Abstract: An electronic device, such as a hand-held portable computer, is provided with capability to operate an application during a low power mode. During the low power mode, portions of hardware, software, services, and/or other components of the portable computer that are not necessary to the operation of the application is suspended or otherwise deactivated. As each task is performed by the application, the components that are no longer needed for subsequent tasks to be performed by the application are also deactivated and reactivated as needed. The deactivation can be performed in sequence from the highest-level components to the lowest-level components to ensure that components that are needed by other components are not prematurely deactivated. A specific set of events transitions the portable computer out of the low power mode.

Abstract: Low power email capabilities are provided for an electronic device, such as a hand-held portable computer having capability to operate an application during a low power mode. During the low power mode, portions of hardware, software, services, and/or other components of the portable computer that are not necessary for email-related operations, such as polling a server for new email, are suspended or otherwise deactivated. At least a portion of a new email is stored in a memory of a low power display module (LPDM) of the portable computer. The LPDM is provided with its own low-power processing unit, user interface, and other components to allow access to and manipulation of the stored email while other components of the portable computer remain deactivated.

Abstract: A user interface (UI) for use with a secondary display module of a mobile electronic device. The UI allows the user to access application data without activating the operating system (OS) of the main portion of the mobile electronic device. The UI can allow the user to access application data by activating the OS and an associated low-power application without launching the application. The UI also provides a simple mechanism to disable wireless components of the mobile electronic device while allowing the user to use other non-wireless components. The secondary display module can be detached from a main portion of the mobile electronic device, with the UI being automatically activated. The UI can be automatically activated (or deactivated) in response to deactivation (or activation) of the UI of the main display of the mobile electronic device.

Abstract: Low power email capabilities are provided for an electronic device, such as a hand-held portable computer having capability to operate an application during a low power mode. During the low power mode, portions of hardware, software, services, and/or other components of the portable computer that are not necessary for email-related operations, such as polling a server for new email, are suspended or otherwise deactivated. At least a portion of a new email is stored in a memory of a low power display module (LPDM) of the portable computer. The LPDM is provided with its own low-power processing unit, user interface, and other components to allow access to and manipulation of the stored email while other components of the portable computer remain deactivated.

Abstract: Low power email capabilities are provided for an electronic device, such as a hand-held portable computer having capability to operate an application during a low power mode. During the low power mode, portions of hardware, software, services, and/or other components of the portable computer that are not necessary for email-related operations, such as polling a server for new email, are suspended or otherwise deactivated. At least a portion of a new email is stored in a memory of a low power display module (LPDM) of the portable computer. The LPDM is provided with its own low-power processing unit, user interface, and other components to allow access to and manipulation of the stored email while other components of the portable computer remain deactivated.

Abstract: An electronic device, such as a hand-held portable computer, is provided with capability to operate an application during a low power mode. During the low power mode, portions of hardware, software, services, and/or other components of the portable computer that are not necessary to the operation of the application is suspended or otherwise deactivated. As each task is performed by the application, the components that are no longer needed for subsequent tasks to be performed by the application are also deactivated and reactivated as needed. The deactivation can be performed in sequence from the highest-level components to the lowest-level components to ensure that components that are needed by other components are not prematurely deactivated. A specific set of events transitions the portable computer out of the low power mode.

Abstract: An electronic device, such as a hand-held portable computer, is provided with capability to operate an application during a low power mode. During the low power mode, portions of hardware, software, services, and/or other components of the portable computer that are not necessary to the operation of the application is suspended or otherwise deactivated. As each task is performed by the application, the components that are no longer needed for subsequent tasks to be performed by the application are also deactivated and reactivated as needed. The deactivation can be performed in sequence from the highest-level components to the lowest-level components to ensure that components that are needed by other components are not prematurely deactivated. A specific set of events transitions the portable computer out of the low power mode.

Abstract: A low power media player is provided for an electronic device, such as a hand-held portable computer having capability to operate an application during a low power mode. During the low power mode, portions of hardware, software, services, and/or other components of the portable computer that are not necessary to the operation of the low power media player are suspended or otherwise deactivated. Rather than repeatedly accessing a hard disk to read media files for playback, the low power media player limits its number of access operations by reading as many media files as possible during each access operation, and then caching the read media files. When playback of the media files is to be performed, the media files are read from the cache, thereby reducing the amount of power consumption attributable to hard disk access operations.

Abstract: A hand-held portable computer is provided with a control wheel to accelerate navigation and selection that is otherwise difficult due to the small form factor of the portable computer. The wheel is turned in a first or in a second direction to scroll through an on-screen menu. The wheel is pressed to select a particular item from the on-screen menu for execution. Context-sensitivity is provided in that the underlying software determines which menu to display or command to execute, in response to dialing or clicking the wheel, based on which application and pane are currently active and based on which item in the pane is currently selected. User-configurability and extensibility to additional applications are provided, without modification of the underlying software application code.

Abstract: A computer system has a removable module that contains a processor, other electrical components, and a battery. When the module has been removed from the computer system, the processor runs an application that interacts with the electrical components in the module to provide stand-alone functionality. When the removable module is in the computer system, the module is accessed by the computer system to cause the computer system to perform some of the functionality provided by the module. The functionality provided by the removable module includes receiving emails, displaying an appointment calendar, displaying a contacts listing, providing audio content, providing cellular telephone service, obtaining a video image, providing biometric identification information, sensing position, and displaying a television picture.