicators may be displayed, each relating to a particular type of calendar appointment. For example, if the user slides up to the top of the display, personal appointments may be revealed as indicated by a "personal" indicator displayed at the top of the display. Similarly, a slide down to the bottom of the display may reveal information on work-related appointments, a slide to the left may reveal information relating to medical appointments, a slide to the right may reveal information relating to travel-related appointments, and a slide to the top-right corner of the display may reveal information relating to birthdays entered in the calendar. Other directions/types of calendar appointment may be envisaged.

Figures 8a-8d illustrate an example embodiment of an apparatus/device 800 with a touch-sensitive display 802. In this example, the apparatus/device 800 is displaying a homescreen 804 comprising several application icons 806, 808, 810 on the display 802. Each application icon 806, 808, 810 is associated with a particular application as described earlier.

The user in this example wishes to quickly see the next upcoming calendar event stored in the calendar application. In figure 8a, the user performs a particular sliding user input 814 in which his finger 812 starts on the calendar application icon 808 and moves down towards the bottom of the display 802. The particular sliding user input 814 starts at the predefined location of the area of the display 802 showing the application icon 808.

Figure 8b shows that the particular sliding user input 814 from the calendar application icon 808 has been detected, and, so information 816 associated with the calendar application is revealed. Because the particular sliding user input 814 started on the calendar application icon 808, only information about the calendar is displayed. In this example, the next upcoming appointment 816 is revealed: a meeting at 16:30 today. The user then wishes to also see the last received e-mail (for example, he may recall that he recently received an e-mail relating to the meeting shown in the revealed calendar information 816). In this example, revealed information 816 remains displayed after release of he particular sliding user input for a predetermined time, for example one second. Figure 8c shows that the user has moved his finger from the calendar application icon 808 to the e-mail application icon 810. The user then performs a further particular sliding user input 818 with his finger 812 starting on the e-mail application icon 810 and sliding towards the bottom of the display 802. The user performs the further (separate) particular sliding user input 818 while the information 816 revealed from the calendar application is still presented on the display 802.

Figure 8d shows the result of the further particular sliding user input 818. The apparatus/device 800 has revealed information 820 associated with the e-mail application just above the information 816 previously revealed relating to the calendar application. The further revealed information 820 relates to the e-mail application because the further particular sliding user input 818 started on the email application icon 810.

Thus the examples show that a user is able to selectively reveal information relating to more than one application by providing a particular sliding user input per application. Thus each user input causes the apparatus/device 800 to reveal information about one particular application associated with the starting point of the particular sliding user input provided by the user. The apparatus/device may be beneficial to a user who wishes to view recent and/or upcoming information relating to more than one particular application as selected by the user, in the order selected by the user.

In the above examples described in relation to figures 4a-4c, 5a-5b, 7a-7d and 8a-8d, the particular sliding user input starts at a particular location (e.g., on or between an application icon). It will be appreciated that in other examples, the user input may end at a particular location rather than start at a particular location. This will now be described in relation to figures 9a-9d. Figures 9a-9d illustrate an example embodiment of an apparatus/device 900 with a touch-sensitive display 802. In this example, the apparatus/device 900 is displaying a homescreen 904 comprising several application icons 906, 908 on the display 802. Each application icon 906, 908 is associated with a particular application as described earlier. The user in this example wishes to quickly see the latest sent and received e-mails. In figure 9a, the user performs a particular sliding user input 912 in which his finger 910 starts at the top of the display 902 and moves down towards the e-mail application icon 912. Figure 9b shows that the user's particular sliding user input 912 has ended at the predefined location of the area of the display 902 showing the e-mail application icon 908.

Figure 9c shows that the particular sliding user input 908 from the top of the display 902 down to end on the e-mail application icon 908 has been detected (the finger has been removed), and so information 916 associated with the calendar application is revealed. Because the particular sliding user input 912 started at the top of the display 902 and moved down the display 902, the information 916 is revealed from the top of the display downwards 914. This way of revealing information may be perceived by the user as if he pulled down an information panel. Because the particular sliding user input 912 ended on the e-mail application icon 908, only information about the e-mail application is displayed.

