Patent ID: 8600457

Claim:
A method for operating a cell phone device in a sleep mode, said cell phone device having a screen display providing a communication-mode display at a first light intensity when said cell phone device is in a communication mode and input control hardware controlling communication functions in said communication mode, the sleep mode method comprising: rendering a sleep-mode display on the cell phone at a sleep-mode light intensity, said sleep-mode display including a time display occupying a majority of an area of said screen display during the sleep mode, said sleep-mode light intensity being dimmer than said first light intensity, the time display occupying a minority of the area in said communication mode; alerting a user with an alarm at an alarm time specified in sleep-mode user settings; suppressing at least a portion of call and at least a portion of message notifications; and interrupting said communication functions of at least a portion of said input control hardware when said user is alerted during said alerting, said interrupting temporarily reassigning the functionality of at least a portion of the input control hardware and allowing said user to suspend said alarm using said portion of said input control hardware.