Location of a touch-sensitive control method and apparatus

Abstract

A method includes detecting a touch on a touch-sensitive display at a location not associated with a control, displaying, in association with the location, a displayed control, and activating the displayed control.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 detecting a touch on a touch-sensitive display at a location not associated with a control;   in response to detecting the touch, displaying a plurality of different controls;   identifying a selected control from the plurality of different controls;   displaying, in association with the location, the selected control as a displayed control and activating the displayed control.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein activating the displayed control comprises associating the location with at least one function associated with the displayed control. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing a function associated with the displayed control when a subsequent touch associated with the displayed control is detected. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the control is a control panel. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying an option to locate the displayed control. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying a control in an alternate format prior to detecting the touch. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising moving the displayed control to another location 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising moving the displayed control to a second location, wherein the first location is located on a first segment of the touch-sensitive display and the second location is located on a second segment of the touch-sensitive display, wherein the first segment and the second segment are physically separated. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the displayed control is displayed in a reduced format when the control is not used for a predetermined period of time or after power down of the touch-sensitive display. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising
 displaying a second control in response to detecting a second touch;   associating a first set of functions with the displayed control;   associating a second set of functions with the second control;   associating a third set of controls to a combination of touches associated with the displayed control and the second control.   
     
     
         11 . A computer-readable device having computer-readable code executable by at least one processor of the portable electronic device to perform the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         12 . An electronic device comprising:
 a touch-sensitive display;   a processor configured to:
 detect a touch on a touch-sensitive display at a location not associated with a control; 
 in response to detecting the touch, display a plurality of different controls; 
 identify a selected control from the plurality of different controls; 
 display, in association with the location, the selected control as a displayed control; 
 activate the displayed control. 
   
     
     
         13 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to activate the displayed control by associating the location with at least one function associated with the displayed control. 
     
     
         14 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to perform a function associated with the displayed control when a subsequent touch associated with the displayed control is detected. 
     
     
         15 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the selected control is a control panel. 
     
     
         16 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to display an option to locate the displayed control. 
     
     
         17 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to display the plurality of different controls in an alternate format. 
     
     
         18 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to move the displayed control to another location in response to detecting a touch event. 
     
     
         19 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to move the displayed control to a second location, wherein the first location is located on a first segment of the touch-sensitive display and the second location is located on a second segment of the touch-sensitive display, wherein the first segment and the second segment are physically separated. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 display a second control in response to detecting a second touch;   associate a first set of functions with the displayed control;   associate a second set of functions with the second control;   associate a third set of controls to a combination of touches associated with the displayed control and the second control;   wherein a first subset of the first set of functions is common with a first subset of the second set of functions, wherein a second subset of the first set of functions is different from a second subset of the second set of functions, and wherein display of the first control overlaps in time with display of the second control.