Patent ID: 7808483

Claim:
A computer input device, comprising: a sensor configured to sense movement of the input device and, for each sensed movement, generate a respective first signal indicating the respective sensed movement; and an input element configured to generate a second signal when operated; wherein: the computer input device is adapted for transmitting to a processor data for instructing the processor to move a graphical object in a direction corresponding to a direction of the movement indicated by the respective first signal; in response to the generation of the second signal, one of: (a) responsiveness to the first signal by the processor is inhibited; and (b) correspondence of movement of the graphical object to the movement indicated by the first signal is reversed, such that, in response to subsequent sensed movement of the device, the processor moves the graphical object in a direction that is opposite to a direction that corresponds to the subsequent sensed movement; and functionality of the input element for causing the one of the (a) inhibition of the responsiveness and (b) reversal in correspondence is provided on an application-by-application basis, such that the functionality is conditional upon that the graphical object being in an active display environment of one of a predefined subset of a plurality of applications when the input element is initially activated.