Abstract: Provided is a luggage piece that can be coupled to a second luggage piece to be transported together as a joined unit, and a luggage system including such luggage pieces. The luggage piece includes a housing for storing items to be transported therein, and a retractable handle provided to the housing. A plurality of rollers coupled to the housing allow the luggage piece to be rolled, and include at least two in-line rollers having a generally-fixed rolling direction. The second luggage piece includes two or more adjustable rollers having a variable rolling direction. A plurality of tethers couple the luggage piece and the second luggage piece together to form a joined unit that can be steered through adjustment of the rolling direction of the adjustable rollers.

Abstract: A method for managing a cloud music account of a user is provided, including the following method operations: receiving metadata obtained from an audio file stored on a client device; receiving an audio sample obtained from audio content of the audio file; receiving image data processed from an image associated with the audio file; analyzing the metadata, audio sample, and image data to determine an identity of the audio content of the audio file; and associating to the cloud music account of the user a permission to access cloud-based audio content corresponding to the identity of the audio content of the audio file.

Abstract: A method for sharing digital media may include receiving an indication from a first user for sharing a clip selection from a digital media item (DMI) with a second user. A start point and an end point of the clip selection may be determined. The determination may be based on a number of times the first user has previously consumed the digital media item. An indication of the clip selection may be communicated to the second user. The indication for the sharing may be received in response to a sharing query. The query may be displayed to the first user during a consumption of the DMI by the first user. If the first user has not previously consumed the DMI, then during the consumption, the end point may be set as a current location in the digital media item at a time when the indication for the sharing was received.

Abstract: Systems and techniques are provided for intelligently streaming portions of media at higher quality over a limited bandwidth connection. Media may be received. The media may be one of a video and an audio track. The media may be divided into sections with a section start and a section end. Each section of the media may be scored based on an attribute of the section to obtain a priority score for each section. A first section of the media may be sent to be rendered on a remote device at a first quality. A second section of the media may be sent to be rendered on the remote device at a second quality. A portion of the second section may be sent concurrently with the first section. The second section may have a higher priority score than the first section. The second quality may be higher than the first quality.

Abstract: Systems and techniques are provided for intelligently streaming portions of media at higher quality over a limited bandwidth connection. Media may be received. The media may be one of a video and an audio track. The media may be divided into sections with a section start and a section end. Each section of the media may be scored based on an attribute of the section to obtain a priority score for each section. A first section of the media may be sent to be rendered on a remote device at a first quality. A second section of the media may be sent to be rendered on the remote device at a second quality. A portion of the second section may be sent concurrently with the first section. The second section may have a higher priority score than the first section. The second quality may be higher than the first quality.

Abstract: One or more segments of media content are designated for rendering at a higher quality when possible over a connection having a bandwidth that is too limited to support streaming of the entire media at that quality. Some of the media is streamed at a lower quality, leaving some bandwidth available for pre-streaming higher quality segments that can be wholly or partly cached before they are due to be rendered. When the higher quality content is to be rendered, the cached segment data can be used to render the segment at the higher quality to the user.

Abstract: A method and system provides a central controller that can communicate across different types of networks to reach various energy load control devices. Energy load control devices can include, but are not limited to, thermostats, load control switches such as Digital Control Units (DCUs), and gateways or network interfaces coupled to the Internet, etc. This ability to communicate across different types of networks allows the central controller to monitor as well as issue command signals to the various energy load control devices. The central controller can provide geographic maps on displays, such as a computer display, which list the relative locations of energy load control devices with respect to their geography or physical locations. The central controller can also provide a topology that can be customized so that a user can visualize and select groups of energy load control devices according to the user's customized topology.

Abstract: A method includes receiving, at one or more computing devices, user input indicative of a plurality of text characters, wherein at least one text character from the plurality of text characters is operable to cause execution of a shortcut function of an application; determining, at the one or more computing devices, whether the plurality of text characters at least partially matches one or more words from a word list; and executing, at the one or more computing devices, an undo function of the application in response to the shortcut function if the plurality of text characters at least partially matches one or more words from the word list.

Abstract: A computing device, such as a mobile communication device, is provided that enables a user to adjust a power user setting indicative of the user's experience level and/or automatically adjusts the power user setting in response to predetermined conditions. The power user setting may then be provided to or retrieved by applications to adjust the operating mode of the application based on user experience or by web servers to vary content delivery based on user experience.

Abstract: A method for sharing digital media may include receiving an indication from a first user for sharing a clip selection from a digital media item (DMI) with a second user. A start point and an end point of the clip selection may be determined. The determination may be based on a number of times the first user has previously consumed the digital media item. An indication of the clip selection may be communicated to the second user. The indication for the sharing may be received in response to a sharing query. The query may be displayed to the first user during a consumption of the DMI by the first user. If the first user has not previously consumed the DMI, then during the consumption, the end point may be set as a current location in the digital media item at a time when the indication for the sharing was received.

Abstract: A method for generating a password for a user account. The method includes selecting a media item from a media library associated with a user; selecting a portion of the media item; generating a password based on the selected portion of the media item, where at least a portion of the password is based on selecting a first letter of a word included in the portion of the media item; and presenting the password as a suggested password to the user.

Abstract: Techniques for providing a media stream to a mobile computing device based on a predicted route of the mobile computing device include obtaining a predicted route of the mobile computing device and determining whether the predicted route travels through an area of reduced network capabilities. If the predicted route travels through the area, the techniques include determining whether to adjust the bit rate encoding of the media stream such that playback of the media stream is not interrupted.

Abstract: Methods, software, and apparatus for transparently pairing data with a command object, with respect to the application which wishes to present the data, are disclosed. In one aspect of the present invention, a computer-implemented framework for associating data with a command object includes a data handler mechanism arranged to interface with an application which wishes to use the data. The framework also includes a data retriever mechanism that is arranged to obtain the data, and is in communication with the data handler mechanism, as well as a mapping mechanism, which is also in communication with the data handler mechanism, and is arranged to obtain the command object. In one embodiment of the present invention, the data is a stream of bytes, and the data handler mechanism is used to bind the stream of bytes to the command object.

Abstract: Methods, software, and apparatus for transparently pairing data with a command object, with respect to the application which wishes to present the data, are disclosed. In one aspect of the present invention, a computer-implemented framework for associating data with a command object includes a data handler mechanism arranged to interface with an application which wishes to use the data. The framework also includes a data retriever mechanism that is arranged to obtain the data, and is in communication with the data handler mechanism, as well as a mapping mechanism, which is also in communication with the data handler mechanism, and is arranged to obtain the command object. In one embodiment of the present invention, the data is a stream of bytes, and the data handler mechanism is used to bind the stream of bytes to the command object.