Multilevel sorting and displaying of contextual objects

Abstract

An apparatus and method for displaying a plurality of icons on the display of a mobile terminal are provided. Icons are displayed in at least two different sections. The first section includes icons having sizes determined by comparing characteristics of associated messages to one or more context values, such as time of day, geographic area, or user profile characteristics. The second section includes icons having sizes determined by the proximities of the message sources to the mobile terminal.

1 . A mobile terminal comprising: 
 a display capable of displaying graphical icons;    a user input device that permits a user of the mobile terminal to select one or more of the graphical icons displayed on the display;    means for displaying on the display device in a first region a first icon in an enlarged display format in relation to other icons in the first region and in response to determining that information contained in a first received message matches a user-specified context value; and    means for displaying on the display device in a second region a second icon in an enlarged display format in relation to other icons in the second region and in response to determining that the proximity of a source associated with a second received message is in closer proximity than the sources associated with other received messages, wherein the second icon is displayed in a different region on the display device than the first icon.    
     
     
         2 . The mobile terminal of  claim 1 , further comprising means for extracting the first icon from the first message.  
     
     
         3 . A mobile terminal comprising a display on which: 
 a first plurality of user-selectable icons are arranged in an order determined by a degree of matching between information corresponding to the respective ones of the first plurality of icons and one or more context values; and    a second plurality of user selectable icons arranged in an order determined by a degree of physical proximity to the mobile terminal, wherein the second plurality of user selectable icons is separately located from the first plurality of user selectable icons on the display.    
     
     
         4 . The mobile terminal of  claim 3 , wherein one of the first plurality of icons is displayed in an enlarged format relative to others of the first plurality icons, and wherein one of the second plurality of icons is displayed in an enlarged format relative to others of the second plurality of icons.  
     
     
         5 . A mobile terminal that receives a plurality of messages from messages sources, the mobile terminal comprising: 
 a display capable of displaying graphical icons;    a user input device that permits a user of the mobile terminal to select one or more of the graphical icons displayed on the display; and    a processor programmed with computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the steps comprising: 
 (a) determining a proximity associated with each message source in relation to the mobile terminal;  
 (b) associating an icon with each of the plurality of messages; and  
 (c) representing, in a proximity section of the display, icons in an order selectively determined by distances between the mobile terminal and the respective message sources or by times associated with corresponding messages, wherein the times are determined from timestamps that are included in the corresponding messages by the respective message sources.  
   
     
     
         6 . The mobile terminal of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 means for launching an application that corresponds to a selected icon.    
     
     
         7 . The mobile terminal of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is programmed with the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the further step comprising: 
 (d) launching an application that corresponds to a selected icon.    
     
     
         8 . The mobile terminal of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is programmed with the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the further step comprising: 
 (d) displaying an icon in an enlarged display format in response to a changed priority setting.    
     
     
         9 . The mobile terminal of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is programmed with the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the further step comprising: 
 (d) alarming a user if the proximity of an associated message source is less than a predetermined proximity value.    
     
     
         10 . The mobile terminal of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is programmed with the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the further step comprising: 
 (d) alarming a user if a priority value associated with an associated message exceeds a predetermined priority value.    
     
     
         11 . The mobile terminal of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is programmed with the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the further step comprising: 
 (d) limiting a number of displayed icons based on a predetermined proximity value.    
     
     
         12 . The mobile terminal of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is programmed with the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the further step comprising: 
 (d) limiting a number of displayed icons based on a predetermined priority value.    
     
     
         13 . A computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions for causing a mobile terminal to perform the steps of: 
 (a) receiving a plurality of messages from message sources;    (b) receiving a first profile containing context values that are specific to a user of the mobile terminal;    (c) comparing one or more characteristics associated with each of the plurality of messages to one or more of the first profile context values;    (d) determining a proximity associated with each message source in relation to the mobile terminal;    (e) associating an icon with each of the plurality of messages;    (f) representing, in a priority section of the display, a first icon corresponding to a message having one or more characteristics that best match the one or more context values of the first profile using a display format that is enlarged in relation to other icons in the priority section; and    (g) representing, in a proximity section of the display, a second icon corresponding to a message source having the closest proximity using a display format that is enlarged in relation to other icons in the proximity section, wherein the proximity section is separately located from the priority section on the display.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further including the step of: 
 (h) deleting a received message when one or more characteristics of the message do not match the context values.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the steps of: 
 (h) receiving a second profile containing context values that are specific to the user of the mobile terminal; and    (i) receiving a selection of the first or second profiles from the user of the mobile terminal.    
     
     
         16 . A computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions for causing a mobile terminal to perform the steps of: 
 (a) receiving a plurality of messages from message sources;    (b) receiving a first profile containing context values that are specific to a user of the mobile terminal;    (c) receiving a second profile containing context values that are specific to the user of the mobile terminal;    (d) comparing one or more characteristics associated with each of the plurality of messages to one or more of the first profile context values and the second profile context values;    (e) associating an icon with each of the plurality of messages;    (f) representing, in a first priority section of the display, a first icon corresponding to a message having one or more characteristics that best match the one or more context values of the first profile using a display format that is enlarged in relation to other icons in the first priority section; and    (g) representing, in a second priority section of the display, a second icon corresponding to a message having one or more characteristics that best match the one or more context values of the second profile using a display format that is enlarged in relation to other icons in the second priority section, wherein the second priority section is separately located from the first priority section on the display.