Figure 9d shows that, in this example, the revealed information 916 is revealed in a panel which slides from the top of the display 902 to the bottom, covering any previously displayed information on the display 902. In other examples the information may be revealed in a panel which covers approximately half of the display 902 area (depending on the example, the information display panel can be any size). In this example the user's sliding user input is substantially along the long axis of the display screen from the top of the display above the e-mail application icon down towards the e-mail application icon 908. In other examples, the user's sliding user input may begin at any point towards the top of the display 902 and arrive along a diagonal path with respect to the display 902 to end at the e-mail application icon 908. The information display panel reveals information 916 about the latest sent 918 and received 920 e-mails. In other examples, it may be that a first particular sliding user input ending on the e-mail application icon reveals information about the most recently received e-mails, but not recently sent emails, and that a second particular sliding user input ending on the e-mail application icon reveals information about the most recently sent e-mails, but not recently received emails. For example, the first user input may start at the top left corner of the display and the second user input may start at the top right corner of the display. As another example, the first user input may be made with one finger sliding to the e-mail application icon 908, and the second user input may be made with two fingers sliding to the e-mail application icon 908.

In other examples, rather than a user pulling down 912 from the top of a display 902 to a predefined location/particular application icon 908 to reveal information from the top of the display 902, the user may be able to provide a sliding user input from the bottom of the display 902 up to the predefined location/particular application icon 908 to reveal information in a pop-up area revealed from the bottom of the display 902. In certain examples, the user may be able to either slide from the top down to a predefined location, or slide up from the bottom to a predefined location depending on their preference, and information will be revealed from the top or bottom of the screen respectively.

In other examples, a user may be able to provide a zig-zag particular sliding user input. If the user slides a finger on a touch-sensitive display of an apparatus/device from the top of the display to a first predefined location, then without releasing the finger contact with the touch sensitive display, changes slide direction to slide to another predefined location, the apparatus may be configured to reveal information concerning applications associated with each of the two predefined locations at which the user's finger temporarily stopped. This allows the user to advantageously provide a simple user input to reveal information concerning only the applications which a user has selected. In certain examples described above, such as those described in relation to figures 4a-4c, 5a-5b, 8a-8d and 9a-9d, the predefined location is user indicated as being associated with opening of the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input. That is, the particular location is over an application icon, which the user may interact with in order to open the corresponding application. For example, tapping or double tapping on the calendar icon could cause the calendar application to open. In other examples, the predefined location may be user indicated as being associated with revealing information about a particular application but not necessarily opening that application. For example, a user may configure an apparatus/device such that one particular edge, corner, or region of the display screen is predefined as being associated with a particular application, such as a social media application. That particular edge/corner/region is then labelled (i.e., user indicated) as associated with a particular application, such as reading "received social updates" along one edge of the display. If the user provides a particular sliding user input starting at (or ending at) the particular labelled edge, corner or region associated with the social media application, social media information from that application may be revealed to the user. In this way, for example for an apparatus/device which can display multiple homescreens, the user may be able to reveal information relating to the social media application even if the currently presented homescreen does not display, for example, an application icon relating to that social media application because the "received social updates" label will be presented on each homescreen. This example may be useful for a user who regularly wishes to check a social media (or any other) particular application for updated information without necessarily navigating to the home screen displaying an icon for that particular application, or in fact opening that particular application. While the above examples illustrate information being revealed relating to a calendar application and an e-mail application, the particular application may be a messaging application, a chat application, a social media application, voice calling application, video calling application, a news application, a game, a music application, a movie application, a camera application, or an internet browser application, and/or the like.

While the above examples illustrate information being revealed as calendar updates from a calendar application and e-mail updates from an e-mail application, in other examples the revealed information may be one or more message updates from an e-mail application, one or more chat message updates from a chat application, one or more status updates from a social media application, one or more call updates from a voice calling application, one or more call updates from a video calling application, one or more news updates from a news application, one or more game updates from a game, one or more music information updates from a music application, one or more movie information updates from a movie application, one or more image information updates from a camera application, or one or more internet browsing updates from an internet browser application, and/or the like. The revealed information may be a notification associated with a particular application, for example indicating a newly received e-mail, SMS message or chat message, a recently missed or received telephone or video call, a newly posted social media status update, microblog entry or news feed alert, a newly recorded camera image or movie, a newly installed/downloaded game, or the completion of receipt of a transferred file (for example, received over a WLAN or Bluetooth connection), for example.

