SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHARACTER CASE CONTROL IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE

A technique to switch between upper and lowercase alphabetic characters in a wireless communication device measures the period of time in which a numeric key is held in the depressed position by the user. If a numeric key is pressed by the user for a period of time less than a predetermined threshold time (212), the selected alphabetic character is displayed in a default character case. If the selected numeric key is held i n the depressed position for a period of time exceeding the predetermined threshol d period, the character case is altered and the altered alphabetic character i s displayed for the user (214). The user selects the desired alphabetic character by activating a selected numeric key one or more times corresponding to the desired alphabetic letter. If the selected numeric key is held in the depressed position for a period of time exceeding the threshold period during any of the button depressions (212), the system automatically changes to the altere d alphabetic character case (214). The alphabetic character case is controlled on a character by character basis such that entry of a new alphabetic character uses the default character case unless the selected numeric key is again hel d in the depressed position for a period of time exceeding the predetermined threshold.