Patent Application
20100008523
The present invention relates to handheld electronic devices and, more particularly, to handheld electronic devices with audio capabilities.
Consumers may now select from a wide array of handheld electronic devices, such as cellular mobile terminals, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and media players. Such devices typically provide audio and/or video user interfaces. For example, a mobile terminal may include a display, keypad, speaker and microphone, which together support telephony functions. These components may also support multimedia, gaming and other applications.
Producers of such devices constantly strive to provide new audio and visual interfaces to enhance user experience and, thus, gainer greater market share. Thus, for example, handheld devices have been provided with touchscreen displays that allow for user scrolling and other inputs, and display generators that use accelerometer inputs to adaptively orient an image to adjust for the attitude at which the device is being held. Some devices include multi-speaker audio systems that can provide a “surround sound” user experience.
In some embodiments of the present invention, a handheld electronic device, such as mobile terminal, PDA or media player, includes a housing and a plurality of audio transducers supported by the housing and positioned at spaced-apart positions. The device further includes an audio circuit supported by the housing and configured to change an allocation of audio transmission and/or reception functions among the plurality of audio transducers responsive to a user's mechanical interaction with the device. For example, in some embodiments, the device includes a sensor circuit (e.g., a gravitational sensor such as an accelerometer) configured to detect a change in an attitude at which a user is holding the housing, and the audio circuit is configured to change an allocation of audio transmission and/or reception functions among the plurality of audio transducers responsive to the detected change in the attitude.
In further embodiments, the device includes a sensor circuit configured to detect a change in a relative positioning of a moveable component of the electronic device, such as a moveable display, and the audio circuit is configured to change an allocation of audio transmission and/or reception functions among the plurality of audio transducers responsive to the detected change in relative positioning of the moveable component. The device may include, for example, first and second displays fixed in or deployable to a side-by-side arrangement, with the moveable display being a third display configured to variably overlap the first and second displays. The third display may be moveable to a position bridging the first and second displays to support display of a composite image of a single scene across the first, second and third displays, and the plurality of audio transducers may include first and second speakers positioned on respective opposite sides of the composite image. The audio circuit may be configured to activate both of the first and second speakers responsive to the sensor detecting movement of the third display to the position bridging the first and second displays to support, for example, stereo or surround sound effects.
In additional embodiments of the present invention, a handheld electronic device includes a housing and first and second audio transducers supported by the housing and positioned at respective first and second spaced apart positions that interchangeably serve as mouthpiece and earpiece positions when the housing is held at first and second attitudes. The device further includes an attitude sensor circuit supported by the housing and configured to detect an attitude at which a user is holding the housing and a user interface controller circuit operatively associated with the attitude sensor circuit and configured to selectively allocate audio transmission and/or reception functions among the plurality of audio transducers responsive to the detected attitude. The device may further include a display supported by the housing and configured to display images at a face thereof. The user interface controller circuit may be configured to orient images on the display responsive to the detected attitude. The first and second audio transducers may be positioned on respective first and second sides of the display. The first and second audio transducers may include respective pairs of transducers, each pair of transducers including a speaker and a microphone.
Additional embodiments of the present invention provide methods of operating a handheld electronic device including a housing and a plurality of audio transducers supported by the housing and positioned at spaced-apart positions. A user's mechanical interaction with the device and an allocation of audio transmission and/or reception functions among the plurality of audio transducers is changed responsive to the detected mechanical interaction. The detected mechanical interaction may include, for example, a change in an attitude at which a user is holding the housing and/or a change in a relative positioning of a moveable component of the electronic device. The electronic device may further include a display supported by the housing and configured to display images at a face thereof and images on the display may be oriented responsive to the detected mechanical interaction.
The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying figures, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
Accordingly, while the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description of the figures.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Moreover, when an element is referred to as being “responsive” or “connected” to another element, it can be directly responsive or connected to the other element, or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly responsive” or “directly connected” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. As used herein the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items and may be abbreviated as “/”.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element without departing from the teachings of the disclosure. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.
Some embodiments are described with regard to flowcharts in which each block represents a circuit element, module, or portion of code which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in other implementations, the function(s) noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending on the functionality involved.
Some embodiments of the present invention provide mobile terminals or other handheld electronic devices that have spaced-apart audio transducers that may be selectively enabled to support, for example, different usage scenarios. For example, in mobile terminal applications, respective speaker/microphone pairs may be positioned at respective ends to support use of the terminal for telephony in two different handheld positions. Such speakers/microphones may also be used to support surround sound in, for example, multimedia applications. Transmission and/or reception functions may be allocated among the audio transducers responsive to, for example, sensing an attitude at which a user is holding the device, a mechanical configuration of the device or some other mechanical interaction with the device.
Referring to
In further embodiments, allocation of audio transmission and/or reception functions among a plurality of spaced-apart audio transducers may occur responsive to detecting movement of the moveable display 530c to the centered position overlapping the other displays 530a, 530b. For example, as illustrated in
In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention. However, many variations and modifications can be made to these embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the present invention. Accordingly, although specific terms are used, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined by the following claims.
