Abstract: At least one embodiment of this disclosure includes a method of resource balancing execution of a location-based application involving multiple devices. The method can include: identifying an application executing on an operating system of a first computing device; identifying a resource type to facilitate the executing of the location-based application; identifying computing devices each having at least an available resource instance of the identified resource type, wherein the computing devices are reachable by a communication protocol of the first computing device; and selecting a target computing device to offer up a target resource instance of the resource type to the location-based application based at least partly on a comparable limitation of each available resource instance of the computing devices.

Abstract: Techniques for a method for automatically synchronizing application state across multiple devices are disclosed herein. The method includes running an instance of a computer application on an electronic device, automatically determining a sync event that occurs in the electronic device, wherein the sync event suggests a synchronization of application state data and the application state data represent an application state of the computer application at the sync event, and transmitting the application state data of the computer application to a storage server in response to the sync event. The application state data of the computer application enables another instance of the computer application to resume the application state at the sync event at another electronic device.

Abstract: Some examples include determining an upcoming event involving an electronic device, such as the device being out of communication with a network, the device running out of local storage space, or the like. The device may determine, based at least in part on an event category of the upcoming event and/or other considerations, first pieces of user data stored at a network storage to download to the device prior to the event. Further, the device may determine second pieces of user data to delete from a local storage of the device to make space available in the local storage for the first pieces of user data that are recommended to be downloaded for the event. In some cases, the device may present, in one or more GUIs, a ranked list of user data recommended for download, and another ranked list of user data recommended for deletion.

Abstract: At least one embodiment of this disclosure includes a method of resource balancing execution of an application involving multiple devices. The method can include: identifying an application executing on an operating system of a first computing device; identifying a resource type to facilitate the executing of the application; identifying multiple computing devices each having at least an available resource instance of the identified resource type, wherein the multiple computing devices are reachable by a communication protocol of the first computing device; and selecting a target computing device to offer up a target resource instance of the resource type to the application based at least partly on a comparable limitation of each available resource instance of the multiple computing devices.

Abstract: A technique and apparatus for backing up and restoring game application state across multiple devices are disclosed herein. The method includes running an instance of a game application at a first device. Based on any of various criteria, such as the proximity between the first device and a second device or a priority of synchronization, a computer makes a determination to synchronize the application state between the two devices. The computer causes the application state data, which represents an application state of the game application running on the first device, to be saved and made available to the second device, such as by saving the application state data to cloud storage. The second device receives the application state data and restores the game application state.

Abstract: Technology is disclosed for downloading image files associated with a user to a computing device of the user from a distributed backup system. Each of the image files is associated with a popularity score that is determined as a function of a user-related access pattern and a group-related access pattern of the image files. While the user-related access pattern is determined based on an access of the image files by the user, the group-related access pattern is determined based on an access by a group of users. The image files are categorized into priority files and non-priority files based on the popularity score of the image files. The priority files are downloaded in an original format and the non-priority files are downloaded in one or more image qualities that minimize the consumption of computing resources in downloading the image files.

Abstract: Technology disclosed herein includes a method for loading a network specific operating system (OS) onto a computing device depending on a specific network the computing device is connected to. The computing device can connect to multiple networks, e.g., different networks at different times or multiple networks simultaneously. When the computing device switches from a first network to a second network, an OS specific to the second network is automatically installed on the computing device. When the computing device connects to more than one network simultaneously policies may be defined to determine which specific OS distribution is to be installed on the computing device.

Abstract: Technology is disclosed for migrating at least portions of a video streaming application to a cloud server. The migration is based on an optimization factor of a video streaming application. The optimization factor can be computed based on consumption of computing resources of the computing device. The video streaming application is a multi-threaded application in which a background thread performs tasks that may not require user interaction and a foreground thread performs tasks that may require user interaction. A service component of the video streaming application that obtains video streaming data from video servers is one example of the background thread. A user interface component that displays the video streaming data to a user via a user interface is an example of the foreground thread. If the optimization factor of the service component is below a predefined threshold, the service component is transferred to the cloud server for further processing.

Abstract: Technology is disclosed for synchronizing audio files from a computing device of a user to an in-vehicle computing device, such as an audio system, installed in an automobile. In one example, when the user plays an audio file on the in-vehicle computing device from the computing device, the audio file is copied at the in-vehicle computing device. After copying the currently playing audio file, the in-vehicle computing device can also copy at least some of the audio files from the computing device. The in-vehicle computing device computes a popularity score of each of the audio files based on an access pattern of the audio files, and categorizes them into priority files and low-priority files based on their popularity score. While the in-vehicle computing device copies the priority files, it copies metafiles of the low-priority files. The metafiles can include information such as a title, artist, etc. of the audio files.

Abstract: A technique and apparatus for backing up and restoring game application state across multiple devices are disclosed herein. The method includes running an instance of a game application at a first device. Based on any of various criteria, such as the proximity between the first device and a second device, a computer makes a determination to synchronize the application state between the two devices. The computer causes the application state data, which represents an application state of the game application running on the first device, to be saved and made available to the second device, such as by saving the application state data to cloud storage. The second device receives the application state data and restores the game application state.

