Abstract:
A user interface enables the display of browser information in a space conserving fashion. A plurality of icons may be displayed along a bar adjacent a browser display window. When an icon is selected, an appropriate panel may be displayed. A uniform resource locator text entry block may only be displayed when an appropriate icon is selected. Thus the extra space that is lost through the display of the text entry block is only encountered when the user actually needs to make a uniform resource locator text entry.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
         [0001]    This relates generally to user interfaces for processor-based systems.  
           [0002]    User interfaces for processor-based systems facilitate the entry of user selections for software resident on those processor-based systems. For example, a browser may include a user interface with a button bar and a uniform resource locator entry block. A web page may be displayed below the button bar and uniform resource locator entry block.  
           [0003]    The need to conserve display space may be critical with devices that have relatively smaller displays. Such devices may include personal digital assistants, web tablets and other portable devices. In such cases, all the space on the display or user interface may be critical to efficient use of the device.  
           [0004]    Generally, the larger the display, the more expensive is the display. This may be a particular issue with portable devices using liquid crystal displays. In addition, larger displays result in larger and heavier devices which may be a distinct disadvantage, particularly for portable devices.  
           [0005]    Thus there is a need for better ways to conserve space on browser user interfaces. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a depiction of a user interface in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is a depiction of a user interface of FIG. 1 after the web search button has been selected in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 is a depiction of a user interface of FIG. 1 after a URL has been entered in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 4 is a flow chart for software resident on a processor-based system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 5 is a block depiction of hardware in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0011]    Referring to FIG. 1, a graphical user interface  10  may include a plurality of user selectable icons or images, called buttons herein, in a button bar  11 . The user selectable buttons may include a web search button  16  and an audio button  17  in one embodiment. In this embodiment, there may be no persistently displayed uniform resource locator (URL) text entry block. A window  14  may display a selected web page or web search results as two examples.  
         [0012]    When a user selects the button  16 , for example, using a mouse or touch screen system, a uniform resource locator text entry block or panel  12  appears at the bottom of the window  14  in place of the button bar  11 , as shown in FIG. 2. The entry block  12  facilitates the entry of an appropriate URL to access a desired web page or the entry of text for web searching in one embodiment. By causing the block  12  to appear only on request, user interface  10  area is saved. Thus, space may be conserved by only presenting the text entry block  12  on user request.  
         [0013]    Referring to FIG. 2, a keyboard image  64  and text entry block  12  are displayed in place of the button bar  11  upon selection of the web search button  16 . In one embodiment, the keyboard image  64  includes a plurality of soft keys that may be selected using touch contact. The text entry block  12  allows the user to enter a uniform resource locator (URL) and then to select the go button  67  to access a selected web site.  
         [0014]    When the user enters a URL in the block  12  and presses the go button  67 , the interface  10   a  (FIG. 2) changes to the interface  10   b  shown in FIG. 3. A page loading bar  66  indicates that a selected web page, whose URL was entered in the block  68 , is loading. The loading bar  66 , over the button bar  11 , replaces the keyboard image  64  and text entry block  12  user interface shown in FIG. 2, in one embodiment of the present invention. When the web page is finished loading, the web page may immediately appear in the window  14  and the loading bar  66  automatically disappears.  
         [0015]    Similarly, when the controls button  17  is selected in the button bar  11  in FIG. 1, the audio controls bar  13  is automatically displayed, stacked on top of the button bar  11  as shown in FIG. 4. Moreover, whenever music is being played, the audio bar  13  may be displayed in one embodiment. Thus, in FIG. 2 for example, if audio were being played, the audio bar  13  would be stacked on top of the soft keyboard image  64 .  
         [0016]    In this way, space may be conserved by causing dynamic informational bars or panels to transiently appear on an interface  10 . For example, the button bar  11  is only displayed when it is needed. Similarly, the keyboard image  64  is only displayed when needed. As soon as a web page, selected using the image  64 , begins to load, the image  64  is automatically replaced by the loading bar  66 . Similarly, the loading bar  66  is transient in that it is automatically replaced by still another bar after the page is finished loading. In this embodiment, informational interfaces are not maintained on the display screen substantially longer than they are useful, increasing the period of time when a greater amount of display screen area is available.  
         [0017]    If a user selects still another selectable button in the bar  11 , such as the button  17 , still another panel  13  may be displayed, stacked on top of the panel  12 . Each time another button in the bar  11  is selected, another panel may be displayed, stacked on top of the previously displayed panels in one embodiment of the present invention. The more panels that are selected, the more the panels take from the display area of the page in the window  14 . However, only those panels that are actually needed end up being displayed in one embodiment.  
         [0018]    Turning to FIG. 4, the software for controlling the display of panels or bars, such as the bars  12  and  13  begins by determining whether a button has been selected (diamond  22 ) on the button bar  11 .  
         [0019]    When a button in the bar  11  is selected, a check at diamond  23  determines whether to display the bar  12 , in one embodiment. If the web search button  16  is selected, then the keyboard image  64  is displayed as indicated in block  24 . In one embodiment, the keyboard image  64  is displayed below the window  14 , replacing the button bar  11  to conserve window  14  display area. A loading bar  66  is displayed, as indicated in block  28 , in place of the keyboard image  64  when text is entered.  
         [0020]    A check at diamond  29  determines whether the desired page (web page or search results page) is ready. If so, that page is displayed in the window  14  over the button bar  11  (that replaces the loading bar  66 ).  
         [0021]    Finally, referring to FIG. 5, one embodiment of a processor-based system  36  to implement the present invention is illustrated. Of course, the present invention is not in any way limited to any particular hardware architecture or arrangement. The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is simply an illustration of a wireless mobile processor-based device.  
         [0022]    In the system  36 , a processor  38  is coupled to a touch screen display  40  and a power controller  42 . The processor  38 , in one embodiment, may be the StrongARM brand processor available from Intel Corporation. The processor  38  may also communicate with a host processor-based system using sync signals  58  and file transfer signals  60 . Thus, the system  36  may be synchronized by transferring data from the system  36  to a host system (not shown) such as a desktop computer or other processor-based system.  
         [0023]    The processor  38  is also coupled to a coder/decoder or codec  44 . The codec  44  provides an analog output signal to headphones  46  or speakers  48 .  
         [0024]    A baseband section  50  is coupled to a radio frequency interface  52  in one embodiment. The interface  52  may facilitate communications with a base station using a wireless protocol. This may be the case in a variety of portable devices including web tablets and personal digital assistants, as two examples. In other embodiments, the system  36  may be a standalone system, may communicate over a tethered cable with a base station, or may use other wireless techniques such as infrared technology.  
         [0025]    The processor of  38  is also coupled to a static random access memory (SRAM)  54  and a flash memory  56  in one embodiment. In that embodiment, the stack software  20  may be stored in the flash memory  56 . Of course, other types of storage devices, such as hard disk drives, may also be used in other applications. The processor  38  is also coupled to one or more peripheral cards  62 .  
         [0026]    While the present invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this present invention.