Abstract: A camera mounted on a computer system such as on a side of a monitor or behind a displayed image to reduce the parallax that results from a camera viewing angle that differs from a viewed party's viewing angle of a display, and that causes unnatural looking video communications. An item of interest corresponding to a focal point of the user that is being viewed, such as a counterpart displayed video image from a participant in the communication, may be positioned near the camera, such that the user tends to look in the general direction of the camera while communicating. Camera movement may be sensed to facilitate automatic or manual repositioning of the displayed item of interest, and a participant, such as a remote participant receiving video in a video communication may control the position of a displayed image on the monitor to minimize the parallax.

Abstract: A control and communications panel that provides users with an easy way to perform computing tasks. The panel may be located in any convenient location, such as in a location that the user can easily see and reach. The control and communications panel provides various controls such as buttons corresponding to computing tasks, including program-related and communications-related tasks. When operated, each control notifies the operating system (or other program) of a state change, and control handling logic processes the state data to take an appropriate action. Indicators such as LEDs related to the controls convey state information to users. USB ports and/or media drives or storage media may be included in the control and communications panel.

Abstract: A do not disturb system and method in a computer system at which communications such as voice calls and text messages are received. A user or process may set a computer system into a do not disturb mode, in which any communication routed through the machine will be evaluated against a set of rules to determine how that communication is to be handled, based on criteria such as the source of the communication and the type of communication. A notification and outgoing action is selected and performed in accordance with user-configurable settings. The outgoing action may include a return communication to the source of the communication indicating that the do not disturb mode is in effect.

Abstract: A method and system for auxiliary processing of information for a computing device. By simplifying the user managed power states to On and Standby, the computing device preserves its execution context by default when the machine is powered down. As a result, the computing device is made available for use even when it appears to be powered down. The computer hardware and software is capable of responding immediately to network or communication activity, user input, and other events. While the computer is in Standby, it is alert and able to handle background tasks that do not require user interaction. Activities such as answering phone calls, handling voice mail, displaying new e-mail, record voice messages, browsing the Internet, recording TV shows and so forth occur without the user having to turn on the computer.