Abstract: A method of payment for mufti-vendor gift cards, that performs actions including maintaining a merchandise database comprising records for merchandise and services for a plurality of merchants, enabling a gift card giver to interactively purchase a gift card for a gift card recipient, entitling the gift card recipient to redeem the gift card for items up to a specified spending limit, electronically transferring the money used to purchase the gift card into a card funding account that is used to pay for purchases by the gift card recipient, enabling the gift card recipient to interactively select one or more items from the merchandise database, thereby generating an aggregated selection of items for each merchant, issuing orders to each merchant in accordance with the aggregated selected items corresponding to each merchant and paying each merchant the amount of their respective order from the card funding account.

Abstract: A wireless communicator including a housing, wireless communication functionality located within the housing, native user interface functionality cooperating with the wireless communication functionality and including user interface surfaces located on at least one outer facing surface of the housing, and pouching responsive electrical interconnection functionality responsive to pouching orientation of the housing in a pouch of an enhanced function device for automatically causing the wireless communication functionality to adapt to interoperation with parenting user interface functionality forming part of the enhanced function device at least partially instead of with the native user interface functionality. A method is also described and claimed.

Abstract: A method for social interacting, including using a portable messaging device for designating, from time to time, a plurality of friends, selecting a mood, sending one or more representations of the selected mood to each of the plurality of designated friends, further selecting an updated mood, and further sending one or more representations of the updated mood to each of the plurality of designated friends, to supersede the previously sent one or more representations of the mood. A user interface is also described and claimed.

Abstract: A method and system for customer service, comprising enabling a customer to provide a request for service, receiving the request for service from the customer and providing a website that enables a service provider to view the request for service, interactively chat about the request for service with other service providers, and respond to the request for service by creating and sending an offer of service to the customer and enabling the customer to accept the offer of service.

Abstract: A system for automatically registering an appliance, including a storage housed within an electrical appliance for storing identifying information about the electrical appliance and its purchase, and a communication card including a controller, an interface connector for connecting the communication card to the electrical appliance, a wireless cellular modem for transmitting data, and a card memory for storing program code, wherein when the communication card is connected to the electrical appliance via the interface connector, the program code automatically instructs the controller to collect the identifying information about the electrical appliance and its purchase, to collect owner information and to transmit at least a portion of the collected information to at least one remote recipient using the cellular modem. A method is also described and claimed.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a user interface for a mobile handheld computer unit, which computer unit comprises a touch sensitive area (1), which is divided into a menu area (2) and a display area (3). The computer unit is adapted to run several applications simultaneously and to present an active application on top of any other application on the display area (3). The menu area (2) is adapted to present a representation of a first (21), a second (22) and a third predefined (23) function. The first function (21) is a general application dependent function, the second function (22) is a keyboard function, and the third function (23) is a task and file manager. Any one of these three functions can be activated when the touch sensitive area (1) detects a movement of an object with its starting point within the representation of the function on the menu area (2) and with a direction from the menu area (2) to the display area (3).

Abstract: A transportation system, including a network of roads for traveling to and from various destinations, a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers, each vehicle situated within the network of roads, and each vehicle including a power supply, a positioning system, for identifying the position of the vehicle, a transmitter, coupled with the positioning system, for transmitting position and velocity information of the vehicle to other vehicles in its vicinity, a receiver for receiving position and velocity information from other vehicles in the vicinity of the vehicle, and an automatic steering system, coupled with the receiver, for steering the vehicle through the network of roads without collision, in order (i) to travel to a destination designated by the at least one passenger, when the vehicle is transporting the at least one passenger, (ii) to travel to a source for picking up the at least one passenger, when the vehicle is empty and the power supply is not low, and (iii) to travel to an available do

Abstract: A network node provides presence updates to mobile users. The node reduces the amount of network traffic by eliminating the need for explicit messaging used to inform a user of presence updates. Additionally, the node reduces network traffic by consolidating presence updates, and sending the user only changed portions of the presence information.

Abstract: A method for a mobile phone to provide an unsuccessful call alert, including monitoring an outgoing call from a caller to a callee to determine if the callee is available, if the callee is not available, then automatically activating a message editor, automatically displaying a pre-defined call alert message, including an identifier of the caller and contact information for the caller, enabling the caller to edit the pre-defined call alert message, and sending the call alert message to the callee. A system is also described and claimed.

Abstract: An electronic messager with a predictive text editor, including a storage unit for storing a data structure associating, for each one of a plurality of a user's contacts, usage data for the user's history of usage of words in communications with the user contact, a data manager coupled with the storage unit for generating the data structure in the storage unit, and for updating the data structure as additional communications with each user contact are performed and additional usage data is obtained therefrom, and a text predictor coupled with the storage unit, for receiving as input a character string and a designated user contact, and for generating as output an ordered list of predicted words, based on usage data in the data structure associated with the designated user contact. A method is also described and claimed.

Abstract: Rights clearances management for assets, such as media assets. A rights brokerage service enables potential licensees to clears rights to use assets within designated projects, such as advertising campaign projects. The potential licensee uses an interface to select or identify an asset without necessarily accessing the asset itself. The rights holders and the rights held by each rights holder are identified based on the asset identity. A request is automatically issued to the rights holders to approve use of the asset for the project. The potential licensee may use an interface to track progress of approvals from the rights holders. Unenforceable rights are detected and approval is automatically obtained. If all enforceable rights are cleared, the asset may be committed for approval by a project manager or other authority. When approved, a license to use the asset is automatically created between the potential licensee and each of the rights holders.

