| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20090278806 | EXTENDED TOUCH-SENSITIVE CONTROL AREA FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE - A touch-sensitive display screen is enhanced by a touch-sensitive control area that extends beyond the edges of the display screen. The touch-sensitive area outside the display screen, referred to as a “gesture area,” allows a user to activate commands using a gesture vocabulary. In one aspect, the present invention allows some commands to be activated by inputting a gesture within the gesture area. Other commands can be activated by directly manipulating on-screen objects. Yet other commands can be activated by beginning a gesture within the gesture area, and finishing it on the screen (or vice versa), and/or by performing input that involves contemporaneous contact with both the gesture area and the screen. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090293007 | NAVIGATING AMONG ACTIVITIES IN A COMPUTING DEVICE - A computing device runs multiple activities concurrently and provides at least two modes for interacting with the activities. The user may toggle between the modes as desired. In a full-screen mode, one activity occupies substantially an entire display screen. In a windowed mode, the activity is visible within a window, and a portion of at least one other window is also visible. In the windowed mode, the user can cause windows to move, thereby changing focus from one activity to another. For example, the window having focus can be moved off the screen, to be replaced by a new window that is then given focus. The windows are ordered in a sequence and move in concert with one another; pushing one window off one edge of the screen causes a new window to appear at the opposite edge. A persistent positional relationship can be established among windows. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20100095240 | Card Metaphor For Activities In A Computing Device - In various embodiments, a card metaphor is established, in which each activity can be represented within an area of the screen referred to as a card. In various embodiments, any of several display modes are available for viewing, interacting with, manipulating, initiating, and dismissing cards. A persistent positional relationship can be established among cards, represented by a one-dimensional sequence. Newly opened cards are generally placed at the end of the sequence, although a new card that bears a relationship to an already open card may, in some embodiments, be placed adjacent to the already open card. In various embodiments, cards may be grouped, with such groups being represented as stacks of cards or by other visually distinctive means. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100156656 | Enhanced Visual Feedback For Touch-Sensitive Input Device - A touch-sensitive input device provides improved visual feedback at (or near) the point and time of contact. As the user touches a touch-sensitive screen or pad, a portion of the screen or pad changes in visual appearance to indicate that the input has been received. In one embodiment, the change in visual appearance is localized to an area proximate to the point of contact. In one embodiment, the change in visual appearance is accomplished by illuminating an area proximate to and centered around the point of contact. In another embodiment, the change in visual appearance is accomplished by illuminating one or more illuminable elements, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on the touch-sensitive pad. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100156813 | Touch-Sensitive Display Screen With Absolute And Relative Input Modes - A touch-sensitive display screen has at least two input modes for touch input. In an absolute input mode, positional information is interpreted in an absolute sense: an on-screen object or cursor can be moved, selected or activated by tapping or touching the screen at the location of the object itself or at a desired location for the object. In a relative input mode, touch input provided on the display screen is interpreted in a manner similar to a virtual joystick or a virtual touchpad. In the virtual joystick relative mode, input is interpreted relative to a reference point on the screen. In the virtual touchpad relative mode, input is interpreted according to a direction of motion of a contact point. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100185989 | User Interface For Initiating Activities In An Electronic Device - In one embodiment, a user interface is presented for initiating activities in an electronic device. The user interface includes an element referred to as a “launch wave”, which can be activated at substantially any time, even if the user is engaged with an activity, without requiring the user to first return to a home screen. In various embodiments, the user can activate the launch wave by performing a gesture, or by pressing a physical button, or by tapping at a particular location on a touchscreen, or by activating a keyboard command. In one embodiment, activation of the launch wave and selection of an item from the launch wave can be performed in one continuous operation on a touch-sensitive screen, so as to improve the expediency and convenience of launching applications and other items. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100312838 | Dynamic Communication Integration With Calendar - A system and a method are disclosed for dynamically generating a contextually desirable message ready for a user to send out to other participants of a scheduled event. A user context is determined for a scheduled calendar event and then logic rules applicable to the user context are identified and used to identify contextually desirable messages. Options for dynamically generating the contextually desirable messages are provided to the user along with information about the scheduled event. Upon a user selection of one of the options, the corresponding contextually desirable message is generated and its content is pre-populated according to the applicable logic rule. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20110016417 | Selective Hibernation Of Activities In An Electronic Device - In an electronic device capable of running multiple software applications concurrently, applications, documents, cards, or other activities can be selected for hibernation so as to free up system resources for other activities that are in active use. A determination is made as to which activities should hibernate, for example based on a determination as to which activities have not been used recently or based on relative resource usage. When an activity is to hibernate, its state is preserved on a storage medium such as a disk, so that the activity can later be revived in the same state and the user can continue with the same task that was being performed before the activity entered hibernation. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110167383 | Notification In Immersive Applications - A notification framework delivers notifications in a manner that is appropriate for a user's current experience. An API is implemented in the notification framework and provided to developers to develop applications utilizing such API to communicate with the framework. A display mode of an active application is determined by the framework. A notification generated by an alerting application is captured by the framework. The framework determines a mode of delivery based on the display mode and the notification, and delivers the notification accordingly. | 07-07-2011 |
