Patents Examined by Henry Orr
  • Patent number: 8621389
    Abstract: A system and method is disclosed that provides for the displaying, on display screen of an electronic device, a list of contact names, and further provides for the designating, by sequentially scrolling through the list of contact names, individual contact names in the list of contact names and wherein designation of an individual contact name reveals available information about the contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2013
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Matthew Richard Lee, Keizo Marui
  • Patent number: 8612891
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method and system for receiving a user privacy preference that indicates an amount of activity information that the user is willing to share in response to a reward, a value of the reward related to a degree of the user privacy preference. The method and system includes setting a privacy setting for the user based on the received user privacy preference. The method and system further includes tracking web browsing activity of the user during one or more web-browsing sessions based on the privacy setting to generate user activity information. The method and system further includes sending the user activity information and providing a reward to the user based on the user activity information sent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Vik Singh, Su-Lin Wu, Tom Chi
  • Patent number: 8612897
    Abstract: An idle screen arrangement structure and an idle screen display method for a mobile terminal are provided. The idle screen arrangement structure includes a base idle screen; and a plurality of different extended idle screens arranged in four or eight directions around the base idle screen. A first idle screen of the base idle screen and extended idle screens is displayed on the display unit. In response to an input of a screen-switch event, a second idle screen of the base idle screen and extended idle screens different from the first idle screen is displayed instead of the first idle screen. For example, when the pointer is moved into a screen-switch region on the display unit, the first idle screen is switched to the second idle screen. The base and extended idle screens may have shortcuts to particular functions, and be switched one another in a circular or a non-circular manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd
    Inventors: Soon Ok Kim, Chan Woo Park, Seung Hwan Lee
  • Patent number: 8612865
    Abstract: Mobile communications devices display contextually relevant information based on the presence, status, and identification of a user. Lens templates control how the information is displayed and can be customized and designed for specific usage profiles. The lenses that are used can be updated at any time to accommodate changes in a user's presence. The granularity of the lenses and corresponding information can also vary to accommodate different needs and preferences. Lenses can also be specialized for different events or venues. The lenses allow a user to access contextually relevant information from a mobile communications device having limited display and/or browse capabilities without requiring a user to navigate through undesired information, wasting valuable resources in the process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Charles L. Friedman, Mike Pell
  • Patent number: 8601396
    Abstract: Systems and methods according to the present invention provide a control framework for organizing, selecting and launching media items including graphical user interfaces coupled with an optional 3D control device for collection of the basic control primitives of point, click, scroll, hover and zoom which permit for easy and rapid selection of media items, e.g., movies, songs etc., from large or small collections. The remote control maps natural hand movements and gestures into relevant commands while the graphical display uses images, zooming for increased/decreased levels of detail and continuity of GUI objects to provide easy organization, selection and navigation among the media items by a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2013
    Assignee: Hillcrest Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Frank A. Hunleth, Daniel S. Simpkins, Charles W. K. Gritton
  • Patent number: 8595646
    Abstract: A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed. The present invention includes a touchscreen and a control unit, after first and second points on the touchscreen have been simultaneously touched with a pointer, if the pointer is released from the first point while the second point keeps being touched with the pointer, the control unit controlling the release of the pointer from the first point to be recognized as a first used command, the control unit, after the first and second points on the touchscreen have been simultaneously touched with the pointer, if the pointer is released from the second point while the first point keeps being touched with the pointer, the control unit controlling the release of the pointer from the second point to be recognized as a second user command. Accordingly, although the lease number of icons for executing the diverse functions are displayed on the touchscreen, the present invention facilitates the diverse functions to be selected and executed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventor: Min Hun Kang
  • Patent number: 8578288
    Abstract: A three state icon for a computer is disclosed. The icon prevents inadvertent starting of an operation on a computer. The icon has a first state which conceals a second state. Upon selection of the first state with a computer pointing device (i.e., mouse), the icon will change to the second state. Upon selecting the icon in the second state, the operation on the computer will start. Accordingly, only upon selecting the icon in the first state and then the second state, the operation will commence on the computer thereby preventing accidental startup of the operation. Once the second state has been selected, the icon will change to a third state which indicates that the operation is proceeding on the computer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2013
