REMOVABLE ACCESSORY FOR A COMPUTING DEVICE

• US 20100250794A1
• Filed: 03/27/2009
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Hamilton, Alistair, Liden, Johan Carl, Aruh, Rinat, Hanks, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 8,019,903 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/33
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

An accessory computing device or display detachable from another computing device such as a mobile computing device. The accessory computing device displays data from the mobile computing device including notifications relating to electronic mail messages, voice mail messages, stock prices, sports scores, etc. A user interacts with the accessory computing device to control the mobile computing device by, for example, replying to messages, controlling a game executing on the mobile computing device, or silencing a ringer on the mobile computing device. In some embodiments, a plurality of the accessory computing devices interact with the same mobile computing device (e.g., in a multi-player game or device location tracking application executing on the mobile computing device).

Claims

1. A system for interacting with a mobile computing device, said system comprising:

an accessory computing device removably attached to the mobile computing device, said accessory computing device comprising;

an interface module for exchanging data with a user of the accessory computing device;

a memory area for storing said data; and

a processor programmed to;

receive at least a portion of the data from the user via the interface module; and

control the mobile computing device based on the received data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the accessory computing device is one of a plurality of accessory computing devices removably attached to the mobile computing device.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the mobile computing device distributing notifications between the mobile computing device and one or more of the plurality of the accessory devices.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein one or more of the accessory computing devices comprises a global positioning system (GPS) transceiver.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the accessory computing device comprises an accelerometer, and wherein the processor is further programmed to:

receive data from the accelerometer indicating movement of the accessory computing device;

transmit a command to the mobile computing device based on the received data, wherein the transmitted command causes the mobile computing device to perform an action upon receipt of the transmitted command.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the accessory computing device is a headset for use by the user.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the accessory computing device further comprises at least one of the following:

a microphone, a speaker, and a digital recorder.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, by an accessory computing device removably attached to a mobile computing device, data from the mobile computing device;

displaying the received data to a user of the accessory computing device;

receiving, via the accessory computing device, a command from the user of the accessory computing device; and

communicating, by the accessory computing device, with the mobile computing device to control the mobile computing device based on the received command.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the received data is an indication that an electronic mail message or text has been received by the mobile computing device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the mobile computing device is configured to connect to an external monitor for displaying the data.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the command from the user of the accessory computing device comprises receiving one or more of the following:

a command to power off the mobile computing device and a command to decrease a ringer volume of the mobile computing device.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the command from the user of the accessory computing device comprises receiving the command via one or more of the following:

a toggle switch, a directional pad, a selection button, a radial button, and a touch screen.

13. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable components, said components comprising:

an inventory component for identifying a plurality of accessory computing devices associated with a mobile computing device, wherein each of the plurality of the accessory computing devices are configured to be removably attached to the mobile computing device;

an interface component for receiving, from a user of the mobile computing device, a selection of content to be associated with and stored on one or more of the plurality of accessory computing devices;

a transfer component for transferring the selection of content to the plurality of the accessory computing devices prior to detachment of the accessory computing devices from the mobile computing device; and

an update component for communicating with each of the plurality of detached accessory computing devices, wherein the update component provides, to the accessory computing devices, data related to the selection of content associated with each of the accessory computing devices.

14. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the inventory component identifies a plurality of accessory computing associated with an application program executing on the mobile computing device.

15. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the inventory component further receives identification of a location of each of the plurality of accessory computing devices.

16. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the interface component further receives one or more of the following from the user:

a font type, font color, and/or a font size of a text to be displayed on each of the plurality of accessory computing devices.

17. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the interface component receives the selection of content by receiving a selection of one or more of the following:

a notification, a message, and an application program.

18. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the update component provides each of the plurality of detached accessory computing devices with data related to the selection of content associated with the accessory computing devices.

19. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the user interacts with the selection of content transferred by the update component to one of the accessory computing devices, and wherein said one of the accessory computing devices communicates with the mobile computing device responsive to said interacting to control the mobile computing device.

20. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the update component communicates with each of the plurality of detached accessory computing devices via a wireless connection.