Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080238813 | COMPUTING DEVICE AND DISPLAY FOR COMPUTING DEVICE - A display system for a handheld computing device includes a processing unit having a first communication port, and a visual display unit separable from the processing unit. The visual display unit further includes a visual display, and a second communication port. The display unit can be expanded from an initial or storage state to present a larger visual display size. Further, the first communication port providing communication with the second communication port. | 10-02-2008 |
20080244050 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SHARING RESOURCES AND INTERFACES AMONGST CONNECTED COMPUTING DEVICES - A computing device is provided that includes a plurality of user-interactive mechanisms. The computing device may also include a universal communication port that is capable of receiving a connection from a device that belongs to any one of a plurality of device classes or types. The device may be equipped or configured with logic. The logic may configure or otherwise enable an operative state of user-interface mechanisms on the device. Additionally, the logic may (i) detect a connected device that connects to the universal communication port, and (ii) determine a set of functionality that the connected device is capable of performing when connected to the universal communication port. The logic may perform, or cause performance, of operations that are for use with or by the connected device. The logic may also perform at least one of (i) selectively route data to the connected device over the universal communication port, or (ii) selectively disable one or more of the plurality of user-interactive mechanisms while performing the operations. | 10-02-2008 |
20080297117 | MODULATION CHARGING CIRCUITRY FOR BATTERY CHARGING - Circuitry for charging a battery includes a switch for coupling the power source to the battery. The switch is turned on and off in accordance with a periodic control signal including a plurality of periods. Each period includes a first duration during which the control signal is in a first state and a second duration during which the control signal is in a second state. The switch is turned on when the control signal is in the first state to couple the power source to the battery, and turned off when the control signal is in the second state to decouple the power source from the battery. Since the switch is periodically turned off while the battery is being charged, the average amount of heat generated by the switch is reduced, thereby preventing excessive thermal emission from the battery charging circuitry. | 12-04-2008 |
20090268402 | MULTIFUNCTIONAL COVER INTEGRATED INTO SUB-PANEL OF PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE - A cover for an opening in the housing of a portable electronic device that provides a function in addition to that of protecting the opening from dirt. The cover can be coupled to the housing so that it can move between a closed position within the housing's surface recess and an open position that allows access to the opening in the housing. In the closed position, the cover becomes part of the housing and the of the device is generally unchanged. The cover can function as an antenna for wireless communication between the device and a network or access point, and it can contain circuitry for devices such as transmitter/receivers. The cover can also function as a display device, a speaker, or an alarm. Thus an existing cover that occupies space within the volume of a handheld device can be utilized for expanding the functionality of the device while generally retaining the current form factor of the device. | 10-29-2009 |
20100035637 | DISPLAYING IMAGE DATA AND GEOGRAPHIC ELEMENT DATA - A mobile computing device includes a housing, a camera, a display, a memory, and a processing circuit. The housing is configured to be carried by a user while in use. The camera is configured to output image data. The memory is configured to store geographic element data representing one or more geographic elements. The processing circuit is configured to receive the geographic element data for the plurality of geographic elements. The processing circuit is configured to determine a camera orientation. The processing circuit is configured to concurrently display the image data and geographic element data for the plurality of geographic elements on the display. | 02-11-2010 |
20100045628 | INPUT DETECTION SYSTEM FOR A PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE - A proximity input detection system for an electronic device. In one embodiment, the present invention utilizes an inductive field sensor to detect a change in a magnetic field when an input device with a coil is within a threshold distance. In another embodiment, the present invention utilizes a capacitive sensor which can locate the position of an electrically conductive object which is within a threshold distance. The capacitive sensor can also be used, for example, as a switch to activate the device if a user picks it up. The present invention allows user inputs to be detected without actually touching the electronic device. The present invention can also be used to detect inputs through intervening non-metallic layers such as a protective cover or another display of the device without using additional input sensors. | 02-25-2010 |
