JP5176342B2 - Mobile phone, its operation method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for simplifying a user's button operation and improving a user interface in a mobile phone on which a hierarchical menu screen is displayed.

  As a conventional method for improving the operability of a mobile phone, there is Patent Document 1 as an example. Gesture buttons that can be used to activate gestures are stored in the storage unit, and gesture functions stored in advance while holding down the gesture buttons can be used for functions such as applications. By starting up, functions that are frequently used are quickly started up without any hassle, improving operability.

  Conventionally, as a method of simplifying the operation of the mobile phone, for example, in a foldable mobile phone as described in Patent Document 2, an operation key for performing operation input is provided on the front side of the lower housing, It is described that a shift key is provided on the back side of the upper housing.

  Also, conventional mobile phones are widely used that can call a function or application activation method by number by pressing and holding a button for a long time.

  In the mobile phone described in Patent Document 1, it is convenient that the user can easily activate an application or function if the function is frequently used by the user on a daily basis, but the gesture operation is not registered and the gesture operation is not regularly used. This makes it inconvenient for the user to know which gesture operation plays a role in activating which function. Also, when you release the gesture button is the start timing, which is difficult and difficult to use with one hand.

  Calling a long press of a button or starting an application with a number can only use functions that the user can keep in memory.

  In addition, conventional mobile phones discuss how to start applications easily, and do not discuss when you want to use other functions after startup, such as returning to the standby screen once. It was not possible to shift to other functions without doing.

Here, when the main display unit is folded in a state of facing outward and the operation surface of the main operation unit is covered with the upper housing, the control unit receives the opening / closing received from the position detection unit. Based on the detection signal and the rotation angle detection signal, the mutual positional relationship between the upper unit and the lower unit is recognized, and the operation items selected by the user are displayed on the main display unit in the order selected by the user. When the auxiliary operation menu screen arranged one-dimensionally is displayed, the cursor is moved to a desired operation item by the operation of the side up operation key and the side down operation key, and when the side determination key is pressed, the control unit Has proposed a technique capable of maintaining good operability even under restricted conditions while contributing to downsizing by displaying a corresponding setting menu screen on the main display unit (for example, See Patent Document 3).
JP 2006-244038 A JP 2003-333157 A JP 2005-260284 A

  However, in the prior art, the activation of the application or the transition to various setting screens is inconvenient because the user has to perform a plurality of button operations. In addition, there are application launches and shortcut key inputs from long button presses to simplify button operations, but the user needs to remember the input method for that purpose, and select functions that are not used frequently. It was not possible to do it, and the frequency of use was low.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. The purpose is to simplify the user's button operation, improve the user interface, and to display all of the various menu items across, making it easier to find the desired menu item.

According to the present invention, a screen of menu items displayed in a matrix and a first operation button that is a key operation unit are associated with each other, and an activation operation of a predetermined function is assigned to the first operation button. A cellular phone that activates the function by pressing the first operation button while pressing an operation button , wherein each of the menu items has a first hierarchy and a second hierarchy, By switching the first operation button to be pressed while pressing the second operation button, the first hierarchy of the menu item is skipped and a transition to the second hierarchy is made. provide.

Further, the present invention associates a screen of menu items displayed in a matrix with a first operation button that is a key operation unit, assigns an activation operation of a predetermined function to the first operation button, A method of operating a mobile phone that activates the function by pressing the first operation button while pressing the second operation button , wherein each of the menu items has a first hierarchy and a second hierarchy. The first step of switching the first operation button to be pressed while pressing the second operation button, and skipping the first hierarchy of the menu item by the first step. And a second step of transitioning to the second hierarchy .

  According to the present invention, the button operation of the user can be simplified, the user interface can be improved, and all of the various menu items can be displayed across the board, making it easy to find a desired menu item.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cellular phone according to the present embodiment includes a liquid crystal display unit 1 that displays characters and image information, a key operation unit 2 that inputs numbers and the like, and portions other than the same surface as the key operation unit 2. Are mainly composed of an assist button 3, a cross key 4 that realizes movement of the cursor up, down, left and right, a menu button 5 for displaying a menu, and a decision button 6 for determining a selected item.

  Similarly, the menu items are assigned to the numbers “1” to “9” of the key operation unit 2 in the same manner as the layout of the menu screen, and assigned when the buttons “1” to “9” are input while pressing the assist button. Allows transition to the menu screen.

Next, the operation of the mobile phone according to the present embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, in the present invention, the operation is performed when the buttons from the numbers “1” to “9” in the key operation unit 2 are pressed (step S201).

  First, it is determined whether or not the assist button 3 has been pressed when the above button is input (step S201).

  If it is determined that the assist button 3 has been pressed, a transition is made from the number “1” of the key operation unit 2 to the menu detail screen corresponding in advance to each button of the number “9” (step S204).

