Patent ID: 8224392

Claim:
A method of controlling a mobile terminal, the method comprising: displaying, on a touch screen display of the mobile terminal, an operation screen corresponding to a current operating mode executing on the mobile terminal; detecting, via a detecting device, a touch input on the touch screen display of the mobile terminal; determining, via a controller on the mobile terminal, a first finger characteristic describing a finger touching the touch screen display and a second finger characteristic describing the finger touching the touch screen display that is different than the first finger characteristic; performing, via the controller, a first operation relevant to the current operating mode based on the determined first finger characteristic; and performing, via the controller, a second operation relevant to the current operating mode based on the determined second finger characteristic, wherein the first finger characteristic describes a fingernail of the finger touching the touch screen display and the second finger characteristic describes a portion of the finger not including the fingernail touching the touch screen display, wherein the displayed operation screen includes a plurality of selectable and executable items, and wherein when the determining step determines the fingernail is touching multiple items among the plurality of displayed items, the first operation includes selecting and distinctively displaying the selected items, and when the determining step determines the portion of the finger not including the fingernail is touching an item among the plurality of items, the second operation is executing the selected item and displaying a screen related to the executing item.