| Barnes & Noble, Inc. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20120299975 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOW-FLASH VEIL ON AN ELECTRONIC PAPER DISPLAY - A system and method for controlling a user interface display that de-emphasizes a background image of a physical display. The system and method draws a pattern, preferably a checkered pattern, of black and transparent pixels over the background image. The system and method mitigates any jarring effect of the prior art of driving all of the display to black. Although in the preferred embodiment, the checkered pattern alternates pixels between black and transparent, any pattern that drives less than substantially all of the pixels to black is suitable. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120290985 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRESENTING AND INTERACTING WITH EPERIODICAL SUBSCRIPTIONS - A system and method for organizing viewing and reading of electronic periodicals on electronic devices, particularly mobile devices. The user's periodicals are arranged on the device's User Interface (UI) in visual representations of stacks. Each stack represents a different one of the user's periodicals. As a user selects a particular stack representing a particular ePeriodical, the stack is animated to spread out in drawer or in a grid to display thumbnails representing the covers of individual issue of the ePeriodical. The user can scroll the drawer or grid to view the issues. If the user has ePeriodicals stored on remote servers, the user interface has a control that the user can activate to download the thumbnail covers of the remotely stored ePeriodicals. Once the user has found the desired ePeriodical to read, the cover thumbnail can be selected to open and display the ePeriodical. | 11-15-2012 |
| 20120239758 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONSUMER-TO-CONSUMER LENDING OF DIGITAL CONTENT - A consumer-to-consumer lending system and method for digital content such as digital ebooks. The lending system invention enables a user who has purchased digital content to lend that content to another user. The lending system enables a lender to extend a lending offer to a lendee and a lendee to respond to the lending offer. A lendee may accept or reject a lending offer. Upon acceptance, the lending system provides the lent content to the lendee who controls the content until returning it, purchasing it or until a predetermined lending period expires. During the lending period the lender does not have access to the lent digital content item. The lending system assists a lender with initiating a lending offer, such as providing a pre-populated email form, and delivers the lend offer notification to the target lendee. Lending offers may be initiated and notifications received over common channels, including email systems, mobile devices, and web-based user accounts. The lending process can be initiated directly from a consumer device. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20110206023 | IN-STORE READING SYSTEM - A system and method for providing digital data content to a wireless device. Although a fee is typically charged for access to the digital data content, e.g., electronic books, the system and the method provides controlled access to this content for free while the wireless device is accessing the content in a specified location, e.g., a retail location. A content control server receives a request from the wireless device requesting access to the digital data content. The request is received over a secure connection, preferably a virtual private network (VPN). The content control server monitors how much of the digital data content has been provided to the wireless device, and/or an amount of time the wireless device has been accessing the digital data content. This content control server uses this monitored data to control, throttle, the provision of the digital data content to the wireless device. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110090234 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROL OF MULTIPLE DISPLAYS FROM A SINGLE VIRTUAL FRAME BUFFER - A system and process for controlling multiple displays from a single graphical stack. Frame data is written to a single virtual frame buffer from a single graphical stack. The frame data is subsequently displaced from the virtual frame buffer to a plurality of display buffers. In this manner, a plurality of displays are updated. The system and process can operate with displays with different display technologies, such as an electronic paper display and a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110090166 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING DIFFERENT GRAPHICAL DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES TO ENABLE USER INTERACTIVITY - An electronic device comprising an electronic paper display that displays a first set of data, and a second display that displays a portion of the first set of data displayed on the electronic paper display. Preferably, the second display is a Liquid Crystal Display and displays the portion of the first set of data in color, whereas the portion is displayed on the electronic paper display in monochrome. | 04-21-2011 |
