Patent ID: 7158913

Claim:
A method of operating a hand held computing device, the method comprising: providing a hand held computing device with an electrical power conservation system, with an LCD display, with a touch sensitive screen and with a stylus for use in entering information into the computing device through the touch screen; sensing whether the stylus is positioned in a stylus receiving receptacle provided on the device by a process comprising at least one of the following actions: (a) comparing an impedance measured for said receptacle with an impedance value associated with said receptacle when said stylus is positioned within said receptacle; (b) comparing an electrical conductivity measured for said receptacle with an electrical conductivity value associated with said receptacle when said stylus is positioned within said receptacle; (c) comparing a capacitance measured for said receptacle with a capacitance value associated with said receptacle when said stylus is positioned within said receptacle; (d) comparing a mass measured for said receptacle with a mass value associated with said receptacle when said stylus is positioned within said receptacle; (e) determining if an electromechanical switch associated with said receptacle is in a selected switch state when said stylus is positioned within said receptacle; (f) determining if an electromagnetic sensor associated with said receptacle senses proximity of a selected ferromagnetic component embedded in said stylus when said stylus is positioned within said receptacle; and (g) determining if light in a selected wavelength range is received by an optical sensor associated with said receptacle when said stylus is positioned within said receptacle; and when the stylus is positioned within the receptacle, taking at least one of the following set of actions: (i) deactivating the touch screen; (ii) deactivating the LCD display; and (iii) activating the power conservation system.