US Patent 7145553 Handheld electronic device having facilitated input and associated method

An improved handheld electronic device and an improved method facilitate the entry of data when the data is to be of a particular arrangement of alphabetic (A) and/or numeric (N) and/or other characters. In the depicted exemplary embodiment, the handheld electronic device includes a user interface that facilitates the entry of postal codes, zip codes, and the like that vary from country to country by processing key inputs according to a data format that has been selected on the basis of its correspondence with a country. In the example of address data, the handheld electronic device detects the entry of country-specific data, such as the name of the country or one of its geographic regions, and selects a corresponding data format for processing keystrokes during entry of postal codes, zip codes, or other codes.