Mobile telephone with improved man machine interface

Abstract

The present invention envisages a GSM mobile telephone in which a line of icons is displayed on a display. As a user navigates through the displayed line of icons, the positions of the icons alter so that the selectable icon moves to the head of the line. This approach makes it very clear (i) which icon is selectable at any time and (ii) where that icon sits in relation to other icons at the same functional level (e.g. only first level icons will be present in one line). First level icons typically relate to the following functions: phonebook; messages; call register; counters; call diversion; telephone settings; network details; voice mail and IrDA activation.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A mobile telephone comprising:
 a processor;   a display;   a graphical user interface executing on the processor and controlling the display to display a plurality of icons on the display, each icon of the plurality of icons corresponding to an operation or set of operations performable by the mobile telephone; and   a navigational tool that sends a first signal to the graphical user interface to designate an icon of the plurality of icons as selectable, and sends a second signal to the graphical user interface to select the selectable icon,   wherein in response to the first signal from the navigational tool, the graphical user interface indicates on the display that the selectable icon is selectable, and   wherein in response to the second signal from the navigational tool selecting the selectable icon, the graphical user interface animates the selected icon on the display to indicate that the selected icon has been selected and animates the remaining icons in the display such that they twist and reveal new icons and indicate to the user that the user is changing levels.   
     
     
         2 . The mobile telephone of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface indicates that the selectable icon is selectable on the display by moving the selectable icon to a designated position on the display. 
     
     
         3 . The mobile telephone of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of icons is arranged in a line on the display and wherein the designated position is at an end of the line. 
     
     
         4 . The mobile telephone of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface indicates that the selectable icon is selectable on the display by coupling a text call out to the selectable icon and displaying the remaining icons without text call outs. 
     
     
         5 . The mobile telephone of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface animates the selected icon by twisting the selected icon around to reveal a new icon that takes the place of the selected icon. 
     
     
         6 . The mobile telephone of  claim 5 , wherein while the graphical user interface animates the selected icon, the graphical user interface also animates the remaining icons of the plurality of icons by twisting the remaining icons around to reveal a new icon for each remaining icon, each respective new icon taking the place of the each remaining icon. 
     
     
         7 . The mobile telephone of  claim 6 , wherein the selected icon corresponds to a higher functional level, wherein the new icon that takes the place of the selected icon and the new icons that take the place of the remaining icons correspond to lower level functions of the higher functional level, and wherein the lower level functions comprise the set of operations. 
     
     
         8 . The mobile telephone of  claim 1 , wherein the navigational tool sends the first signal when the navigational tool is nudged in a first direction, and wherein the navigational tool sends the second signal when the navigational tool is nudged in a second direction that is not collinear with or parallel to the first direction. 
     
     
         9 . The mobile telephone of  claim 1 , wherein the navigational tool is one of a joystick and a rocker switch. 
     
     
         10 . The mobile telephone of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface animates the selected icon by turning the selected icon into a different icon. 
     
     
         11 . A mobile telephone comprising:
 a processor;   a display;   a graphical user interface executing on the processor and controlling the display to display a plurality of icons on the display corresponding to a first functional level of the mobile telephone; and   a navigational tool that sends a first signal to the graphical user interface to designate an icon of the plurality of icons as selectable, and sends a second signal to the graphical user interface to select the selectable icon,   wherein the selected icon is associated with a function of the first functional level, and   wherein in response to the second signal from the navigational tool selecting the selectable icon, the graphical user interface simultaneously animates:
 the selected icon on the display to reveal a new icon that takes the place of the selected icon, and 
 the remaining icons of the plurality of icons on the display such that they twist to reveal respective new icons that take the place of the respective remaining icons and indicate to the user that the user is changing levels, 
 wherein the new icon and the respective new icons correspond to a second functional level related to the function associated with the selected icon. 
   
     
     
         12 . The mobile telephone of  claim 11 , wherein the function associated with the selected icon is a phone book function, and wherein the new icon is associated with one of a consult function, a draft function, and a diversion function. 
     
     
         13 . The mobile telephone of  claim 11 , wherein the graphical user interface animates the selected icon by twisting around the selected icon to reveal the new icon, and wherein the graphical user interface animates the remaining icons by twisting around the remaining icons to reveal the respective new icons. 
     
     
         14 . The mobile telephone of  claim 11 , wherein the graphical user interface animates the selected icon by turning the selected icon into the new icon, and wherein the graphical user interface animates the remaining icons by turning the remaining icons into the respective new icons. 
     
     
         15 . The mobile telephone of  claim 11 , wherein in response to the first signal from the navigational tool, the graphical user interface indicates on the display that the selectable icon is selectable. 
     
     
         16 . The mobile telephone of  claim 15 , wherein the graphical user interface indicates that the selectable icon is selectable on the display by coupling an indicator with the selectable icon. 
     
     
         17 . The mobile telephone of  claim 15 , wherein the navigational tool sends the first signal when the navigational tool is nudged in a first direction, and wherein the navigational tool sends the second signal when the navigational tool is nudged in a second direction that is not collinear with or parallel to the first direction. 
     
     
         18 . A method for conveying functional levels of a graphical user interface of a mobile telephone comprising:
 displaying on the mobile telephone a plurality of icons corresponding to a first functional level of the mobile telephone;   receiving a first signal from a navigational tool of the mobile telephone, the first signal   designating an icon of the plurality of icons as selectable;   receiving a second signal from the navigational tool selecting the selectable icon, wherein the selected icon is associated with a function of the first functional level; and   in response to the second signal, simultaneously animating:
 the selected icon on the display to reveal a new icon that takes the place of the selected icon, and 
 the remaining icons of the plurality of icons on the display such that they twist to reveal respective new icons that take the place of the respective remaining icons, 
 wherein the new icon and the respective new icons indicate to the user that they correspond to a second functional level related to the function associated with the selected icon. 
   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the graphical user interface animates the selected icon by twisting around the selected icon to reveal the new icon, and wherein the graphical user interface animates the remaining icons by twisting around the remaining icons to reveal the respective new icons. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein in response to the first signal from the navigational tool the graphical user interface indicates that the selectable icon is selectable on the display by coupling an indicator with the selectable icon.