Abstract: A method and apparatus are for manipulating a keypad of an electronic device (100, 200). The electronic device has a plurality of tactile keys (110, 115, 1230, 125, 130). The method includes sensing a proximity of a object to one of the plurality of tactile keys and presenting, on an output (105, 205, 225) of the electronic device, a preview (410, 420, 515, 520, 615, 620, 710, 715, 810, 815) of an action that will take place upon pressing the one of the plurality of tactile keys.

Abstract: A configuration of an electronic device (400) is managed by obtaining (1005) stakeholder attributes of a component resident in the electronic device from stakeholder requirements (FIGS. 7, 8) of one or more stakeholders and correlating (1020) the respective stakeholder attributes as well as available sets of values of attributes of the component to determine (1025) a set of selected values of the attributes, and establishing (1030) at least a portion of a new configuration of the electronic device using the set of selected values of the attributes of the component. When the stakeholder requirements cannot be met with an existing application in the electronic device, the application may be formed (1200) from components of existing applications.

Abstract: A method and apparatus that stores information on a mobile communication device is disclosed. The method may include receiving a first signal from a user, initiating a recording of information spoken by at least one of the user, a voice mail recording, a recorded message, and a party engaged in the telephone call with the user based on the received first signal, receiving a second signal from the user, stopping the recording of the information based on the second signal being received, converting the recorded information to text, and storing the converted text to a designated location.

Abstract: A configuration of an electronic device (400) is managed by obtaining (1005) stakeholder attributes of a component resident in the electronic device from stakeholder requirements (FIGS. 7, 8) of one or more stakeholders and correlating (1020) the respective stakeholder attributes as well as available sets of values of attributes of the component to determine (1025) a set of selected values of the attributes, and establishing (1030) at least a portion of a new configuration of the electronic device using the set of selected values of the attributes of the component. When the stakeholder requirements cannot be met with an existing application in the electronic device, the application may be formed (1200) from components of existing applications.

Abstract: An electronic device (130) uses a theme record (120) which defines themes desired for the electronic device. An example patriotic theme might call for red, white and blue screen colors. A processor compares the theme record (120) against at least components (140) of the electronic device to determine operation characteristics of the electronic device (130). The processor can execute a correlation process (133) to resolve conflicts among configurations. The theme records (120) can be shared among users of the portable devices.

Abstract: A method (400) and an apparatus (600) for presenting information concerning a set of incoming communications includes determining and storing (405) data associated with each incoming communication of the set of incoming communications, identifying (410) a subset of communications-by-type from the set of incoming communications, determining (415) subsets of communications-by-originator from the subset of communications-by-type, determining for the subset of communications-by-type (420) a relative priority of the subsets of communications-by-originator, and presenting (425) information concerning the incoming communications of the subsets of communications-by-originator in an order determined by the relative priority.

Abstract: A Higher Order Command Dialog System (HOCS) 250 for enabling voice control to a user interface is provided. The HOCS can record (302) a sequence of action steps a user performs while navigating a menu system to perform a task, prompt (304) a user to create an HOC for the task, and associate (306) the sequence of actions steps with a Higher Order Command (HOC) for performing the task. The HOC can include multi-modal inputs (120/260) and prompt a user for non-specific additional information (124) required in performing the task. The HOCS can store the HOC as a voice tag or a user-input command.

Abstract: A method (40) and system (10 or 200) for sharing a cellular phone includes sending (41) a request to use a second cellular phone (12) as a server from a first cellular phone (11), exchanging (43) audio streams between the cellulars phone, receiving (44) a dialing signal at the first cellular phone from the second cellular phone and forming (45) a call connection between the first cellular phone and a third party (13) via the second cellular phone. The step of sending the request can include sending an SMS message, sending a phone number, or sending a push-to-share request for nearby cellular phones having stronger signal strength. The push-to-share request can be a Bluetooth search of nearby cellular phones having stronger signal strength for their cellular network connection. The method can also include automatically (42) sending the push-to-share request upon detection of a signal strength below a predetermined threshold.

Abstract: A digital processing platform having a modifiable calendar as corresponds to a source user receives (101) a calendar update as corresponds to the source user. An opportunity is then provided (102) to the user to permit the user to select recipient users to receive that calendar update. Upon then receiving (103) information in this regard that identifies at least one recipient user who is to receive the calendar update, the calendar update (sans the modifiable calendar itself) is transmitted (104) to the identified recipient user. A receiving digital processing platform can then provide (302) a recipient user with an opportunity to select a particular treatment of that calendar update with respect to their own modifiable calendar. This can comprise adding the calendar update to the modifiable calendar, adding the calendar update as a for-informational-purposes-only item to the modifiable calendar, and/or refusing to add the calendar update to the modifiable calendar.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are for manipulating a keypad of an electronic device (100, 200). The electronic device has a plurality of tactile keys (110, 115, 1230, 125, 130). The method includes sensing a proximity of a object to one of the plurality of tactile keys and presenting, on an output (105, 205, 225) of the electronic device, a preview (410, 420, 515, 520, 615, 620, 710, 715, 810, 815) of an action that will take place upon pressing the one of the plurality of tactile keys.