Abstract: A mobile electronic device, for example a smartphone, may feature thin or curved borders at the left, right, top, and/or bottom edge of the display screen. To accommodate front-facing optical sensor(s) and/or emitter(s) despite a border that is too thin (e.g., too thin for a front camera module and lens), two or more corners of the display panel have a cutout, and the optical sensor(s) and/or emitter(s) are disposed, at least in part, in the areas of these cutouts at the corners. The cutouts may have a convex shape for the most part, thereby maximizing the remaining screen area. At least one embodiment of the mobile electronic device may have a display panel with at least three curved edges, a maximized screen surface, and minimized outer dimensions.

Abstract: A mobile electronic device, for example a smartphone, may feature thin or curved borders at the left, right, top, and/or bottom edge of the display screen. To accommodate front-facing optical sensor(s) and/or emitter(s) despite a border that is too thin (e.g., too thin for a front camera module and lens), two or more corners of the display panel have a cutout, and the optical sensor(s) and/or emitter(s) are disposed, at least in part, in the areas of these cutouts at the corners. The cutouts may have a convex shape for the most part, thereby maximizing the remaining screen area. At least one embodiment may display scrollable screen content that extends over the entire height of the screen, such that the uppermost part is displayed between two cutouts. To adjust the layout, the elements displayed on the screen may be categorized by relevance.

Abstract: A smartphone device may have thin borders at the left, right, top, and/or bottom edges of the display screen. To accommodate, e.g., a front camera in spite of a border that is too thin for a camera module and lens, at least one corner of the display may be cut out. Optical sensor(s), emitter(s), or the lens of a front camera may be disposed at the location(s) of the cutout(s). A wide-screen movie may be displayed in letterbox mode with horizontal bars above and/or below the movie, wherein the cutout(s) are located, at least partially, in the region(s) of the horizontal bars, thereby avoiding that larger parts of the movie are hidden by the cutout(s). In other embodiments, an uninterrupted status bar may be displayed between a cutout in the upper-left corner and a cutout in the upper-right corner of the display.

Abstract: A mobile electronic device, for example a smartphone, may feature thin or curved borders at the left, right, top, and/or bottom edge of the display screen. To accommodate front-facing optical sensor(s) and/or emitter(s) despite a border that is too thin (e.g., too thin for a front camera module and lens), two or more corners of the display panel have a cutout, and the optical sensor(s) and/or emitter(s) are disposed, at least in part, in the areas of these cutouts at the corners. The cutouts may have a convex shape for the most part, thereby maximizing the remaining screen area. At least one embodiment of the mobile electronic device may have a display panel with at least three curved edges, a maximized screen surface, and minimized outer dimensions.

Abstract: A mobile electronic device, for example a smartphone, may feature thin or curved borders at the left, right, top, and/or bottom edge of the display screen. To accommodate front-facing optical sensor(s) and/or emitter(s) despite a border that is too thin (e.g., too thin for a front camera module and lens), two or more corners of the display panel have a cutout, and the optical sensor(s) and/or emitter(s) are disposed, at least in part, in the areas of these cutouts at the corners. The cutouts may have a convex shape for the most part, thereby maximizing the remaining screen area. At least one embodiment may display scrollable screen content that extends over the entire height of the screen, such that the uppermost part is displayed between two cutouts. To adjust the layout, the elements displayed on the screen may be categorized by relevance.

Abstract: A smartphone device may have thin borders at the left, right, top, and/or bottom edges of the display screen. To accommodate, e.g., a front camera in spite of a border that is too thin for a camera module and lens, at least one corner of the display may be cut out. Optical sensor(s), emitter(s), or the lens of a front camera may be disposed at the location(s) of the cutout(s). A wide-screen movie may be displayed in letterbox mode with horizontal bars above and/or below the movie, wherein the cutout(s) are located, at least partially, in the region(s) of the horizontal bars, thereby avoiding that larger parts of the movie are hidden by the cutout(s). In other embodiments, an uninterrupted status bar may be displayed between a cutout in the upper-left corner and a cutout in the upper-right corner of the display.

Abstract: A selective band management scheme for storage devices is disclosed that may be used in connection with shingled magnetic recording (SMR). SMR uses bands consisting of tracks separated by guard regions. The replacement of a defective sector may be attained by selecting a suitable guard region and by displacing the selected guard region onto the physical location of the defective sector. The boundaries of the bands may be shifted. The portion of the disk surface that is necessary for the guard regions may simultaneously function as a spare sector area for defective sectors without additional space requirements. In at least one embodiment, guard regions are selectively placed onto tracks with an elevated number of primary defects by means of an optimization algorithm.

Abstract: A selective band management scheme for storage devices is disclosed that may be used in connection with shingled magnetic recording (SMR). SMR uses bands consisting of tracks separated by guard regions. The replacement of a defective sector may be attained by selecting a suitable guard region and by displacing the selected guard region onto the physical location of the defective sector. The boundaries of the bands may be shifted. The portion of the disk surface that is necessary for the guard regions may simultaneously function as a spare sector area for defective sectors without additional space requirements. In at least one embodiment, guard regions are selectively placed onto tracks with an elevated number of primary defects by means of an optimization algorithm.

Abstract: A defect management system for storage devices is disclosed, which may be used in connection with shingled magnetic recording (SMR). Overlapping data tracks, separated by guard regions, are written by a write element whose track width is at least twice as wide as the track width of a read element. Depending on the embodiment, data recovery of a defective track or sector is attained by evaluating the contents of an adjacent track or guard region: if the adjacent track or guard region encompasses equivalent data, due to the width of the write element, this data may be used as a complement or as a substitute for the defective track or sector. This may reduce the risk of data loss. The capacity of a storage device may be increased by balancing out the probability of read errors with the probability that an adjacent track may encompass equivalent data.

Abstract: A method for gesture-based control of a portable, electronic device with a touch-sensitive surface. Novel gestures are introduced that may be compatible with conventional touchscreen gestures. Contrary to custom, the user may hold a finger or any other input object in a steady manner and may move, shift, and/or rotate the electronic device below the unmoved finger or input object. In one embodiment, the user moves a smartphone or a smartwatch toward or away from the unmoved finger to establish or terminate contact with the touchscreen. In another embodiment, the user drags or rotates the smartphone below the unmoved finger such that the unmoved finger slides on the touchscreen. An acceleration sensor and/or a gyroscope may be used for capturing the movements of the electronic device.

Abstract: A method and a device for efficient write operations are disclosed, which may be used in connection with shingled magnetic recording (SMR) in order to reduce write amplification (read-modify-write). The tracks on at least one data carrier surface are grouped into bands, and the address space of logical block addresses is divided into address subsets. Each of these address subsets is permanently assigned to a dedicated selection of tracks derived from all bands. Depending on the embodiment, the dedicated selection of tracks may be chosen in such a way that no write amplification occurs in a first phase and/or that recent data or newly added data can be altered without necessitating read-modify-write.

Abstract: A novel symmetrical band is disclosed, which may be used in connection with shingled magnetic recording (SMR) in order to reduce write amplification (read-modify-write). Depending on the embodiment, overlapping data tracks diverge from, or converge to the center of each symmetrical band. Associated guard regions may be located at the center, or at the band boundaries, and are shared such that the excess width of a write element is caught by the guard regions from both sides. A symmetrical band may reduce the maximum write amplification by more than half. A hard disk controller may maintain the number of taken or empty tracks on both sides of each symmetrical band substantially equal at every fill level.