Patent ID: 8422661

Claim:
A terminal including a key input unit having a key section and an output unit outputting information inputted by the key input unit, the terminal comprising: a touch detection unit which detects a touch of an object to the key section and calculates a moving distance that the object has moved on a surface of the key section while keeping the touch, the key section includes a plurality of keys; and a control unit which switches information outputted to the output unit according to the moving distance calculated by the touch detection unit, wherein the control unit is configured to perform a first selection process for switching a representative character of respective group of characters to be displayed indicating the respective group of characters as a selection candidate, in accordance with the calculated moving distance, after detecting that the representative character has been selected in the first selection process, the control unit is configured to perform a second selection process for switching a respective one of the individual characters to be displayed indicating the respective one of the individual characters as a selection candidate, in accordance with the calculated moving distance, the control unit is configured to detect a selection of one of the individual characters, in both the first selection process and the second selection process, the control unit sets a touch to a key adjacent to the touched key as an event to display a next selection candidate, and in the first selection process, a common initial representative character is commonly assigned to the plurality of keys, the common initial representative character being the representative character to be displayed upon the detection of initial touch to any one of the plurality of keys.