US Patent 7536653 Selection mechanism in a portable terminal

A portable terminal for presenting status data of a plurality of devices in a proximate environment, wherein the portable terminal includes a display for displaying operating status data of anyone of the devices and a means for selecting anyone of these devices. The portable terminal contains an array of objects representing individual devices being at least partially displayed on the display and movable along a marker, or vice versa, in response to an operator actuating an operating element. The display image is so configured that the array of objects or the marker appears to be an integral part of the operating element.