In other examples the revealed information may be associated with a running application. For example, a movie application may be running and playing a movie in a movie window. An associated movie application icon may be displayed, for example at the bottom of a display screen. If the user wishes to perform another task, such as composing and sending an e-mail, he may open an e-mail application to compose the e- mail. While the e-mail application is running and being used/viewed, the movie window displaying the movie may not displayed on the screen (because the e-mail application is being displayed). However, if the user wants to check the movie which is playing (in the background), he may provide a particular sliding user input, for example starting on or ending on the movie application icon (the predefined location being user indicated as being associated with a particular application) and sliding up/down the display, and a pop-up screen may be displayed which shows the playing movie. In this way the user can check the playing movie from time to time whilst composing his e-mail. Once the e- mail has been sent, the user may close the e-mail application and continue to watch the movie in the movie window.

Another such example is of a user listening to music using a portable electronic device. If the user wants to perform other tasks on his device whilst listening to the music, such as browsing the internet or playing a game, then the music player application will not be displayed on the display screen of the device although the music will continue to play. However, if the user wants to check, for example, the name of the currently playing song, or the remaining listening time of a song or album, he may provide a particular sliding user input starting on or ending on a displayed music player application icon, to reveal information associated with the music player application such as the remaining running time or currently playing song name.

A further such example is of a user downloading a file. The user may be able to provide a particular sliding user input starting on or ending on an icon associated with a file transfer/download application, to, for example, view the remaining download time of an actively downloading file. By allowing a particular sliding user input to be performed associated with a running application, a user is able to check/peek, using a sliding input, at information relating to an application running in the background without being unnecessarily distracted from performing another task or tasks on the same device. The application about which information is revealed may be any application which is running.

In other examples, providing a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a particular location, such as a displayed application icon, may cause information to be revealed associated with that application by playing a file associated with that application, such as the most recently played or stored file. For example, performing a sliding user input to or from a movie application icon may cause a pop-up screen to be displayed in which the latest movie recorded on that device is played back to the user. As another example, performing a sliding user input to or from a music player application icon may cause the last listened-to song to be played back to the user. Thus, the information revealed to the user need not be visual (it may be audio information, or audio/visual information). The information revealed may also vary in time (for example, a song, movie, or progress of a file transfer/download, for example).

In certain examples the user may be able to interact with the revealed information. For example, upon revealing information relating to an e-mail, a user may be able to select a revealed e-mail and cause the e-mail application to open. The user may then perform further tasks such as reading the full text of the e-mail and replying to it. As another example, if the revealed information is a playing movie, the user may be able to, for example, tap the revealed playing movie to pause the playback. The user can then return to the open movie player application later and continue viewing the movie from the pause point. The user may be able to interact with revealed information, for example in cases where the revealed information remains displayed for a predetermined period of time after removal of the particular sliding user input, and/or in cases where a further user input is required to remove the revealed information from display. Such functionality may be considered a preview-pane type functionality.

The apparatus may be configured in certain examples to detect the particular sliding user input. The apparatus may be configured in certain examples to provide signalling to display the revealed information. The apparatus may be configured in certain examples to reveal the information by itself displaying the revealed information. The apparatus may be configured in certain examples to remove the revealed information upon termination of the particular sliding user input, to cause the revealed information to remain displayed for a predetermined period of time following termination of the particular sliding user input, and/or to cause the information to remain displayed following termination of the particular user input until a further user input is detected.

In certain examples, the apparatus may be configured such that input can be accepted on a front/display face of the apparatus/device and on an opposing back face of the apparatus/device. A particular sliding user input may be made using the front face of the device/apparatus, and/or using the back face of the apparatus/device. If the starting or ending point of a sliding user input made on the back of the device corresponds to the equivalent position of a particular location, such as an application icon, on the display face, then such an input made to the back of the device may be used to reveal information about the application associated with the starting or ending point of the sliding user input. One particular example may provide a tactile back surface with raised areas to indicate to a user the position of, for example, application icons displayed on the front display face of the device. Thus a user can feel, using the raised areas, where to start or end the particular sliding user input on the back of the device to cause information to be revealed about a particular application. In another example, touching on the back face may be indicated by a corresponding area on the front/display face to help a user see what he is indirectly interacting with.

In certain examples, the apparatus may be configured to reveal information associated with at least one particular application, based on detection of a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location on a locked screen of a device. For example, a device may be configured such that on a locked screen (which may ordinarily allow limited user input such as an unlock input), a series of application icons are displayed. These icons may be selected by the user as relating to favourite, or often- used applications, for example. The user may be able to provide a particular sliding user input starting on or ending on a displayed application icon on the locked screen to reveal information about that particular application, such as viewing a received e-mail notification if the user input is associated with an e-mail application icon, or viewing newly-received social media status updates associated with a particular social media application. If the user wishes to view further information, they may need to unlock the device and access the e-mail application. The apparatus in the above examples is shown as a portable electronic device. The apparatus may be a mobile phone, a Smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a graphics tablet, a digital camera, a navigator, a laptop computer, a server, a non-portable electronic device, a desktop computer, a monitor/display, or a module/circuitry for one or more of the same.

