Patent ID: 7380724
Filing Date: 2008-06-03
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method of entering text into an electronic device by means of a keypad having a number of keys, each key representing a plurality of characters, the method comprising: entering characters by means of the keys representing the characters, wherein a character is selected among the plurality of characters represented by the corresponding key by pressing the key a number of times corresponding to the character, attaching to each key, in addition to the plurality of characters represented by that key, a further, ambiguous character representing any one of the plurality of characters represented by the key, wherein the plurality of characters and the ambiguous character are concurrently assigned to each key for selection by pressing the key a number of times corresponding to either the ambiguous character or the plurality of characters; activating a sequence of keys such that an ambiguous character sequence comprising at least one ambiguous character is generated; generating possible non-ambiguous character sequences corresponding to the ambiguous character sequence; comparing the possible character sequences with a vocabulary stored in a memory, the vocabulary comprising character sequences representing words occurring in a given language; pre-selecting ones of the possible character sequences that match character sequences stored in the vocabulary; selecting one of the pre-selected character sequences; and entering the selected character sequence into the device.