Abstract: A user interface for portable storage devices is disclosed. The user interface includes an icon that is displayed as part of the portable storage device. The icon can provide storage information. It can also provide a synchronization, backup, and file transfer animation. One or more of the following visual cues can be provided: a visual cue to indicate the amount of additional memory that will be consumed before performing a copy/transfer task, a visual cue to indicate whether it is safe or unsafe to eject the portable storage device, a visual cue to indicate an alert or conflict condition, and a visual cue to indicate the success or completion of an activity. The same type of icon and visual cues can be displayed on the host system. The host system can also display an enhanced version of the icon as well as a menu to give additional details pertaining to the state and contents of the portable storage device. An expanded view can be implemented to provide protection information.

Abstract: A category topic includes a data incarnation and a sensory representation. The appearance of the sensory representation is adjusted upon changes to the content of the data incarnation. In a described implementation, a title of the category topic is used to create the sensory representation as displayed on a user interface (UI). In another described implementation, the data incarnation includes a source definition and a keyword definition that jointly specify information that is to be included in the content. In yet another described implementation, at least part of a category topic may be shared with a destination user.

Abstract: A refined search user interface is described. In an implementation, items that are available via a particular service and a list of other services that are also available are displayed in a user interface. The display of items is refined for each character entered via a search portion of the user interface. In another implementation, the list of other services that are displayed is determined based on relevance of one or more characters to the respective services. In yet another implementation, the display of other services is refined as the characters are input by a user.

Abstract: A customizable service provider user interface is described. In an implementation, a user is logged onto a suite a web services, to which, the user has not previously logged on. A user interface is output having a plurality of portions, one or more of which are customizable by the user through use of one or more overlays to customize interaction with the suite of web services.

Abstract: Search results can be viewed and acted upon. Searches may be conducted using a search input in conjunction with a selected category. The search results may be produced from such a search. One or more of the produced search results may be highlighted for previewing. Along with the preview, available actions are presented that are based on the selected category. A user can initiate an action of the available actions. The initiated action is then performed with respect to the highlighted search result(s).