Throughout the present specification, terms relating to relative orientation and position, such as "top", "bottom" and "side" are used in the sense of the orientation of the apparatus/device and display as presented in the drawings. However, such terms are not intended to be in any way limiting to an intended use of the examples disclosed herein.

Throughout the present specification, the illustrated examples relate to a user touching a touch-sensitive display of an apparatus/device. It will be appreciated that in other examples, the input may be made using a stylus (such as a pen or scribe) on a suitably touch-sensitive display or touchpad, by a mouse, trackball, joystick or wand controlling a cursor displayed on a screen, for example. For example, a user using a desktop computer may use a mouse to control a pointer on-screen. The user may be able to click-and-drag from an icon displayed on the screen to reveal information about the application associated with that icon.

Figure 10a shows an example of an apparatus in communication with a remote server. Figure 10b shows an example of an apparatus in communication with a "cloud" for cloud computing. In figures 10a and 10b, apparatus 1000 (which may be apparatus 100, 200 or 300) is in communication with 1008 a display 1002. The apparatus 1000 and display 1002 may form part of the same apparatus/device, although they may be separate as shown in the figures. The apparatus 1000 is also in communication with 1006 a remote computing element. Such communication 1006, 1008 may be via a communications unit, for example. Figure 10a shows the remote computing element to be a remote server 1004, with which the apparatus may be in wired or wireless communication (e.g. via the internet, Bluetooth, a USB connection, or any other suitable connection as known to one skilled in the art). In figure 10b, the apparatus 1000 is in communication with a remote cloud 1010 (which may, for example, be the Internet, or a system of remote computers configured for cloud computing). It may be that the information revealed due to the detection of a particular sliding user input is accessed at a remote server 1004 or cloud 1010 and presented for a user on the display 1002. For example, it may be that revealing the information and/or detection of the particular sliding user input is provided using the remove server 1004 or cloud 1010. As another example, if a user reveals information from an e-mail application, the e-mails may be stored on a remote server/cloud and information about the remotely stored e-mails may be retrieved for display to the user. The information may not necessarily be stored on the remote server 1004/cloud 1010 in other examples.

Figure 1 1 illustrates a method according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The method comprises the step of revealing information associated with at least one particular application, based on detection of a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location, the predefined location being user indicated as being associated with the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input 1 100.

Figure 12 illustrates schematically a computer/processor readable medium 1200 providing a program according to an embodiment. In this example, the computer/processor readable medium is a disc such as a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) or a compact disc (CD). In other embodiments, the computer readable medium may be any medium that has been programmed in such a way as to carry out the functionality herein described. The computer program code may be distributed between the multiple memories of the same type, or multiple memories of a different type, such as ROM, RAM, flash, hard disk, solid state, etc.

Any mentioned apparatus/device/server and/or other features of particular mentioned apparatus/device/server may be provided by apparatus arranged such that they become configured to carry out the desired operations only when enabled, e.g. switched on, or the like. In such cases, they may not necessarily have the appropriate software loaded into the active memory in the non-enabled (e.g. switched off state) and only load the appropriate software in the enabled (e.g. on state). The apparatus may comprise hardware circuitry and/or firmware. The apparatus may comprise software loaded onto memory. Such software/computer programs may be recorded on the same memory/processor/functional units and/or on one or more memories/processors/ functional units.

In some embodiments, a particular mentioned apparatus/device/server may be pre- programmed with the appropriate software to carry out desired operations, and wherein the appropriate software can be enabled for use by a user downloading a "key", for example, to unlock/enable the software and its associated functionality. Advantages associated with such embodiments can include a reduced requirement to download data when further functionality is required for a device, and this can be useful in examples where a device is perceived to have sufficient capacity to store such pre-programmed software for functionality that may not be enabled by a user.

Any mentioned apparatus/circuitry/elements/processor may have other functions in addition to the mentioned functions, and that these functions may be performed by the same apparatus/circuitry/elements/processor. One or more disclosed aspects may encompass the electronic distribution of associated computer programs and computer programs (which may be source/transport encoded) recorded on an appropriate carrier (e.g. memory, signal).

