Patent ID: 7830364

Claim:
A method of enabling input on a handheld electronic device having a disambiguation function, said handheld electronic device including an input apparatus and an output apparatus, said input apparatus having a plurality of input members that are capable of being actuated and a navigational input member capable of providing a navigational input, said method comprising: detecting as a first input a number of input member actuations; responsive to said detecting a first input, generating a number of character combination choices using said text disambiguation function based on said first input; responsive to said generating, displaying an output that comprises a variant component and a first visual indicator, said variant component comprising a first subset of said number of character combination choices, said first visual indicator being located at a single location and being representative of the availability of a second subset of said number of character combination choices for display in said variant component in place of at least a portion of said first subset responsive to a navigational input in a first direction; detecting as a second input a navigational input in said first direction; and responsive to said detecting a second input, displaying within said variant component said second subset and displaying a second visual indicator located at said single location in place of said first visual indicator, said second visual indicator being representative of the availability of a third subset of said number of character combination choices for display in said variant component in place of at least a portion of said second subset responsive to a navigational input in said first direction, and said second visual indicator also being representative of the availability of said first subset for display in said variant component in place of at least a portion of said second subset responsive to a navigational input in a second direction, wherein said second visual indicator comprises a graphic having a first pointing portion and a second pointing portion, said first pointing portion pointing in said first direction and said second pointing portion pointing in said second direction.