Patents Assigned to Microsoft Corporations
  • Patent number: 8624955
    Abstract: Techniques are described to provide a fixed video feed display from a remote participant to a conference room, where the display further includes remote participant information. In one embodiment, for example, a method may include receiving a connection from a remote participant, retrieving metadata related to the remote participant, and displaying a video feed from the remote participant along with the metadata in a dedicated position in a conference room. The metadata may provide information about the remote participant, as well as points of interest that may aid in conversation with the remote participant. The remote feed remains in the dedicated position throughout the conference, creating the effect of the remote participant being in the room. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Josh Watson, Simone Leorin, Paul Kwoka
  • Patent number: 8626771
    Abstract: A method of creating a reputation for a container that contains data is disclosed. A user reviews a container that is stored on a network and the user posts an opinion rating of the container. The opinion rating is stored along with an user identification. The opinion rating and the user identification are added to a database and the data in the database is used to calculate a reputation for the container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: J Clinton Paul Fowler, Julio Estrada
  • Patent number: 8625047
    Abstract: A fluid ingress resistant interactive display device is disclosed herein. The device includes one or more gasket layers to serve as a fluid barrier to resist fluid from entering an interior of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Bernie Schultz, Rajesh Manoher Dighde
  • Patent number: 8627227
    Abstract: A computing device includes an immersive environment module for facilitating simultaneous display of a plurality of applications on a display device without relying on system chrome. At least a first of the applications is displayed in a primary region of the display. The computing device also includes a UI management component for enabling a user selection of an application for simultaneous display on the display device with at least one other application. Processing logic is configured to determine a size in at least one direction of content of a user-selected application as it is displayed on a non-primary region of the display device simultaneous with display of content of the first application on the primary region of the display device. The determination is based at least in part on one or more pre-defined size requirements specified by the selected application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: David A. Matthews, Matthew I. Worley, Nils A. Sundelin, Tsz Yan Wong
  • Patent number: 8627215
    Abstract: Senders of instant messages may inspire perception by a recipient of avatars capable of being animated in order to customize or personalize communication exchanges from the sender. The avatar, an animation of or associated with the avatar, an object associated with the avatar, or another component of the avatar or communication may be inappropriate, or otherwise objectionable, to the recipient, the recipient class or category, or an identity associated with the recipient. In one example, a parent of a minor who is the intended recipient of an avatar (or a component of the avatar or communication) may object to the minor being exposed to the avatar (or the component of the avatar or communication). In such a case, the communication may be discarded or the perception of the objectionable avatar (or component associated with the avatar or the communication) by the intended recipient may be disabled, replaced or modified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Patrick D. Blattner, John D. Robinson
  • Patent number: 8626621
    Abstract: Content stream management techniques are described. In an implementation, a communication is examined at a client device from at least one other client device that describes per stream usage of network bandwidth by the at least one other client device to receive content. Usage of the network bandwidth at the client device is managed based on the communication and a determination of per stream usage of the network bandwidth to receive content by the client device that also consumes at least a portion of the network bandwidth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Paul R. Cooper, Matt Henry Van der Staay
  • Patent number: 8627309
    Abstract: Deployment and servicing tasks associated with multi-tier, distributed applications, application environments and data centers are automated so that a person does not have to manually perform these tasks. All of the information describing and defining the distributed service is modeled and stored in a re-useable service template that can be used to drive an automated system to programmatically deploy and manage the service over time. Deployment and servicing of a distributed application can be automated using re-useable models that capture hardware and workload definitions. The re-useable models in the form of service templates enable delta-based servicing of the application. The service can be deployed to one or more physical machines, one or more virtual machines or to a combination thereof. A default deployment plan can be customized with instance-specific customizations of service parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: William L. Scheidel, Robert M. Fries, Srivatsan Parthasarathy, Alan C. Shi, James P. Finnigan
  • Patent number: 8627025
    Abstract: Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to data protection. In aspects, during a backup cycle, backup copies may be created for files that are new or that have changed since the last backup. If external backup storage is not available, the backup copies may be stored in a cache located on the primary storage. If backup storage is available, the backup copies may be stored in the backup storage device and backup copies that were previously stored in the primary storage may be copied to the backup storage. The availability of the backup storage may be detected and used to seamlessly switch between backing up files locally and remotely as availability of the backup storage changes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Apurva Ashwin Doshi, Grigory Borisovich Lyakhovitskiy, Bohdan W. Raciborski
  • Patent number: 8626734
    Abstract: Application launching on a computer via indexed data. Based on a search term entered by a user, the computer searches an index containing metadata representative of one or more applications installed on the computer. A user interface on the computer's display has a window for displaying the results of searching the index. In addition, the user interface receives user input to select an application from the search results to be initiated. The computer is responsive to the user input via the user interface for initiating the selected application installed on the computer. A computer-readable medium including a persistent component, an index component, a query component, and an execution component embodies further aspects of the invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Hyder Ali, Dane Alexander Glasgow, David Anton Walters, David Dawson, Marek Gorecki, Neel I. Murarka