Any "computer" described herein can comprise a collection of one or more individual processors/processing elements that may or may not be located on the same circuit board, or the same region/position of a circuit board or even the same device. In some embodiments one or more of any mentioned processors may be distributed over a plurality of devices. The same or different processor/processing elements may perform one or more functions described herein. The term "signalling" may refer to one or more signals transmitted as a series of transmitted and/or received electrical/optical signals. The series of signals may comprise one, two, three, four or even more individual signal components or distinct signals to make up said signalling. Some or all of these individual signals may be transmitted/received by wireless or wired communication simultaneously, in sequence, and/or such that they temporally overlap one another.

With reference to any discussion of any mentioned computer and/or processor and memory (e.g. including ROM, CD-ROM etc), these may comprise a computer processor, Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or other hardware components that have been programmed in such a way to carry out the inventive function.

The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole, in the light of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that the disclosed aspects/embodiments may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the disclosure.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features as applied to example embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices and methods described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the disclosure. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiments may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. Furthermore, in the claims means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures. Thus although a nail and a screw may not be structural equivalents in that a nail employs a cylindrical surface to secure wooden parts together, whereas a screw employs a helical surface, in the environment of fastening wooden parts, a nail and a screw may be equivalent structures.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:

reveal information associated with at least one particular application, based on detection of a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location, the predefined location being user indicated as being associated with the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the predefined location is user indicated as being associated with opening of the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the predefined location is user indicated as being associated with opening one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the predefined location comprises an icon configured to user indicate at least a portion of the predefined location as being associated with one particular application, the user actuation of which provides for opening of the one particular application.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the predefined location also comprises a predefined region around the proximity of the perimeter of the icon, the user actuation of which also provides for opening of the particular application.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the predefined location also comprises a predefined region around the proximity of the perimeter of the icon, the predefined region configured to not allow for user actuation to provide for opening of the particular application.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the predefined location is associated with a plurality of user indicated adjacent applications, and the apparatus is configured to reveal information associated with the particular plurality of user indicated particular adjacent applications based on the particular sliding user input starting at or ending at the predefined location.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the predefined location for the plurality of user indicated particular adjacent applications is substantially equidistant from the plurality of user indicated particular adjacent applications.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one particular application comprises at least one of a calendar application, an e-mail application, a messaging application, a chat application, a social media application, voice calling application, video calling application, a news application, a game, a music application, a movie application, a camera application, and an internet browser application.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the revealed information is at least one of: one or more calendar updates from a calendar application,

one or more e-mail updates from an e-mail application,

one or more message updates from a messaging application,

one or more chat message updates from a chat application,

one or more status updates from a social media application,

one or more call updates from a voice calling application,

one or more call updates from a video calling application,

one or more news updates from a news application,

one or more game updates from a game,

one or more music information updates from a music application,

one or more movie information updates from a movie application,

one or more image information updates from a camera application, and one or more internet browsing updates from an internet browser application.

1 1 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the particular sliding user input is configured to correspondingly move an area associated with the predefined location with the particular sliding user input when the detection is based on the sliding user input starting at the predefined location.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to reveal the information associated with the at least one particular application in an area revealed upon detection of the particular sliding user input.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to reveal the information associated with the at least one particular application in an area revealed opposite to the direction of the particular sliding user input.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to progressively reveal further information with progressive continuation of the particular sliding user input.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the particular direction of the particular sliding user input determines the particular information revealed for the at least one particular application.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the predefined locations are indicated on a homescreen, the homescreen comprising a plurality of predefined locations each associated with the at least one particular application.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to one or more of: remove the revealed information upon termination of the particular sliding user input;

cause the revealed information to remain displayed for a predetermined period of time following termination of the particular sliding user input, or

cause the information to remain displayed following termination of the particular user input until a further user input is detected.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is: an electronic device, a portable electronic device, a mobile phone, a Smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a graphics tablet, a digital camera, a navigator, a laptop computer, a server, a non-portable electronic device, a desktop computer, a monitor/display, or a module/circuitry for one or more of the same.

19. A computer readable medium comprising computer program code stored thereon, the computer readable medium and computer program code being configured to, when run on at least one processor perform at least the following:

20. A method comprising:

revealing information associated with at least one particular application, based on detection of a particular sliding user input starting at or ending at a predefined location, the predefined location being user indicated as being associated with the at least one particular application prior to the detection of the particular sliding user input.