20100045633 | INPUT DETECTION SYSTEM FOR A PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE - A proximity input detection system for an electronic device. In one embodiment, the present invention utilizes an inductive field sensor to detect a change in a magnetic field when an input device with a coil is within a threshold distance. In another embodiment, the present invention utilizes a capacitive sensor which can locate the position of an electrically conductive object which is within a threshold distance. The capacitive sensor can also be used, for example, as a switch to activate the device if a user picks it up. The present invention allows user inputs to be detected without actually touching the electronic device. The present invention can also be used to detect inputs through intervening non-metallic layers such as a protective cover or another display of the device without using additional input sensors. | 02-25-2010 |
20100057970 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO COMBINE POWER AND CONTROL SIGNALS IN A MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICE - A mobile computing device is described that includes multiple device components, a power supply and a power line connected to each device component. The power supply is operative to provide power signals to the device components over the power lines. The mobile computing device also includes a processor operative to generate a control signal for one or more device components. A power line communications control module is connected to the power supply and the processor, the power line communications control module is operative to receive a power signal and a control signal for a device component, combine the power signal and control data from the control signal to form a power data signal, and send the power data signal to the device component over a corresponding power line. Other embodiments are described and claimed. | 03-04-2010 |
20100115193 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVING DATA INTEGRITY AND MEMORY PERFORMANCE USING NON-VOLATILE MEDIA - A system and computer system for improving data integrity and memory performance using non-volatile media. A system includes a non-volatile mass storage unit, e.g., a flash memory device and/or a hard drive unit for instance. A memory device is used as a high speed data buffer and/or cache for the non-volatile storage unit. The memory device may be non-volatile, e.g., magnetic random access memory (MRAM) or volatile memory, e.g., static dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). By buffering and/or caching the write data, fewer accesses are required to the mass storage device thereby increasing system performance. Additionally, mechanical and electrical degradation of the mass storage device is reduced. Certain trigger events can be programmed to cause data from the memory device to be written to the mass storage device. In one embodiment, the write buffer contents are preserved across reset or power loss events. In one embodiment, the mass storage unit may be a data transport layer, e.g., Ethernet, USB, Bluetooth, etc. | 05-06-2010 |
20100171699 | AUTOMATIC ORIENTATION-BASED USER INTERFACE FOR AN AMBIGUOUS HANDHELD DEVICE - An electronic device is provided that includes a user-interface feature, a detection mechanism and one or more internal components. The user-interface feature is configurable to have a selected orientation about one or more axes. The detection mechanism can detect orientation information about the electronic device. The one or more components may select the orientation of the user-interface feature based on the detected orientation information. | 07-08-2010 |
20110193787 | INPUT MECHANISM FOR PROVIDING DYNAMICALLY PROTRUDING SURFACES FOR USER INTERACTION - A computing device including a housing, an input region, and a protrusion mechanism. The input region is provided with at least an exterior surface of the housing. The protrusion mechanism is operatively positioned within the housing to dynamically form one or more protrusions that extend from a corresponding one or more designated areas on the exterior surface of the input region. One or more detectors are structured to detect an occurrence of a condition or criteria to trigger the protrusion mechanism in dynamically generating the one or more protrusions. | 08-11-2011 |
20110238676 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DATA CAPTURE, STORAGE, AND RETRIEVAL - A computing device includes a display and a processing circuit coupled to the display. The processing circuit is configured to provide an image on the display, receive an input from a user identifying at least a portion of the image; and automatically transmit the image to a mobile computing device based at least in part on receiving the input. | 09-29-2011 |
20110285591 | CORRELATING CONTEXTUAL DATA AND POSITION DATA TO IMPROVE LOCATION BASED SERVICES - A computer system for correcting position fixes received from a mobile computing device comprises a database and one or more computer server computers. The database is configured to store position fixes and corrected positions received from a plurality of mobile computing devices via wireless communication. The one or more server computers are configured to receive a position fix from a mobile computing device, to generate a corrected position from the database based on the position fix, and to send the corrected position to the mobile computing device. | 11-24-2011 |