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy Wasko, Steven P. Jobs
  • Patent number: 8560973
    Abstract: A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed. The present invention includes displaying a plurality of objects on a touchscreen and if a first user command is inputted, controlling the objects pertaining to a category corresponding to the first user command among a plurality of the objects displayed on the touchscreen to move into a specific region on the touchscreen. According to at least one of embodiments of the present invention, even if numerous icons for executing diverse functions are displayed in a touchscreen type mobile terminal, the present invention facilitates a terminal user to discover a specific icon from the numerous icons.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventor: Hea Ju Choi
  • Patent number: 8510657
    Abstract: The present invention includes a graphics software program that automatically creates graphical content when a user creates or modifies a hierarchical list of content data and chooses from one of a plurality of graphical definition choices for the graphical elements. In addition, the present invention includes a user interface with three different displays. The first display presents the user with one or more galleries including a gallery with a plurality of graphical definitions. The second display is a content entry area. The final display is a drawing canvas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Brent Gilbert, Cynthia C. Shelly, Gary A. Pritting, Kim Tapia St. Amant, Matthew J. Kotler, Richard J. Wolf
  • Patent number: 8510679
    Abstract: In an object development environment, source objects in a structured hierarchy are mapped to one or more target objects, also in a structured hierarchy. Dual view user interfaces with connection mapping tools may be provided to facilitate creation, deletion and maintenance of these mappings. The invention includes an improvement by providing a context menu as a fly-out menu from a particular object. The context menu may include global functions and a list of connected objects, each with supplemental object-specific functions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: SAP AG
    Inventors: Joachim Sander, Tina Rauschenbach
  • Patent number: 8504946
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for use in conjunction with a computing device with a touch screen display comprises displaying a portion of a web page in a web browser application without concurrently displaying a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) entry area for inputting URLs of web pages. A gesture is detected in a predefined area at the top of the touch screen display. In response to detecting the gesture in the predefined area at the top of the touch screen display, the URL entry area is displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2013
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Richard Williamson, Stephen O. Lemay
  • Patent number: 8490022
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to audiovisual content authoring methods and systems and in particular to novel menu systems and the production thereof, for example implemented for DVD-Video discs. In one aspect, the present invention relates to a method of authoring an audiovisual product, for example a DVD-Video disc, comprising the steps of providing audiovisual content, generating at least a first menu (505) and a second menu (510), each menu comprising at least one menu option (506, 511), arranging the first menu (505) to be displayed during playback of the audiovisual content and arranging a menu option (506) of the first menu to cause display of the second menu during playback of the audiovisual content. Such a method facilitates hierarchical menu generation for DVD-Videos and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2013
    Inventors: Elizabeth Susan Stone, Stuart Antony Green
  • Patent number: 8479123
    Abstract: A terminal providing one or more features to a user is disclosed. The terminal comprises a control unit, a user input unit, display unit. The control unit provides, on a standby image of the terminal, an option to select type of an inputted character, an option to select one or more menus to execute features associated with the inputted character, or both. The user input unit enables the user to input the character and select type of the character or select one or more of the menus. The display unit displays the inputted character according to the selected type of the character and also displays the menus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2013
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventor: Hye Youn Cho
  • Patent number: 8473864
    Abstract: A vending arrangement for computerized vending machines, retail displays, automated retail stores, or the like presents a physical display comprising a plurality of viewing windows or modules containing items to be vended. The physical windows or modules are organized into visually recognizable patterns of rows or columns physically apparent from the machine exterior. A controlling computer responds to software and provides a visual display controlled by the software for establishing screens for inputting customer selections and displaying machine options. The screen presents virtual representations of physical displays arranged in said recognizable patterns, whereby images appearing the virtual screen selected and viewed by customers correspond to actual items available in corresponding physical displays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2013
    Assignee: Utique, Inc.
