Handheld electronic device and associated method employing a multiple-axis input device and selectively disabling disambiguation

摘要

A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided.

主权项

1. A method of providing an input into a handheld electronic device having an input apparatus, an output apparatus, and a memory, the input apparatus comprising a plurality of input members including a multiple-axis input device, at least some of the input members each having a plurality of characters assigned thereto, the method comprising:
providing an input interpretation function which, responsive to an ambiguous input of a number of input member actuations, is operable to interpret the ambiguous input; detecting an input from the multiple-axis input device and, responsive thereto, moving a focus of the handheld electronic device to a particular component of the handheld electronic device; responsive to the moving of the focus to a particular component, disabling at least temporarily the input interpretation function and providing an alternate input interpretation function; detecting a number of input member actuations; and responsive to the detecting of a number of input member actuations, interpreting the number of input member actuations with the alternate input interpretation function.