  • Patent number: 8626712
    Abstract: A facility for logging context attributes is described. For each of a set of selected context attributes, the facility, determines a target frequency with which values of the selected context attribute are to be logged. For each of the set of selected context attributes, the facility obtains values of the selected context attribute at a frequency approximating the target frequency determined for the selected context attribute. Then, for each obtained context attribute value, the facility writes the obtained value to a storage device in a manner that identifies its context attribute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Kenneth H. Abbott, Joshua M. Freedman, Dan Newell, James O. Robarts
  • Patent number: 8627287
    Abstract: An exemplary method includes receiving source code having a plurality of code segments, providing a desired level of quality for the source code, analyzing the source code to assign a complexity measure to each of the plurality of code segments and assigning a level of code coverage to each of the plurality of code segments based at least in part on the desired level of quality and the complexity measures. An exemplary system prioritizes quality improvements to source code based, in part, on a quality assessment. Such a system can improve code quality by assigning higher test coverage levels to modules with higher complexity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Michael C Fanning, Nachiappan Nagappan, Thomas J Ball, Sean Sandys
  • Patent number: 8624934
    Abstract: Where a label for an item to be represented by an icon is customized, the icon is generated to dynamically display all of the label. Thus, at some point, the entire label is displayed, even though only a portion of the label is eventually displayed in the icon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Anastasia Paushkina, Alfredo Mendonça de Almeida, Matthew Lenell Cooper, Michael J. McCormack
  • Patent number: 8627194
    Abstract: Various embodiments utilize page scripting and parsing to identify the target destination of a hyperlink and provide a visual indication of the destination to the user without causing redirection to the target destination. In some embodiments, hyperlink color, highlighting, or icons are used to indicate the destination. Particular colors and/or icons selected to indicate the destination can, in some embodiments, be selected based on the domain hosting the target destination. In at least some embodiments, the destination of a link is determined by the page script run by a web browser on a user's device, while in other embodiments, information is transmitted to a web request handler on the server hosting the web site to determine the destination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Hatem Zeine, Meir Shmouely
  • Patent number: 8625837
    Abstract: A media feed interface may be provided that may be used to extract a media frame from a media feed. The media feed interface may access a capture device, a file, and/or a network resource. Upon accessing the capture device, file, and/or network resource, the media feed interface may populate buffers with data and then may create a media feed from the buffers. Upon request, the media feed interface may isolate a media frame within the media feed. For example, the media feed interface analyze media frames in the media feed to determine whether a media frame includes information associated with, for example, the request. If the media frame includes the requested information, the media feed interface may isolate the media frame associated with the information and may provide access to the isolated media frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Mark J. Finocchio, Jeffrey Margolis
  • Patent number: 8622629
    Abstract: A power and data connector includes an extension that protrudes from a planar lip surface. The extension is configured to cooperate with one or more magnetic attractors of an electronic device to hold the power and data connector to the electronic device via magnetic force. A planar connection surface at a terminal end of the extension separately surrounds openings, through which power interfaces extend.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroo Umeno
  • Patent number: 8626554
    Abstract: Systems and methods for scheduling appointment reminders are based on multiple conditions including estimated travel time. An estimate of the time needed to travel between the user's location and the location of the appointment can be determined by retrieving location information from a global address list (GAL), a local address book of a calendaring application, from a map service, or other location determining technology. Users can subscribe to alert service to receive information regarding recent events such as traffic problems, flight delays, weather conditions, etc., which is then used in setting or modifying reminder times. Notifications can be generated for timing conflicts based on the estimated travel time. If the estimated travel time would require the user to leave a previous appointment early, or be late for a subsequent appointment, a notification can be generated to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventor: Peter G. Chin
  • Patent number: 8626909
    Abstract: A method of measuring load time for a web page includes video recording a duration of the web page load including capturing N frames in a series of frames 1 through N of the web page. The method includes comparing each frame from frame 1 through frame N?1 with a next frame from frame 2 through frame N in the series of frames to determine a pixel change amount between the compared frames. The method includes defining a series of page phases for the duration of the web page load, each page phase defined by a start time and an end time with each phase start time determined based on estimating user perceptible pixel change amount levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Chao Feng, Yi Chai
  • Patent number: 8626812
    Abstract: A hybrid greatest common divisor (GCD) calculator analyzes characteristics of polynomials and selects a particular GCD algorithm from multiple available GCD algorithms based on a combination of characteristics of the polynomials. The selected GCD algorithm is then applied to calculate the GCD of the polynomials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Xu Yang, Xiaolin Quan, Dongmei Zhang
  • Patent number: 8626699
    Abstract: Techniques for reconstructing photo trip patterns from geo-tagged photos are described. Photo trip patterns are reconstructed by mining geo-tagged photos from the Web or a data storage and segmenting the photos based on at least the geographical identification information associated with the photos. Mining semantics of each photo trip pattern may also be performed using tags associated with the photos.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Xing Xie, Yuki Arase
  • Patent number: D697081
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Niels van Dongen, Randy Winjum, Bennett Hornbostel, Vincent Celie, Kieran Phelan