Patent Application
20140204718
Synchronization of clocks and alarms can be difficult. Specifically, when the time displayed on two clocks is different, it can be difficult to synchronize the time, especially down to the second. Additionally, setting and managing alarms can be tedious and redundant when using multiple clocks. For example, a user may set an alarm on her mobile device but may want the alarm to ring on her tabletop clock. In this case, the user would have to also set the alarm on her clock to match the alarm on her mobile device. Additionally, if the user did not wish to have both alarms active, the alarm on the mobile device would have to be deactivated. Furthermore, it can be difficult to synchronize notifications when using multiple devices. For example, a user may wish to receive a calendar notification only on one device, but when using multiple devices, the user may receive redundant and repetitive calendar notifications on her mobile device, personal laptop, and work computer.
According to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter, a method for synchronizing a first device with a second device may include receiving an alarm activation time from the first device. An alarm may be set on the second device to be the same as the alarm activation time. Next, an indication that the alarm is set on the second device may be sent to the first device. Immediately prior to the alarm activation time, it may be determined that the first device is proximate to the second device. Upon determining that the first device is proximate to the second device, the alarm may be activated on the second device at the alarm activation time.
According to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter, a method for synchronizing a first device with a second device may include receiving an alarm activation time on the first device. An alarm may be set on the first device to match the alarm activation time. Next, the alarm activation time may be provided to the second device. An indication that the alarm is set on the second device may be received from the second device. Immediately prior to the alarm activation time, it may be determined that the first device is proximate to the second device. Upon determining that the first device is proximate to the second device, the alarm may be deactivated on the first device.
According to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter, a system may include a processor configured to receive an alarm activation time from a first device. An alarm may be set to be the same as the alarm activation time. An indication that the alarm is set on the second device may be sent to the first device. Immediately prior to the alarm activation time, it may be determined that the first device is proximate to the second device. Upon determination that the first device is proximate to the second device, the alarm may be activated on the second device at the alarm activation time.
According to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter, a system may include a computer-readable medium storing an alarm activation time. The system may also include a processor configured to set an alarm to match the alarm activation time on a first device. Next, the alarm activation time may be provided to a second device. Next, an indication that the alarm is set on the second device may be received from the second device. Immediately prior to the alarm activation time, it may be determined that the first device is proximate to the second device. Upon determination that the first device is proximate to the second device, the alarm may be deactivated.
Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Moreover, it is to be understood that both the foregoing summary and the following detailed description are examples and are intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the claims.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosed subject matter, are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings also illustrate embodiments of the disclosed subject matter and together with the detailed description serve to explain the principles of embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. No attempt is made to show structural details in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamental understanding of the disclosed subject matter and various ways in which it may be practiced.
It may be advantageous to have a clock that synchronizes with a mobile device when the clock and mobile device are within a certain proximity to each other, thereby preventing the user from having to set and/or deactivate an alarm time on multiple clocks/devices. For example, when the mobile device is within range of a clock, the clock may automatically synchronize the displayed time with the time displayed on the mobile device, or vice versa. Further, when the mobile device is within range of a clock, the clock may automatically synchronize with the mobile device by setting an alarm on the clock to match the alarm on the mobile device. Then, the mobile device may receive an indication that the clock has synchronized with the set alarm time and, accordingly, the alarm on the mobile device may be disabled or both the clock and mobile device alarms could sound simultaneously, depending on user preference. The mobile device may be considered “within range” of the clock based on a connection protocol, such as where the device is able to communicate with the clock over a wired or wireless communication protocol.
For example, a user may set an alarm on their mobile device 501 to go off at 7:00 a.m. As shown in
More generally, an implementation of the disclosed subject matter provides a method for synchronizing a first device with a second device, as shown in
Additionally, an implementation of the disclosed subject matter provides a method for synchronizing a first device with a second device, as shown in
An alarm may include receipt of a notification or other communication about which the user would customarily receive a notification. Implementations disclosed herein may allow the user to specify which of several devices may provide such a notification, using the same techniques described with respect to a typical alarm. For example, a user may wish to receive a social media notification on only one device, but have the notification appear on their mobile device or their tablet depending on the location of the user's mobile device. If the user is near their tablet when a notification is received, the user may wish for the notification to appear on their tablet rather than on their mobile device. Similarly, if the user is not near their tablet, the user may wish for the notification to appear only on their mobile device. When the mobile device is located within proximity of the tablet, the mobile device may receive an indication that the tablet is nearby and, accordingly, social media notifications may be deactivated on the mobile device. If the mobile device is within proximity of the tablet immediately prior to receiving a social media notification, the social media notification may only appear on the tablet. If, however, the mobile device is not within proximity of the tablet immediately prior to receiving a social media notification, the notification may only appear on their mobile device.
