Patent Application
20090015563
It should be noted that the second 130 and third 150 LCD screens may be combined into a single LCD screen that has separate protective covers 140, 160 that cover different portions of the LCD screen.
Protective covers 120 and 140 are typical clear coverings that substantially cover and protect the LCD screen from harm yet allow visibility to the screen. Protective cover 160, however, is different. Protective cover 160 can be an integrated contoured molding that combines the protective covering with the housing itself such as that employed by NISSHA™ Inc. under the name IMD™ (in mold decoration) or IML™ (in mold labeling). Using such technology, a contoured window NISSHA™ foil or two sided printing can be implemented to create a logo or design icon having a depth dimension that covers the area of LCD screen 150. The logo or icon can be created to meet the needs of virtually any design to provide another level of animation or graphical applications when combined into an application that also utilizes a touch sensitive layer 165 for the protective cover 160.
Protective cover 160 also includes an integrated touch sensitive layer 165 and allows for position sensoring and can be programmed to be responsive to certain sensed positions and/or sensed motion. One example of a touch or position sensitive layer 165 is a capacitive touch sensor system like that developed by NISSHA™ Inc. under the name Touch Screen™ or Touch Window™. Another example of a touch or position sensitive sensor mechanism includes scroll strip sensors, rotational scrolling sensors and light touch capacitive buttons like those developed by Synaptics™ Inc.
Referring to
A non-exhaustive sampling of potential applications that can be made responsive to the logo/icon tracking and application software 410 includes but is not limited to, an MP3 (or other type of) music application/player 430, a ringer application 440, a GPS application 450, a volume control application 460, an ambient temperature sensor/application 470, a clock application 480, a data transfer application 490, as well as other unspecified applications 495.
The logo/icon tracking and application software 410 receives and processes input from the logo/icon touch sensitive layer 165 of the portable mobile communications device 100. It can also interface with the applications listed above such that the LCD screen 150 can display an image or graphic that is viewable around the contoured window of NISSHA™ foil or two sided printing can be implemented to create a logo or design icon and related to one or more functions associated with the application.
For instance, a ringer application 440 can be configured to display an image on LCD screen 150. The image can be manipulated any number of ways to provide a graphical indicator to the user as to the importance of the incoming call. Certain telephone numbers may be linked to varying degrees of importance on a color coded scale. Then, when a call comes in from a number associated with one of the colors, the LCD screen beneath logo/icon covering can present a color graphic that can flash, vary its intensity, move about the LCD screen, etc. in a manner designed to attract the user's attention. Perhaps the call is extremely important. The user has assigned the color green to this telephone number with a flashing characteristic so as to draw attention immediately. The stylized logo/icon then becomes a flashing green beacon.
In another example, the LCD screen 150 beneath the touch sensitive stylized logo/icon protective covering 160 can display the hands of a clock. In such a clock application 480, the user can use his finger to move the hands of the clock to set the current time, set the time of an appointment, set the time of an alarm, etc. A calendar may also be displayed on LCD 150 that permits the user to set the date of an appointment, alarm, etc. . . . using his finger on the touch sensitive protective cover 160.
For instance it can turn blue indicating displeasure (its normal color is green) if the portable mobile communications device 100 is shaken or the touch sensitive area is tapped directly. It can turn a warmer shade such as orange or yellow indicating happiness when the touch sensitive area is slowly stroked like a pet. It can be treated like a virtual pet in that it would require certain types of attention to keep it from disappearing (i.e., physical contact at regular intervals such as petting or feeding via touch). It can be programmed as a game where the object is to keep it alive as long as possible. Failure to provide the proper attention could lead to its disappearance, its destruction, or a withering effect. Conversely, the proper attention could be reflected in its vitality, intensity, color, etc.
The LCD screen 150 could also include other music related images that can float about during the playback of the song. These images can be correlated to the type of song being played. For instance, a slow ballad type of song can be correlated to a slow moving gently lit icon that floats about the LCD screen 150. On the other hand, an up-tempo dance/rock/punk type song can be correlated with a fast moving icon that bounces wildly within about the LCD screen 150.
As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the present invention may be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.
Computer program elements of the invention may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). Embodiments of the invention may take the form of a computer program product, which can be embodied by a tangible computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or computer-readable program instructions, “code” or a “computer program” embodied in the storage medium for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as those supporting the Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
Any prompts associated with the present invention may be presented and responded to via a graphical user interface (GUI) presented on the display of the portable mobile communications device or the like.
The flowcharts and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, 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 some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. 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 upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
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” and/or “comprising,” 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.
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that any arrangement which is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and that the invention has other applications in other environments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention. The following claims are in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention to the specific embodiments described herein.
