Portable Information Display Terminal

• US 20130036430A1
• Filed: 04/06/2011
• Published: 02/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Masaki, Yasuo, Kohno, Sei
• Application Number:
  US13/641,189
• Publication Number:
  US 20130036430A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/318
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/485 Task life-cycle, e.g. stopping, restarting, resuming execution G06F9/4881 takes precedence

Abstract

Provided is a portable information display terminal capable of automatically starting an appropriate application program according to not only the time but also the use state of the portable information display terminal. The portable information display terminal (1) is provided with a housing (20), a use state detection means (53) for detecting the use state, a time detecting means (51a) for detecting the current time, and a control portion (51, 151, 251) for starting an application program corresponding to the use state detected by the use state detection means and the current time detected by the time detection means.

Claims

1. A portable information display terminal (1) comprising:

a housing (20);

a use state detection means (53) for detecting a use state;

a time detection means (51a) detecting a current time; and

a control portion (51, 151, 251) starting an application program corresponding to the use state detected by said use state detection means and the current time detected by said time detection means.

2. The portable information display terminal according to claim 1, so formed that the user is capable of setting an application program started in response to said use state and said current time, wherein

said control portion is formed to perform control of starting said application program set by the user in response to said use state and said current time.

3. The portable information display terminal according to claim 2, wherein

setting of a starting time zone for starting the application program corresponding to said current time is so formed that at least any setting in setting of the starting time zone every day of the week, setting of the starting time zone distinguishing weekdays and holidays from each other and setting of the starting time zone without distinction of the day of the week and the holidays is possible.

4. The portable information display terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a display portion (10) displaying information, wherein

said control portion is formed to perform control capable of simultaneously parallelly starting an application program using said display portion and an application program not using said display portion when starting application programs in response to said use state and said current time.

5. The portable information display terminal according to claim 4, wherein

said use state includes a use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while standing said housing on a placing surface, and

said control portion is formed to perform control of simultaneously parallelly starting the application program using said display portion and the application program not using said display portion in a case where the use state detected by said use state detection means is at least the use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while standing said housing on the placing surface.

6. The portable information display terminal according to claim 4, so formed that the user is capable of setting the application program started in response to said use state and said current time, wherein

setting of the starting time zone at the time of simultaneously parallelly starting the application program using said display portion and the application program not using said display portion is formed to be independently performable for the application program using said display portion and for the application program not using said display portion.

7. The portable information display terminal according to claim 4, further comprising an image pickup portion (11) capable of picking up an image, wherein

the application program not using said display portion includes at least either one of an application program monitoring an invader with said image pickup portion and an application program transmitting information consisting of a sound to the user.

8. The portable information display terminal according to claim 1, wherein

said control portion is formed to perform control of starting an application program corresponding to the use state detected by said use state detection means, corresponding also to a transition mode at a time of making a transition from a use state before said detected use state to said detected use state, and corresponding to the current time.

9. The portable information display terminal according to claim 1, wherein

said use state includes a first use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while manually grasping said housing, and

said control portion is formed to perform control of starting an application program corresponding to said first use state and corresponding to the current time in a case where said first use state is detected by said use state detection means.

10. The portable information display terminal according to claim 9, further comprising a display portion displaying information, wherein

said first use state includes a laterally oriented use state and a vertically oriented use state,

said use state detection means is formed to be capable of detecting the laterally oriented use state and the vertically oriented use state, and

said control portion is formed to perform control of starting an application program corresponding to said first use state and corresponding to said current time and changing the orientation of a display displayed on said display portion in response to the lateral orientation or the vertical orientation in a case where it is detected that the portable information display terminal is in said first use state.

11. The portable information display terminal according to claim 1, wherein

said use state includes a second use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while standing said housing on a placing surface and a third use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while laying down said housing on the placing surface, and

said control portion is formed to perform control of starting an application program not premised to be operated by the user in a case where the portable information display terminal is in said second state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while standing said housing on the placing surface and starting an application program premised to be operated by the user in a case where the portable information display terminal is in said third use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while laying down said housing on the placing surface.

12. The portable information display terminal according to claim 1, wherein

said use state includes a second use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while standing said housing on a placing surface and a third use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while laying down said housing on the placing surface,

said use state detection means is formed to acquire inclinations of said housing in said second use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while standing said housing on the placing surface and said third use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while laying down said housing on the placing surface, and

said control portion is formed to be capable of determining and specifying said second use state and said third state on the basis of the inclinations of said housing in said second use state and said third use state acquired by said use state detection means.

13. The portable information display terminal according to claim 12, wherein

said housing has such an outer shape that said housing is placeable with different inclinations in said second use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while standing said housing on the placing surface and said third use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while laying down said housing on the placing surface, and

said control portion is formed to be capable of determining and specifying said second use state and said third use state based on the different inclinations of said housing in said second use state and said third use state on the basis of the outer shape of said housing acquired by said use state detection means.

14. The portable information display terminal according to claim 1, wherein

said use state includes a first use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while manually grasping said housing, a second use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while standing said housing on a placing surface and a third use state where the user uses the portable information display terminal while laying down said housing on the placing surface,

said use state detection means includes an inclination sensor, and

said control portion is formed to determine and specify said second use state and said third use state on the basis of an inclination angle detected by said inclination sensor, and to determine and specify said first use state on the basis of a change state of the inclination angle detected by said inclination sensor.

15. The portable information display terminal according to claim 1, so formed that the user is capable of setting validation or invalidation of a function of starting the application program corresponding to detected said use state and the current time, wherein

said control portion is formed to perform control of starting the application program corresponding to detected said use state and the current time in a case where the function of starting the application program corresponding to said use state and the current time is valid.

16. The portable information display terminal according to claim 15, wherein

said control portion is formed not to terminate but to maintain an application program having been started correspondingly to the use state detected by said use state detection means and the current time detected by said time detection means in a state before said use state is changed in a case where the function of starting the application program corresponding to said use state and the current time is invalid, also in a case where the portable information display terminal is switched from the state before the use state is changed to a state after said use state is changed.

17. The portable information display terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a storage portion (52) storing a use history of a used application program in said use state and a starting time zone, wherein

said control portion is formed to perform control of deciding and starting an application program corresponding to the detected use state and the current time on the basis of said use history stored in said storage portion.

18. The portable information display terminal according to claim 17, wherein

a history of an application program having been used for at least a prescribed time in a prescribed use state every said starting time zone is included in said use history, and

said control portion is formed to perform control of starting an application program having been used for at least said prescribed time in said starting time zone corresponding to said current time.

19. The portable information display terminal according to claim 1, wherein

said control portion is formed to be capable of starting the application program by preferentially determining a detection result of said time detection means over a detection result of said use state detection means,

said control portion is formed to perform control of starting an application program corresponding to a prescribed time when the current time detected by said time detection means and said prescribed time set while granting priority to time setting coincide with each other regardless of said use state detected by said use state detection means in a prescribed case, and

said application program started correspondingly to said prescribed time is different from an application program started correspondingly to the use state detected by said use state detection means and the current time detected by said time detection means.

20. The portable information display terminal according to claim 19, wherein

said prescribed case includes a case where an application program started by preferentially determining the detection result of said time detection means over the detection result of said use state detection means has been set by the user.