According to an implementation, the determination that the first device is proximate to the second device may be based on a connection between the first device and the second device. For example, the connection may be a connection-type including various wired and wireless communication protocols such as a physical wire, USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Internet, near field communications, location service, or other wired and wireless connection protocols. A location service may include a third-party service that coordinates when two or more devices are proximate to each other such as GPS location, social media location check-ins, and similar location based techniques for determining when two or more devices are located near each other.
Furthermore, the first device and second device may communicate by direct communication or indirect communication. In an implementation, the communication between two or more devices may be across one or more bridges between the interfaces. For example, the communications between the first device and the second device may be managed or assisted by a third device, such as a coordinating device, local coordinator, remote server, third party service provider, satellite, network, remote entity, and the like.
A device may be a smartphone, PDA, handheld device, handheld computer, wearable computer, tablet, laptop, PC, clock, appliance, or a mobile phone. A wearable computer may include a wristwatch, augmented-reality glasses or eyepieces, healthcare monitoring system, identity tag, and other similar devices capable of activating an alarm. In an implementation, the first device may be a smartphone and the second device may be a clock. Furthermore, implementations of the disclosed subject matter may include multiple devices.
An alarm activation time may be based on an alarm-type including an alarm clock, a calendar, a reminder notification, an application notification, a timer, user input, a program, a subscription service, an application, and any other entity that is capable of providing an alarm or alarm activation time. For example, an application notification may include notifications relating to sports scores, traffic, flight status, news, stock prices, events, promotional offers, social media, text messages, emails, chats, video chats, and the like. Additionally, an alarm may be an audio indicator, a displayed message, a text message, an email, a portable application notification, a proprietary application alert, a recorded message, a visual indicator, or any similar or otherwise suitable alarm that can be activated on a device.
Additionally, an implementation of the disclosed subject matter provides a method for synchronizing the time displayed on a first device and a second device upon determining that the devices are proximate to each other.
Implementations of the presently disclosed subject matter may be implemented in and used with a variety of component and network architectures.
The bus 21 allows data communication between the central processor 24 and the memory 27, which may include read-only memory (ROM) or flash memory (neither shown), and random access memory (RAM) (not shown), as previously noted. The RAM is generally the main memory into which the operating system and application programs are loaded. The ROM or flash memory can contain, among other code, the Basic Input-Output system (BIOS) which controls basic hardware operation such as the interaction with peripheral components. Applications resident with the computer 20 are generally stored on and accessed via a computer readable medium, such as a hard disk drive (e.g., fixed storage 23), an optical drive, floppy disk, or other storage medium 25.
The fixed storage 23 may be integral with the computer 20 or may be separate and accessed through other interfaces. A network interface 29 may provide a direct connection to a remote server via a telephone link, to the Internet via an internet service provider (ISP), or a direct connection to a remote server via a direct network link to the Internet via a POP (point of presence) or other technique. The network interface 29 may provide such connection using wireless techniques, including digital cellular telephone connection, Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) connection, digital satellite data connection or the like. For example, the network interface 29 may allow the computer to communicate with other computers via one or more local, wide-area, or other networks, as shown in
Many other devices or components (not shown) may be connected in a similar manner (e.g., document scanners, digital cameras and so on). Conversely, all of the components shown in
More generally, various implementations of the presently disclosed subject matter may include or be embodied in the form of computer-implemented processes and apparatuses for practicing those processes. Implementations also may be embodied in the form of a computer program product having computer program code containing instructions embodied in non-transitory and/or tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, USB (universal serial bus) drives, or any other machine readable storage medium, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing implementations of the disclosed subject matter. Implementations also may be embodied in the form of computer program code, for example, whether stored in a storage medium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic radiation, wherein when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. When implemented on a general-purpose microprocessor, the computer program code segments configure the microprocessor to create specific logic circuits. In some configurations, a set of computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium may be implemented by a general-purpose processor, which may transform the general-purpose processor or a device containing the general-purpose processor into a special-purpose device configured to implement or carry out the instructions. Implementations may be implemented using hardware that may include a processor, such as a general purpose microprocessor and/or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) that embodies all or part of the techniques according to embodiments of the disclosed subject matter in hardware and/or firmware. The processor may be coupled to memory, such as RAM, ROM, flash memory, a hard disk or any other device capable of storing electronic information. The memory may store instructions adapted to be executed by the processor to perform the techniques according to embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.
The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit implementations of the disclosed subject matter to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of embodiments of the disclosed subject matter and their practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to utilize those implementations as well as various implementations with various modifications as may be suited to the particular use contemplated.
