Patent ID: 8552987

Claim:
An information processing apparatus comprising: a display; a touch panel provided in relation to said display; a display module configured to display a plurality of key patterns and an input area in said display; a touch detector that detects a touch-on to or a touch-off from said touch panel at predetermined time intervals; a coordinate position detector that detects a coordinate position at a time when said touch detector detects said touch-on; a key pattern designation determining unit that, when said touch detector detects a change of state from touch-off to touch-on, determines whether or not the coordinate position detected by said coordinate position detector designates any of said plurality of key patterns; a first coordinate position determining unit that, after said key pattern designation determining unit determines that some of the key patterns are designated, in response to the detection of a change to touch-off by said touch detector, determines whether the coordinate position detected by said coordinate position detector immediately before the change to touch-off is either a position corresponding to said key pattern or an arbitrary position within said input area; a first graphic displaying module that, when said first coordinate position determining unit determines that said coordinate position that is detected by said coordinate position detector immediately before the change from touch-on to touch-off is a position corresponding to said key pattern, displays a graphic associated with the key pattern at a predetermined position in said input area, wherein the predetermined position is updated to a new position associated with the predetermined position as a result of the displaying of the graphic associated with the key pattern; and a second graphic displaying module that, when said first coordinate position determining unit determines said coordinate position that is detected by said coordinate position detector immediately before the change from touch-on to touch-off is an arbitrary position within said input area, displays the graphic associated with the key pattern at said arbitrary position, wherein the predetermined position is updated to a new position associated with the arbitrary position as a result of the displaying of the graphic associated with the key pattern.