    Inventors: Mara Clair Segal, Darrell Scott Mockus
  • Patent number: 8448093
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method for creating and displaying a hierarchical organization chart in a mobile application is provided. The method includes obtaining information from a database. The information represents a first node, second node, and, optionally, at least one third node. The nodes are related to each other according to a hierarchy. The method also includes displaying the information representing the first, second, and third nodes, if any, in a graphical user interface of a mobile device. The graphical user interface may include, for example, a three-level row-based chart. The information representing the first node is displayed in a first level of the chart, the information representing the second node is displayed in a second level of the chart, and the information representing the at least one third node is displayed in a third level of the chart.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2013
    Assignee: Oracle International Corporation
    Inventors: Chun-Yi Chen, Brent-Kaan William White
  • Patent number: 8443287
    Abstract: An interactive tool is disclosed for visualizing performance data in real-time to enable adaptive performance optimization for an application running on a massively parallel computer system. The interactive tool may be used to visualize network congestion (and other) performance counters for an application as it runs on the parallel system in real-time. Further, a developer may use the interactive tool to experiment with various tuning options and optimization approaches on-the-fly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas Michael Gooding, David Lee Hermsmeier, Roy Glenn Musselman, Amanda Peters, Kurt Walter Pinnow, Brent Allen Swartz
  • Patent number: 8423913
    Abstract: A system detects an association of at least one style to at least one file, the file containing a reference to the style, and displays a representation of the style. The system also displays a representation of the file, and a representation of the association of the style to the file. The system displays a number of times the style is defined within the one file, and the number of times the style is used within the at least one file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2013
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventors: Kevin A. Hogan, Jens C. Neffe
  • Patent number: 8407594
    Abstract: Preferred format parameters including timing that is contained in an extended display information data (EDID) EEPROM in a digital video display system can be dynamically established by a user. In this way, when the video display system engages a source of video in a “plug and play” context, instead of communicating to the source what formats are supported and then accepting a format selected by the source, the preferred format is sent from the EEPROM to the source so that the video display system receives video from the source in the user-desired format.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Ban Kawamura
  • Patent number: 8402394
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatuses for visualizing content of one or more websites are provided. An amount of available content contained by at least one website is determined. A three-dimensional object is displayed having a surface. Each location of the surface of the three-dimensional object corresponds to a portion of the determined amount of available content contained by the website(s). A user is enabled to select a location of the surface of the three-dimensional object. The selected location is mapped to the corresponding portion of the determined amount of available content contained by the website(s). Content of the website(s) corresponding to the selected location, such as a web page, video, audio, an RSS feed, etc., can be accessed by selection of the location. Interaction of the user with the website(s) can be tracked, and the resulting tracking information can be displayed on the three-dimensional object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: YAHOO! Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen Blake, Ankarino Lara, Noel Morrison, Scott Bedard, Lucas J. Shuman
  • Patent number: 8375318
    Abstract: A file management apparatus includes the following elements: a representative image storage device storing representative image data of each of a plurality of content files in association with a creation time of the content file; a rendering unit rendering the representative image data at a position corresponding to the creation time with a calendar continuous over days, months, and years serving as a background; a display state maintaining unit maintaining, as a display state, a time-axis range of the calendar being displayed and a position thereof; an operation receiving unit receiving a change operation to change the display state, the change operation commonly being a scrolling operation in a time-series direction in any time-axis range; and a controller controlling, in response to the change operation, the rendering means to render the representative image data on the calendar on the basis of the display state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2013
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroki Masuda, Eriko Matsumura, Kensaku Ishizuka, Masakazu Hayashi, Masaru Nomura