20120005691 | Dual Operating System Operation and Configuration - A system and a method are disclosed for device having a first and a second operating system communicatively coupled with each other. The first operating system is configured to manage a state of the mobile computing device, resources operable with the mobile computing device, and data management for the mobile computing device. The second operating system is a desktop-type operating system. In one embodiment, in response to coupling a docking station, the mobile computing device is configured to provide the second operating system access to peripherals. In addition, another embodiment the first operating system is configured to include an interface to access and execute applications executable through the second operating system. | 01-05-2012 |
20120215642 | Advertisement Based on Contextual Usage of Application - A device to detect a contextual usage of an application by a user, transmit data of the contextual usage to a second device, and receive an advertisement based on data of the contextual usage from the second device and output the advertisement on an output component of the device. | 08-23-2012 |
20130107340 | Autostereoscopic Steering Light-Guide Three-Dimensional Displays | 05-02-2013 |
20130301693 | Data Exchange Between Antenna and Modem of Mobile Device - In one embodiment, a method includes accessing data encoding a response shift in a signal received through an antenna of a mobile device. The signal corresponds to wireless communication to the mobile device from another device. The response shift is detected and encoded by a modem of the mobile device coupled to the antenna. The method also includes determining an environmental or operational state of the mobile device based at least in part on the response shift encoded in the data. | 11-14-2013 |
20140067945 | Sharing Television and Video Programming Through Social Networking - In particular embodiments a social networking system captures data associated with video content provided to a first user of a social-networking system, identifies, using the captured data, the video content provided to the first user, and updates a graph of the social-networking system to associate the first user with the identified video content. The graph of the social-networking system has a plurality of nodes and edges connecting the nodes. The nodes of the graph include user nodes that are each associated with a particular user of the social-networking system. | 03-06-2014 |
20140067947 | Sharing Television and Video Programming Through Social Networking - In particular embodiments, one or more computer systems of a social-networking system identify a user viewing video content on a first display device, identify the video content being viewed on the first display device by the user, and determine a second display device associated with the identified user. The one or more computer systems of the social-networking system determine an action related to the video content being viewed by the user on the first display device and provide one or more instructions to the determined second display device to display a call-to-action associated with the determined action. | 03-06-2014 |
20140067961 | Sharing Television and Video Programming Through Social Networking - In particular embodiments, one or more computer systems of a social-networking system determine available media content from one or more content sources and query a social graph of a social-networking system for social content associated with a user of the social-networking system. The social graph includes nodes and edges connecting the nodes. The nodes include user nodes that are each associated with a particular user of the social-networking system. The one or more computer systems of the social-networking system determine, using the social content and the available media content, a plurality of social coefficients for the user, determine, based on the determined social coefficients, recommended media content for the user, and provide the recommended media content for display in a programming guide on a display device. | 03-06-2014 |
20140067969 | Sharing Television And Video Programming Through Social Networking - In particular embodiments, a social networking system identifies a user viewing video content on a first display device, identifies the video content being viewed on the first display device by the user, and determines a second display device associated with the identified user. The social networking system sends one or more instructions to the determined second display device to display one or more chat messages associated with the identified video content. | 03-06-2014 |
20140068461 | Sharing Television and Video Programming Through Social Networking - In particular embodiments, one or more computer systems of a social-networking system provide social content for display in a mobile application running on a mobile device of a user of the social-networking system. The mobile application is configured to display the social content and an interface for selecting media content to view on a display device. The social content is from a social graph of the social-networking system. The social graph includes nodes and edges connecting the nodes. The nodes include user nodes that are each associated with a particular user of the social-networking system. The one or more computer systems of the social-networking system receive an indication from the mobile application that an option to view particular media content has been selected and provide one or more instructions to display the selected particular media content on the display device. | 03-06-2014 |