Abstract: Technology is disclosed for decomposing an application into fragments and streaming the application fragments for execution on a mobile computing device. A fragment presents a user interface of the application and needs a set of resources, e.g., images, icons, etc. to be executed. A server determines a set of fragments for the application and streams them to the device as and when the device needs a particular fragment. The server determines the set of fragments in various ways. For example, the server executes an emulator that simulates the execution of the application by the user and determines fragment data including the set of fragments, resources needed by each of the fragments, and various possible navigations between the fragments. In another example, the server receives such fragment data from various users executing the application on various devices, and aggregates them based on aggregating policy to obtain an aggregated fragment data.

Abstract: Technology is disclosed for using computing devices (“the devices”) of a user as an edge cache of a distributed backup system to stream video files. In the distributed backup system, the user can store different data files of the user at different devices of the user and/or at a server. For example, the user may store video files at one of the devices of the user (“a first device”) in addition to storing at the server. When the user requests to stream a particular video file to a particular device, the technology streams the video file to the particular device either from the server or from the first device. If the first device is in proximity to the particular device, the video file is streamed from the first device instead of from the server, thereby minimizing the latency involved in streaming the video file from the server.

Abstract: Technology for a method for backing up and restoring game application state across multiple devices is disclosed herein. The method includes receiving, by a storage server, state data of a game application that runs on a first device, retrieving, by the storage server, a synchronization scheme defined by a user, detecting, by the storage server, a second device connected with the storage server, and sending, by the storage server, the state data of the game application to the second device according to the synchronization scheme.

Abstract: Technology for decomposing an application into fragments and streaming the application in fragments is disclosed herein. According to at least one embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes steps of running an intermediary application at a mobile device to enable the mobile device to run the video game application by running multiple game application fragments, the intermediary application acting as an intermediary between the video game application and the game application fragments by determining a next game application fragment for each of the game application fragments; running, at the mobile device, an instance of the video game application by running a first application fragment of the game application fragments at the mobile device; requesting, by the intermediary application, a second application fragment of the game application fragments corresponding to a second portion of the video game application; and receiving, at the mobile device, the second application fragment.

Abstract: Technology disclosed herein includes a method for loading a carrier specific operating system (OS) onto a computing device depending on any corporation the computing device is associated with and the network the computing device is connected to. The computing device detects any corporation the computing device is associated with based on the subscriber number of the computing device. The computing device detects an identity of a network by examining a subscriber identification module (SIM) card electronically connected to the device. The device then sends a request including the identity of the corporation and the network to a remote registration service. In turn the device receives an instruction from the remote registration service identifying a distribution of an OS specific for the corporation and the network. After retrieving the OS distribution, the device loads the distribution of the OS on the computing device.

Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and machine-readable storage mediums for managing storage of a computing device associated with a user. In at least some embodiments, a method includes receiving a request to synchronize a data file from a cloud storage system from a the computing device, determining a classification of the computing device and an access pattern associated with the file, determining a storage optimization operation to be performed on the data file based on the access pattern and the classification, transmitting the file to the device subsequent to execution of the storage optimization operation, and transmitting an updated file based on an updated access pattern. The storage optimization operation can include downsampling, lossy compression, lossless compression, or a combination thereof.

Abstract: Technology is disclosed for downloading image files associated with a user to a computing device of the user from a distributed backup system. Each of the image files is associated with a popularity score that is determined as a function of a user-related access pattern and a group-related access pattern of the image files. While the user-related access pattern is determined based on an access of the image files by the user, the group-related access pattern is determined based on an access by a group of users. The image files are categorized into priority files and non-priority files based on the popularity score of the image files. The priority files are downloaded in an original format and the non-priority files are downloaded in one or more image qualities that minimize the consumption of computing resources in downloading the image files.

Abstract: At least one embodiment of this disclosure includes a method of resource balancing execution of an application involving multiple devices. The method can include: identifying an application executing on an operating system of a first computing device; identifying a resource type to facilitate the executing of the application; identifying multiple computing devices each having at least an available resource instance of the identified resource type, wherein the multiple computing devices are reachable by a communication protocol of the first computing device; and selecting a target computing device to offer up a target resource instance of the resource type to the application based at least partly on a comparable limitation of each available resource instance of the multiple computing devices.

Abstract: A technique and apparatus for backing up and restoring game application state across multiple devices are disclosed herein. The method includes running an instance of a game application at a first device. Based on any of various criteria, such as the proximity between the first device and a second device or a priority of synchronization, a computer makes a determination to synchronize the application state between the two devices. The computer causes the application state data, which represents an application state of the game application running on the first device, to be saved and made available to the second device, such as by saving the application state data to cloud storage. The second device receives the application state data and restores the game application state.

Abstract: Technology is disclosed for performing a priority synchronization of a computing device to download a selected set of data files to the computing device from a distributed backup system. Data files are downloaded to a computing device by synchronizing the computing device with a server of the distributed backup system. A priority sync downloads a subset of the data files (“priority files”) rather than all of the data files of the user, thereby minimizing the computing resources consumed to download the data files. The priority sync can select the priority files based on various criteria, including an access pattern of the data files, attributes of the data files, or attributes of the computing device. The priority sync can also download the data files not identified as priority files (“non-priority files”). While the priority files are downloaded in their original format, the non-priority files are downloaded in a downgraded format.