Method and apparatus for content management and control

摘要

A handheld electronic device ( 100 ) includes at least one context sensor ( 120 ) and a microprocessor ( 204 ), and a user interface ( 104 ). The context sensor detects ( 306 ) either a contextual characteristic of the device (e.g., ambient light, motion of the device or proximity to or contact another object or how the user is holding the device) and generates a virtual output ( 310 ) representative of the sensed characteristic. The sensed contextual characteristic is associated with a data management function of the device and a virtual physical representation to be output in response to the execution of the data management function is determined ( 308 ). The virtual physical representation is related to the sensed contextual characteristic or the data management function. The virtual physical representation is output by a user interface of the device.