Patent ID: 8542196

Claim:
A method of receiving user input on a touch-screen display housed in a portable device, the method comprising: providing a virtual keyboard having a plurality of virtual selectable items (“keys”), each configured to comprise a graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen with a visible indication of its edges, and an active area associated with the graphic target area, said active area including no visible indicator of its edges, all of said active areas are simultaneously active on the screen, the keys being arranged with their respective active areas adjacent to each other in rows, and wherein for at least a selected first key located toward the left side of the display, for every point in the first key's graphic target area that is within 25 mm of the left of the device frame or within 20 mm of the left side of the display area, and at least 25 mm from the bottom of the device frame or at least 20 mm from the bottom of the display area, the active area of said first key extends further toward the left side of the display than the right side, and wherein for at least one selected second key located toward the right side of the display, for every point in the second key's graphic target area that is within 25 mm of the right of the device frame or within 20 mm of the right side of the display area, and at least 25 mm from the bottom of the device frame or at least 20 mm from the bottom of the display area, the active area of said second key extends further toward the right side of the display than the left side; registering touch engagement of one of the first or second keys in response to detecting an engagement event having corresponding positioning information that is located within said respective active area, but may be located outside of the respective graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen; and providing that a third plurality of keys which are part of the virtual keyboard and active simultaneously with the first and second keys, and each have a graphic target area displayed on said touchscreen with a visible indication of its edges, and an active area associated with the graphic target area, said active area including no visible indicator of its edges, in which the third keys' active areas are not offset to extend further toward either side edge.