ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD OF SHARING CONTENTS THEREOF WITH OTHER DEVICES

• US 20110283334A1
• Filed: 04/19/2011
• Published: 11/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Woocheul, CHOI, Haengkeol
• Granted Patent: US 8,789,131 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/148
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/148 Migration or transfer of sessions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

An electronic device includes a wireless communication unit wirelessly communicating with any of a plurality of external devices which each comprise a display, a display displaying content including specific content, an input unit receiving an input for selecting the specific content, and a controller. The controller searches for an external device that is available for communication with the electronic device, establishes communication via the wireless communication unit with a selected first external device, which is one of the plurality of external devices identified as a result of the search for an external device, receives content specification information from the first external device to determine the first external device'"'"'s capability to display the specific content, and causes displaying of the specific content on the display of the first external device upon determining that the first external device is capable of displaying the specific content based on the content specification information.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a wireless communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with any of a plurality of external devices which each comprise a display;

a display configured to display content including specific content;

an input unit configured to receive an input for selecting the specific content; and

a controller configured to;

search for an external device that is available for communication with the electronic device,

establish communication via the wireless communication unit with a selected first external device, which is one of the plurality of external devices identified as a result of the search for an external device,

receive content specification information from the first external device to determine the first external device'"'"'s capability to display the specific content, and

cause displaying of the specific content on the display of the first external device upon determining that the first external device is capable of displaying the specific content based on the content specification information.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein when a plurality of external devices that are capable of communicating with the electronic device are detected, the controller is further configured to select one of the plurality of external devices based on relative distance between the electronic device and each of the plurality of external devices, wherein the first external device is a device that is located closest to the electronic device and is selected among the plurality of external devices.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein when a plurality of external devices that are capable of communicating with the electronic device are detected, the controller is further configured to display a list of the detected plurality of external devices on the display of the electronic device such that at least one of the plurality of external devices is selected from the list to display the specific content at the selected at least one of the plurality of external devices.

4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the controller is further configured to select only external devices that have a capability to display the specific content from the detected plurality of external devices, the list includes only the external devices that have the capability to display the specific content, and the external devices included in the list are arranged in the order of distances from the electronic device.

5. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the list shows the plurality of external devices in the order of distances from the electronic device, and indicates whether each of the plurality of external devices has the capability to display the specific content.

6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the controller is further configured to transmit resource information to one of the plurality of external devices when the one of the plurality of external devices is selected and the selected one of the plurality of external devices does not have the capability to display the specific content due to a lack of a resource required to display the specific content, the resource information providing information necessary to acquire the resource required to display the specific content.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein when a plurality of external devices that are capable of communicating with the electronic device are detected, the controller is further configured to obtain position information for each of the plurality of external devices and to select the first external device from the plurality of external devices in response to an input of a user-oriented direction, and wherein the specific content is displayed at the selected first external device.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising a camera, wherein the controller is further configured to detect the user-oriented direction by performing image recognition on an image captured by the camera, and the input comprises capturing an image of the one of the plurality of external devices that is selected to display the specific content.

9. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising a sensing unit detecting an azimuth, wherein the input comprises pointing the sensing unit toward the first external device that is selected to display the specific content.

10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to transmit the specific content to a second external device to display the specific content at the second external device in response to a second input for transferring the specific content, wherein the second input comprises:

pointing a specific portion of the electronic device substantially toward a first direction corresponding to the first external device; and

moving the electronic device such that the specific portion is eventually pointed substantially toward a second direction corresponding to the second external device, and

wherein the controller is further configured to cause displaying a first portion of the specific content on the display of the first external device and cause displaying a second portion of the specific content on the display of the second external device in response to the second input such that a size of the first portion displayed on the display of the first external device decreases gradually and a size of the second portion displayed on the display of the second external device increases gradually according to the movement of the electronic device, the entire portion of the specific content being displayed on the display of the second external device eventually.

11. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising a touch screen, wherein the controller is further configured to recognize the user-oriented direction based on a direction of a drag input received on the touch screen, and wherein the drag input is received in a direction substantially toward the one of the plurality of external devices that is selected to display the specific content.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to display a rotatable control icon on the touch screen, and wherein the input comprises rotation of the control icon according to the drag input and pointing the rotated control icon substantially toward the one of the plurality of external devices that is selected to display the content.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to:

display a rotatable control icon on the touch screen, wherein the control icon is rotated according to the drag input;

display a plurality of icons corresponding to the plurality of external devices around the control icon based on a relative position of each of the plurality of external devices with respect to the electronic device; and

select the one of the plurality of external devices corresponding to one of the plurality of icons to which the control icon is pointed to display the specific content at the selected one of the plurality of external devices.

14. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to register a first specific location and the first external device that is present at the first specific location, the electronic device further comprising a memory storing the registered first specific location and the corresponding first external device, and wherein the controller is further configured to display the specific content at the corresponding first external device when the electronic device is at the first specific location even if other external devices that are not registered in association with the first specific location are available at the registered first specific location.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein when the electronic device is moved from the first specific location to a second specific location that is registered, the controller is further configured to cause displaying the specific content at a display of a second external device that is registered in association with the second specific location.

16. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the input unit is further configured to receive an input for searching for an external device to display the specific content, wherein the controller searches for the external device in response to the input.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the input for searching comprises a drag input received via a touch screen of the display displaying the specific content and the controller is further configured to move the displayed specific content gradually on the display in response to the drag input to indicate that the specific content is being transferred to the first external device to be displayed at the first external device.

18. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller causes displaying the specific content on the display of the first external device only when the first external device allows displaying of the specific content at the first external device, the controller outputting an alert via at least the display if the first external device does not allow displaying of the specific content at the first external device.

19. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a memory storing the specific content, wherein the controller is further configured to:

retrieve the specific content from the memory to cause displaying of the specific content at the first external device;

provide an alert that the first external device is not capable of displaying the specific content due to a lack of a resource required to display the specific content; and

prompt whether to transmit resource information to the first external device, the resource information providing information necessary to acquire the resource required to display the specific content, and

wherein the specific content is caused to be displayed at the first external device after the resource is acquired by the first external device.

20. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the specific content is stored in an external storage device and the controller is further configured to transfer the specific content from the external storage device to the first external device to cause displaying the specific content at the first external device.

21. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the content specification information includes at least a resolution, a codec, or a content playback program that is supported by the first external device.

22. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine a first distance between the electronic device and the first external device displaying the specific content; and

control a display property of the specific content displayed on the first external device upon determining that the first distance has been changed.

23. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the display property includes a display size and the controller is further configured to cause changing the display size of the specific content displayed on the first external device upon determining that the first distance is greater than a preset value of a reference distance, the display size decreasing or increasing according to the change of the first distance.

24. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the controller is further configured to cause displaying the specific content at a second external device connected to the electronic device when the first distance is greater than a preset value of a reference distance and a second distance between the electronic device and the second external device is equal to or less than the preset value of the reference distance, and wherein the first external device stops displaying the specific content after the specific content is caused to be displayed at the second external device.

25. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to display the specific content on the display when both the first and second distances are greater than the preset value of the reference distance and no other external device is present within the reference distance from the electronic device.

26. The electronic device of claim, 24, wherein the controller is further configured to prompt whether to select the second external device to display the specific content at the second external device.

27. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:

continue displaying of the specific content on the display of the electronic device while the specific content is displayed at the first external device; and

stop displaying the specific content on the display of the electronic device in response to an input received while the specific content is displayed at the first external device,

wherein the input is for ending the display of the specific content on the display of the electronic device.

28. A method of sharing content between an electronic device and an external device, the method comprising:

selecting, by the electronic device, specific content to be displayed at an external device or displaying the specific content on a display of the electronic device;

searching, by the electronic device, for at least one external device that is capable of communicating with the electronic device;

establishing wireless communication between the electronic device and searched at least external device;

receiving, by the electronic device, content specification information from the at least one external device to determine the at least one external device'"'"'s capability to display the specific content;

determining, by the electronic device, that the at least one external device is capable of displaying the specific content based on the content specification information; and

causing, by the electronic device, displaying the specific content at the at least one external device that are determined to have the capability to display the specific content.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

determining relative distance between the electronic device and each of a plurality of external devices when at least two external devices are detected, and selecting one of the plurality of external devices based on the determined relative distance to cause displaying the specific content at the one of the plurality of external devices that is positioned closest to the electronic device, wherein a display property of the displayed specific content is changed according to a distance between the electronic device and the one of the plurality of external devices displaying the specific content when the distance is greater than a preset value of a reference distance;

displaying a list of the plurality of external devices that are detected, and selecting one of the plurality of external devices in response to an input for selecting the one of the plurality of external devices, wherein the plurality of external devices are displayed as icons, displayed in the order of distances from the electronic device, displayed such that relative positions of the plurality of external devices with respect to the electronic device are indicated, displayed with content specification information for each of the plurality of external devices, or displayed with a control icon for selecting the one of the plurality of external devices;

selecting one of the plurality of external devices that are detected in response to a user-oriented direction, wherein the user-oriented direction is generated by pointing a specific portion of the electronic device substantially toward the one of the plurality of external devices at which the specific content is to be displayed;

or

selecting a specific external device associated with a specific location registered in the electronic device to cause displaying the specific content at the specific external device when the electronic device is located at the specific location.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

determining a first distance between the electronic device and the at least one external device continuously or periodically;

searching for another external device while the specific content is displayed at the at least one external device;

causing changing of a display property of the specific content displayed at the at least one external device upon determining that the first distance is greater than a preset value of a first reference distance;

causing displaying the specific content at the other detected external device when a second distance between the electronic device and the other external device is less than the first distance or when the first distance is greater than the preset value of the first reference distance and the second distance is less than the preset value of the first reference distance; and

displaying the specific content on the display of the electronic device when the first and second distances are greater than a preset vale of a second reference distance that is greater than the preset value of the first reference distance, and no other external device is present within the first or second reference distance,

wherein the specific content is concurrently displayed on the display of the electronic device while the specific content is caused to be displayed at the at least one external device or the other external device until an input for stopping the display of the specific content on the display is received, or the specific content is not displayed on the display of the electronic device while the specific content is caused to be displayed at the at least one external device or the other external device.