Application launcher for a two-way mobile communications device

Claim 2

In a two-way mobile communication device having a display and an input interface, a method of initiating one of a plurality of resident applications, said method comprising: displaying a key map on said display of the two-way mobile communication device, the key map including graphical symbolic identifiers for a group of the resident application programs, each of said graphical symbolic identifiers are distinct and represent a corresponding one of the resident application programs, and each of said graphical symbolic identifiers provide information relating to the assignment of a key of a group of keys of the two-way mobile communication device; receiving a selection of the keys in the group of keys; and executing one of the resident applications within the group of the resident applications that is associated with the selected one of the keys in the group of keys, wherein the arrangement of the graphical symbolic identifiers within the key map corresponds to an arrangement of the keys in the group of keys, wherein the keys in the group of keys are navigation keys for the two-way mobile communication device and are arranged in a circular pattern, and wherein the arrangement of the graphical symbolic identifiers is circular with a like configuration as the navigation keys in the circular pattern, and wherein at least two of the resident application programs within the group of resident application programs are chosen from the group of: email application, address book application, notepad application, and network browser application.

Claim 3

A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein said graphical symbolic identifiers are icons.

Claim 4

A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the keys in the group of keys are non-alpha-numeric keys, and wherein said non-alpha-numeric input elements are resident on a phone-style keypad.

Claim 5

A method as recited in claim 3 , wherein said non-alpha-numeric input elements are cursor navigation keys.

Claim 6

A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the keys in the group of keys are soft keys of a user screen input interface.

Claim 7

A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein said method further comprises: replacing the key map with an alternative key map when a predefined key input is received; providing symbolic identifiers in the alternate key map for another group of the resident applications, and each of said graphical symbolic identifiers provide information relating to the assignment of a key of the groups of keys of the two-way mobile communication device; and placing said graphical symbolic identifiers for the another group of the resident applications on the alternate key map, each of said graphical symbolic identifiers provides information relating to the assignment of a key of the groups of keys of the two-way mobile communication device.

Claim 8

A method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the key map is a navigation key map, and the alternative key map is an alternative navigation key map.

Claim 9

A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the input interface is a keypad, and wherein the two-way mobile communication device is selected from the group of: personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular phone, pager, or wireless remote controller.

Claim 10

In a two-way mobile communication device having a display and a keypad, a method of initiating a selected one a plurality of resident applications, said method comprising: displaying a key map on the display of the two-way mobile communication device, the key map providing graphical indicators for at least a set of resident application programs; associating a set of the keys of the keypad with the graphical indicators of the key map; and executing the associated one of the resident application programs in the set of resident application programs when one of the set of the keys of the keypad is actuated, and wherein the keys in the set of keys are navigation keys for the two-way mobile communication device and are arranged in a circular pattern, and wherein the arrangement of the graphical indicators is circular with a like configuration as the navigation keys in the circular pattern, and wherein at least two of the resident application programs within the set of resident application programs are chosen from the group of: email application, address book application, notepad application, and network browser application.

Claim 11

In a two-way mobile communication device having a display and a keypad, a method of initiating a selected one a plurality of resident applications, said method comprising: displaying a key map on the display of the two-way mobile communication device, the key map providing graphical indicators for at least a set of resident application programs; associating a set of the keys of the keypad with the graphical indicators of the key map; and executing the associated one of the resident application programs in the set of resident application programs when one of the set of the keys of the keypad is actuated, and wherein the keys in the set of keys are navigation keys for the two-way mobile communication device and are arranged in a circular pattern, and wherein the arrangement of the graphical indicators is circular with a like configuration as the navigation keys in the circular pattern, and wherein at least two of the resident application programs within the set of resident application programs are chosen from the group of: email application, address book application, notepad application, and network browser application.

Claim 12

A method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the two-way mobile communication device is selected from the group of: personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular phone, pager, or wireless remote controller.

Claim 13

A method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the keys in the set of keys are soft keys.

Claim 14

A method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the arrangement of the symbolic identifiers within the key map corresponds to an arrangement of the keys in the set of keys.

Claim 15

A method as recited in claim 9 , wherein said method further comprises: replacing the key map with an alternative key map when a predefined key input is received; providing symbolic identifiers in the alternate key map for another group of the resident applications, and each of said symbolic identifiers provide information relating to the assignment of a key of the groups of keys of the two-way mobile communication device; and placing said symbolic identifiers for the another group of the resident applications on the alternate key map, each of said symbolic identifiers provides information relating to the assignment of a key of the groups of keys of the two-way mobile communication device.

Claim 16

A method as recited in claim 13 , wherein the key map is a navigation key map, and the alternative key map is an alternative navigation key map.

Claim 17

A method as recited in claim 9 , wherein said displaying of the key map comprises: identifying a plurality of applications resident in the two-way mobile communication device; producing the key map, the key map providing graphical indicators for at least the set of the resident applications; and displaying of the key map on the display of the two-way mobile communication device.

Claim 18

A two-way mobile communication device, comprising: a display screen; an input user interface that allows a user to input a selection, said input user interface including keys; a processor for executing at least one of a plurality of resident application programs; and a memory that stores the resident application programs, said memory further stores program code to enable a user to facilitate easy user selection of one of the resident application programs to activate, said program code including: program code for displaying a key map on said display of the two-way mobile communication device, the key map including symbolic identifiers for a group of the resident application programs, and each of the symbolic identifiers are assigned to a key of a group of keys of the two-way mobile communication device and are arranged in a configuration corresponding to the group of keys of the two-way mobile communication device; program code for receiving a selection of the keys in the group of keys; and program code for activating one of the resident application programs within the group of the resident application programs that is associated with the selected one of the keys in the group of keys, wherein the keys in the group of keys are navigation keys for the two-way mobile communication device are arranged in a circular pattern, and wherein the arrangement of the symbolic identifiers is circular with a like configuration as the navigation keys in the circular pattern, and wherein at least two of the resident application programs within the group of resident application programs are chosen from the group of: email application, address book application, notepad application, and network browser application.

Claim 19

A two-way mobile communication device, comprising: a display screen; an input user interface that allows a user to input a selection, said input user interface including keys; a processor for executing at least one of a plurality of resident application programs; and a memory that stores the resident application programs, said memory further stores program code to enable a user to facilitate easy user selection of one of the resident application programs to activate, said program code including: program code for displaying a key map on said display of the two-way mobile communication device, the key map including symbolic identifiers for a group of the resident application programs, and each of the symbolic identifiers are assigned to a key of a group of keys of the two-way mobile communication device and are arranged in a configuration corresponding to the group of keys of the two-way mobile communication device; program code for receiving a selection of the keys in the group of keys; and program code for activating one of the resident application programs within the group of the resident application programs that is associated with the selected one of the keys in the group of keys, wherein the keys in the group of keys are navigation keys for the two-way mobile communication device are arranged in a circular pattern, and wherein the arrangement of the symbolic identifiers is circular with a like configuration as the navigation keys in the circular pattern, and wherein at least two of the resident application programs within the group of resident application programs are chosen from the group of: email application, address book application, notepad application, and network browser application.

Claim 20

A device as recited in claim 16 , wherein said symbolic identifiers are selected from a group consisting of bitmaps, JPEG images and GIF images.

Claim 21

A device as recited in claim 16 , wherein the arrangement of the symbolic identifiers within the key map corresponds to an arrangement of the keys in the group of keys.