Patent ID: 8866791

Claim:
A method for controlling a portable electronic device having a display with a plurality of sensors, said method comprising: determining whether the portable electronic device is in an e-reader mode; configuring the portable electronic device in accordance with the e-reader mode when said determining determines that the portable electronic device is in the e-reader mode, wherein configuring the portable electronic device in accordance with the e-reader mode comprises: deactivating a portion of a touch-sensitive surface of the display while the display is active; activating the portion of the touch-sensitive surface of the display in a low touch resolution mode in response to a user interface input, wherein activating the portion of the touch-sensitive surface in the low touch resolution mode comprises scanning only a subset of the plurality of sensors for a touch input, wherein the subset of the plurality of sensors is located across the portion of the touch-sensitive surface of the display; in response to receiving a touch input, transitioning the portion of the touch-sensitive surface from the low touch resolution to a high touch resolution mode to activate the portion of the touch-sensitive surface in the high touch resolution mode, wherein activating the portion of the touch-sensitive surface in the high touch resolution mode comprises scanning all of the plurality of sensors across the portion of the touch-sensitive surface of the display for an additional user interface input; characterizing the additional user interface input at the activated portion of the touch-sensitive surface of the display as a user request with respect to the e-reader mode; determining whether an action at the portable electronic device is to be initiated based on the user request; initiating the action denoted by the user request if said determining determines that the action at the portable electronic device is to be initiated; and in response to determining the portable electronic device is not in e-reader mode, characterizing the additional user interface input received at the activated portion of the touch-sensitive surface of the display as an input different than a user request in e-reader mode.