  If it is determined that the assist button 3 has not been pressed, the conventional operation is performed (step S205).

  The above-described “transition to the menu detail screen corresponding in advance to the buttons“ 1 ”to“ 9 ”on the key operation unit 2” will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a typical menu screen performs a matrix display in which menu items are divided into nine. In recent years, graphical menu screens using flash have appeared, but everyone thinks that a familiar menu display is a matrix display menu screen.

  In order to improve user operability without changing the user interface, control is performed by associating the matrix display menu screen with the numeric keys “1” to “9” of the key operation unit 2. For example, when the user wants to make various settings, in the conventional operation, the menu button 5 is pressed, the cursor is moved to the various settings with the cross key 4, and the enter button 6 is pressed to select. It is possible to transition to various setting screens by a one-step operation of “pressing the numeric key“ 4 ”while pressing the assist button 3”.

  Even after transitioning to various setting screens, there are many menu items such as setting ringtones and changing the standby screen.

  Taking the ring tone setting mentioned above as an example, the user "presses the number key" 4 "while pressing the assist button 3"-> "search for the ring tone setting item on the screen, and the corresponding number key It is possible to transition to the ring tone setting change screen in two steps of "press".

  Furthermore, since the operation can be performed without using the cross key 4 at all, it is possible to select a function by simply placing a finger on the key operation unit with little movement of the hand as well as operation with one hand.

  In the present invention, the screen does not change directly to the ring tone setting screen (the layer below the second layer in FIG. 4), but the user can select a desired function in one category of various settings. It is important to move to a menu hierarchy that can be selected (second hierarchy in FIG. 4). As an example, if the user wants to perform three actions: changing the ringtone, viewing saved images, and creating a new email, the screen will transition to the standby screen each time each function is completed in the conventional operation. Therefore, there is only a method of proceeding to the next function selection, and there seems to be a disadvantage that it is weak in cross-sectional operation. In the present invention, even after one function is completed, a cross-sectional operation can be easily performed by simply pressing a numeric key while pressing the assist button 3 immediately.

  In the present invention, in any state where the power of the mobile phone is turned on, in a menu having a general hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. As a result, the function currently being executed is forcibly terminated, and the conventional problem is improved by skipping the first layer in FIG. 4 and shifting to the second layer without pressing the menu button 5.

  According to the present embodiment, the user can intuitively operate the menu screen and the operation unit in association with each other. The reason is that functions are arranged on the operation unit as in the menu screen.

  You can also shortcut to a detailed level menu hierarchy. The reason is that the assist button 3 is arranged and the key is used as a trigger.

  You can also traverse each menu item. The reason is that the button of the operation unit can be pressed while pressing the assist key.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Although the mobile phone has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, the function assigned to the button of the key operation unit 2 can be freely configured.

  For example, various assignments such as assigning one application such as a calculator function or assigning a function that displays a specific telephone number so that the user can make a call immediately can be considered.

  As an example, if the telephone number “110” is assigned to be displayed in order to make a quick call in an emergency, the telephone number “110” can be displayed by pressing the assist button 3 while pressing the button.

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, although the description here is based on the assumption that the folding-type telephone is used, the present invention can be applied to mobile phones of other shapes.

  According to the present invention, it can be applied to an application in which an activation operation of one function is assigned to one button of the key operation unit 2 and the function is quickly activated by pressing the button while pressing the assist button 3.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the mobile telephone of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a menu screen. It is a figure which shows the hierarchical structure of a menu.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid crystal display part 2 Key operation part 3 Assist button 4 Four-way controller 5 Menu button 6 Enter button

Claims (5)

The arrangement of each menu item displayed in a matrix is associated with the arrangement of the first operation button that is a key operation unit, a predetermined function activation operation is assigned to the first operation button, and a second operation is performed. A cellular phone that activates the function by pressing the first operation button while pressing a button,
A first hierarchy having each of the menu items and a second hierarchy located below each of the menu items ;
While pressing the second operation button, by switching the first operation button to be pressed, characterized in that the transition skips over the first layer of the menu items to the second hierarchical mobile Phone. 2. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein a function assigned to the first operation button of the key operation unit is freely configured. The arrangement of each menu item displayed in a matrix is associated with the arrangement of the first operation button that is a key operation unit, a predetermined function activation operation is assigned to the first operation button, and a second operation is performed. A method of operating a mobile phone that activates the function by pressing the first operation button while pressing a button,
A first hierarchy having each of the menu items and a second hierarchy located below each of the menu items ;
A first step of switching the first operation button to be pressed while pressing the second operation button;
By the first step, a second step of transitioning to the second hierarchy by skipping the first layer of the menu items,
A method of operating a mobile phone, comprising: 4. The method of operating a mobile phone according to claim 3, wherein a function assigned to the first operation button of the key operation unit is freely configured. A program for causing a computer to realize the function according to claim 1 or 2.

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