Patent ID: 8677285

Claim:
A method of using a self-configuring communications and display device comprising a processor coupled to a display and memory, comprising: receiving inputs corresponding to touch screen and non-touchscreen contact gestures on the display device, the display device including an interactive touch screen display area of less than 2″ diagonal, and multiple operational modes, a single or plurality of accelerometers for recognizing non-touchscreen contact gestures, and the self-configuring including recognizing and operating according to a wearable accessory on to which the communications and display device is mounted; responsive to the display device being removably inserted into a receptacle of an accessory, detecting a shape of the accessory and automatically reconfiguring the interactive touchscreen display to arrange and format the said display according to the shape of the accessory; automatically adjusting the input touchscreen contact gestures to accommodate the display shape and function; determining whether the input corresponds to a contact gesture type, wherein the contact gesture type is at least one of a primary contact gesture, a secondary contact gesture, a tertiary contact gesture that invoke a particular function in one operational mode and invoke a completely different function in another operational mode, wherein each primary contact gesture is mapped to a frequently used function of at least one operational mode in a plurality of operational modes; each secondary contact gesture is mapped to an occasionally used function of at least one operational mode in the plurality of operational modes; and each tertiary contact gesture is meant to a rarely used function of at least one operational mode in the plurality of operational modes; determining whether the contact gesture type is a universal gesture that invokes the same function on the device, no matter which operational mode the device is in; and performing the function corresponding to the contact gesture type in the particular operational mode.