Touchscreen display with box or bubble content and behavior related to finger press locations

Abstract

A virtual touch interface solution is provided that fits on a pocket-size device or even palm-size device and uses the standard keyboard layout with straight rows of keys, which is achieved while making the interaction accurate, fast, and comfortable. In some versions, while the user presses a finger down on the touch-screen display and the finger thereby covers information on a portion of the display, displaying second information in a box or “bubble”, the box or “bubble” positioned away from a point at which the finger is pressed so as to not be covered by the user's finger and so as to help the user properly position their finger on a target virtual selectable item.

1 . A method for providing a user interface to interact with Web pages or other content or user interface elements displayed on a handheld device having a touchscreen display, the method comprising:
 while a user presses a finger down on the touchscreen display and the finger thereby covers all or part of a target selectable element including first displayed information, displaying the first information in a first box or “bubble”, the first box or “bubble” positioned away from an area at which the finger is pressed so as to not be covered by the user's finger and so as to help the user properly position their finger on a target item under the finger;   if the user's finger moves within an area of the target selectable element, maintaining the first box or bubble in a constant state;   if the user's finger moves off of the target selectable element without lifting and moves over a second target selectable element having second displayed information without lifting, removing the first box or bubble and showing a new second box or bubble with content updated to correspond to the second displayed information; and   detecting when the user's finger is lifted from the second target selectable element, and in response activating the second target selectable element.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first information is web page information displayed in a web page display portion of a browser window, and the first box or bubble displays a hyperlink location or link text. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, if, while the user's finger is moving without lifting toward the second target selectable element, it moves through an area where it is not over a link or other selectable item, displaying no box or bubble while it moves through such area. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, if the user's finger touches down on the touchscreen and is not over a link or other selectable item, displaying no box or bubble until the user's finger moves, without lifting, over a selectable item. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, when the user's finger is moved, without lifting, from a position over any virtual selectable element to a position not over any virtual selectable element, removing any associated box or bubble. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising activating different virtual selectable elements at different times in response to a finger pressing or lifting, depending on whether the virtual selectable element is a first type or a second type, the first type activating in response to finger touch-down and the second type activating in response to finger lift-off. 
     
     
         7 . A method for providing a user interface to interact with Web pages or other content or user interface elements displayed on a handheld device having a touchscreen display, the method comprising:
 while a user presses a finger down on the touchscreen display and the finger thereby covers first information on a portion of the display, displaying second information comprising other information besides the covered information in a first box or “bubble”, the box or “bubble” positioned away from a point at which the finger is pressed so as to not be covered by the user's finger and so as to help the user properly position their finger on a target virtual selectable item associated with an area displaying the first information   if the user's finger moves within an area of the target selectable element, maintaining the first box or bubble in a constant state.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , in which the second information is designed to assist the user in identifying which virtual selectable item the user's finger is over. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , in which the second information designed to assist the user in identifying a single action associated with the target virtual selectable item. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the second information further comprises information related to the target virtual selectable item. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising if the user's finger moves off of the target selectable element without lifting and moves over a second target selectable element having third displayed information, removing the first box or bubble and showing a new second box or bubble having fourth information other than the third information and related to the second target selectable element. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising if, while the user's finger is moving without lifting toward the second target selectable element, it moves through an area where it is not over a selectable element, displaying no box or bubble while it moves through such area. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising when the press of said target virtual selectable item is directed to a virtual selectable item configured to respond to touch on a finger lift-off, displaying a URL or other information associated with said pressed target virtual selectable item in the first box or “bubble”. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the second information comprises identifying information associated with the target selectable item. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising, when the user's finger is lifted from the point at which the finger is pressed, causing said first box or bubble to disappear and the virtual selectable item associated with the area to be activated. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising, when the user's finger is moved without lifting to an area not associated with a virtual selectable element, removing the box or bubble. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising, when the user's finger is moved to a blank, non-selectable part of the display before lifting that finger providing no activation activity, even if the user initially pressed their finger on a selectable item. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising activating different virtual selectable items at different times in response to a finger pressing or lifting, depending on whether the virtual selectable item is a first type or a second type, the first type activating in response to finger touch-down and the second type activating in response to finger lift-off. 
     
     
         19 . A method for providing a user interface on a handheld device having a touchscreen, the method comprising:
 on the touchscreen, displaying two or more selectable items configured to respond to activate upon a finger lift-off, and displaying areas with no selectable items;   responding to a user interaction on the touchscreen display with an interrupt-driven process that responds to a user's finger touch-down, movement, and lift-off as follows:   if the touch-down is over a selectable item, displaying a first box or bubble showing identifying information associated with the selectable item, the box or bubble positioned away at which the finger is pressed so as to not be covered by the user's finger and so as to help the user properly position their finger;   if the touch-down is over an area with no selectable items, performing no activation and displaying no box or bubble;   if a movement is within an area of the target selectable element, maintaining the first box or bubble in a constant state;   if a movement is from over a selectable item and without lifting moves to a subsequent selectable item, removing the first box or bubble and showing a new second box or bubble showing identifying information associated with the subsequent selectable item;   if a movement is from an area with no selectable items to over a selectable item, displaying a first box or bubble positioned away at which the finger is pressed so as to not be covered by the user's finger and so as to help the user properly position their finger;   if a movement is from over a selectable item to over an area with no selectable items, removing an associated box or bubble;   if a lift-off over a selectable item, activating the selectable item.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising displaying respective first information in the two or more selectable items, and wherein the identifying information is allowed to be other information than respective first information.