20140068692 | Sharing Television and Video Programming Through Social Networking - In particular embodiments, one or more computer systems of a social-networking system receive a first video stream from a content source, receive social content from a social graph of the social-networking system, and generate an overlay area comprising at least a portion of the social content. The social graph includes a plurality of nodes and edges connecting the nodes, the nodes comprising user nodes that are each associated with a particular user of the social-networking system. The one or more computer systems of the social-networking system determine a placement for the overlay area within the first video stream, generate a modified video stream using at least the first video stream and the overlay area, and provide the modified video stream for display on a display device. The overlay area is placed within the modified video stream according to the determined placement. | 03-06-2014 |
20140105580 | Continuous Capture with Augmented Reality - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving one or more audio/visual recordings from a user, the audio/visual recordings continuously capturing audio/visual information around the user, the audio/visual recordings being made by a client computing device of the user automatically and without manual user input and with one or more sensors of the client computing device; processing the audio/visual recordings to extract one or more audio/visual segments, each audio/visual segment covering a specific time period or relating to a specific event in the user's life; and posting the audio/visual segments to one or more points, respectively, along a timeline corresponding to the user's life. | 04-17-2014 |
20140108501 | Presence Granularity with Augmented Reality - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving information about a proximity of a plurality of users located within a covered enclosure, the information comprising one or more images or one or more sounds of at least a portion of the proximity, the information having been obtained from the proximity by a plurality client computing devices of the users automatically and without manual user input and with one or more sensors of each client computing device; identifying each user within the proximity based at least in part on the information; and determining a position of each user within the covered enclosure based at least in part on the information. | 04-17-2014 |
20140108528 | Social Context in Augmented Reality - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving first information about a proximity of a first user, the first information comprising one or more images or one or more sounds of at least a portion of the proximity, the first information having been obtained from the proximity by a client computing device of the first user automatically and with one or more sensors of the client computing device; identifying a second user within the proximity of the first user based at least in part on the first information; retrieving second information about the second user from a graph of a social-networking system, the graph comprising a plurality of nodes and edges connecting the nodes, at least one node in the graph corresponding to the first user, at least one node in the graph corresponding to the second user; and sending the second information about the second user to the first user. | 04-17-2014 |
20140108529 | Person Filtering in Augmented Reality - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving first information about a proximity of a first user, the first information comprising one or more images or one or more sounds of at least a portion of the proximity; identifying one or more second users within the proximity of the first user based at least in part on the first information; retrieving second information about each second user from a graph of a social-networking system, the graph comprising a plurality of nodes and edges connecting the nodes, at least one node in the graph corresponding to the first user, at least one node in the graph corresponding to each second user; categorizing the second users into one or more groups based on the second information about each second user; and sending the second information about each second user in a specific group to the first user. | 04-17-2014 |
20140108530 | Person of Interest in Augmented Reality - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving first information about a proximity of a first user, the first information comprising one or more images or one or more sounds of at least a portion of the proximity; identifying one or more second users within the proximity of the first user based at least in part on the first information; selecting a specific second user of particular interest to the first user based on behavior of the first user; retrieving second information about the specific second user from a graph of a social-networking system, the graph comprising a plurality of nodes and edges connecting the nodes, at least one node in the graph corresponding to the first user, at least one node in the graph corresponding to the specific second user; and sending the second information about the specific second user to the first user. | 04-17-2014 |
20140274122 | Multi-Factor Location Verification - In one embodiment, a method includes accessing at least two determinations of the location of a mobile computing device, with each determined location having been determined without reference to explicit location information manually input by a user of the mobile computing device. At least one first determined location is compared with at least one second determined location, with comparisons being made between location determinations made based on different location determination input. A functionality associated with the mobile computing device is allowed if the first determined location corresponds to at least one of the second determined locations. | 09-18-2014 |