Abstract: A method for arbitrating between a host device and a cellular base band mode for use of a shared SD storage, including requesting, by a cellular base band modem from a host device, access to an SD storage, including writing an access request message, notifying the host device of the access request message, reading, by the host device, the access request message, granting, by the host device, the access request, including writing an access grant message, notifying the cellular base band modem of the access grant message, reading, by the cellular base band mode, the access grant message, holding an SD host bus in a busy state, thereby forcing the host device to hold and not access the bus, accessing, by the cellular base band modem, the SD storage, and upon completion of the accessing, removing the busy state from the SD host bus.

Abstract: A touch screen apparatus, including a display unit including a touch surface, a number of light pulse emitting units, connecting to the display unit, for emitting light pulses over and across the touch surface, a number of light pulse receiving units, connected to the display unit, for measuring amounts of light received from the light pulse emitting units, circuitry, connected to the light pulse emitting units and to the light pulse receiving units, for selectively activating, at any given time, one or more of the light pulse emitting units and the light pulse receiving units, wherein the circuitry activates three or more light pulse emitting units and only one light pulse receiving unit during a designated time interval, and a calculating unit, connected to the light pulse receiving units, to determine the location of an object touching the touch surface, based on the measured amounts of light received at the receiving units.

Abstract: A method of payment for multi-vendor gift cards, comprising maintaining a merchandise database comprising records for merchandise and services for a plurality of merchants, enabling a gift card giver to interactively purchase a gift card for a gift card recipient, entitling the gift card recipient to redeem the gift card for items up to a specified spending limit, electronically transferring the money used to purchase the gift card into a card funding account that is used to pay for purchases by the gift card recipient, enabling the gift card recipient to interactively select one or more items from the merchandise database, thereby generating an aggregated selection of items for each merchant issuing orders to each merchant in accordance with the aggregated selected items corresponding to each merchant and paying each merchant the amount of their respective order from the card funding account.

Abstract: An electrical circuit for bi-directional power control between two devices, including a first battery-operated device, including a first battery for providing a source of power to the first battery-operated device, a first power management subsystem connected to the first battery, to power on and power off components of the first battery-operated device in response to a first wakeup event, WE1, and a first on/off button for generating WE1, a second battery-operated device, including a second battery for providing a source of power to the second battery-operated device, a second power management subsystem connected to the second battery, to power on and power off components of the second battery-operated device in response to a second wakeup event WE2, a second on/off button for generating WE2, and a switch for generating WE1 simultaneously when the second on/off button generates WE2, and circuitry including a single connection inter-connecting the first power management subsystem, the first on/off button, the

Abstract: A cellular handset, including a cellular base band modem, including a UART interface, and an SD host interface, a NAND flash memory, a NAND controller coupled with the NAND flash memory, a host device including a host controller, wherein the electronic host device supports an SD connection, and a convergence controller coupled with the cellular base band modem, the host device and the NAND controller, including a UART port for transferring data to and from the cellular base band modem via the UART interface, an SD port for transferring data to and from the cellular base band modem via the SD host interface, an SD port for transferring data to and from the NAND flash memory via the NAND controller, an SD port for transferring data to and from the host device via the host controller, a first mailbox into which the base band modem writes messages and from which the host device reads messages, and a second mailbox into which the host device writes messages and from which the cellular base band modem reads message

Abstract: An enhanced flash memory card, including a flash memory for storing a file system a wireless modem for downloading data from a remote computer to the flash memory, and a driver that controls the modem by associating designated flash card file system commands with modem actions to be performed.

Abstract: A wireless telecommunication device including a foreground unit, and a background unit that is physically separated from the foreground unit and in local communication with the foreground unit. The foreground unit is provided to support incoming calls independently of the background unit. Furthermore, the foreground unit and the background unit cooperate to support outgoing calls. The scope of the invention also includes a method for doing business by offering the foreground unit for sale in a packaging having a form factor selected from the group consisting of: a pen, a pen cap, a wristwatch, and a necklace.

Abstract: An analog/digital switching circuit for connecting a primary electronic device to a peripheral electronic device, including D+ and D? signal lines connected to a primary electronic device, a first analog/digital switch connected to the D+ signal line, for multiplexing an input D+ signal to an output USB data signal or audio left or right signal, the multiplexed signal feeding into a peripheral device connector for connecting the primary device to a peripheral electronic device, a second analog/digital switch connected to the D? signal line, for multiplexing an input D? signal to an output USB data signal or audio right or left signal, the multiplexed signal feeding into the peripheral device connector, a headset left signal line connected to the primary device and to the output audio left signal of the first analog/digital switch, a headset right signal line connected to the primary device and to the output audio right signal of the second analog/digital switch, a first USB signal line connected to a USB conn

Abstract: A method of sending e-mail from a computer, including attaching a telephone to a computer, saving at least one e-mail message from the computer on the telephone, activating the telephone, and automatically sending the e-mail message after the activating.