System and Method for Providing Direct Access to an Application when Unlocking a Consumer Electronic Device

• US 20130311955A9
• Filed: 08/08/2011
• Published: 11/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: de Lon, David
• Granted Patent: US 9,015,640 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/863
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/60 Rotation of whole images or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits

Abstract

A consumer electronic device has an orientation sensor and a lock control. The orientation sensor outputs signals identifying the orientation of the device, while the lock control to allow a user to move the device from a locked state to an unlocked state. The device also includes a plurality of application programs stored in memory. Responsive to the user unlocking the device, a controller will launch a selected application program. The application that is launched by the device is based on an orientation of the device.

Claims

1. A method of launching application programs on a consumer electronic device, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of application programs in a memory of the consumer electronics device; and

executing an application program selected based on an orientation of the consumer electronics device responsive to the device transitioning from a locked state to an unlocked state.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving an orientation signal from an orientation sensor associated with the consumer electronic device indicating the orientation of the consumer electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving user input transitioning the consumer electronic device from the locked state to the unlocked state.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein receiving user input transitioning the consumer electronic device to the unlocked state comprises detecting that the user has actuated a lock control on the consumer electronic device.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating respective identifiers for one or more of the application programs to corresponding orientation indicators for the consumer electronic device; and

storing the associations in memory of the consumer electronic device.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein executing the selected application program comprises:

placing the consumer electronic device into the unlocked state;

determining the orientation of the device;

comparing the orientation of the device to the orientation indicators stored in memory; and

executing the application program corresponding to the orientation indicator that matches the determined orientation of the device.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a graphical indicator on a lock control displayed on the consumer electronic device to identify which selected application program would be executed responsive to transitioning the consumer electronic device to the unlocked state in a current orientation.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising changing the graphical indicator from a first graphical indicator identifying a first selected application program to a second graphical indicator identifying a second selected application program responsive to detecting a change in the orientation of the consumer electronic device.

9. A consumer electronics device comprising:

a memory configured to store a plurality of application programs to be executed by the consumer electronic device; and

a programmable controller configured to execute an application program selected based on an orientation of the consumer electronic device when the device transitions from a locked state to an unlocked state.

10. The device of claim 9 further comprising an orientation sensor configured to provide an orientation signal identifying the orientation of the device.

11. The device of claim 10 wherein the orientation sensor comprises an accelerometer.

12. The device of claim 9 further comprising a lock control configured to output an unlock signal responsive to the user transitioning the consumer electronic device to the unlocked state.

13. The device of claim 12 further comprising a touch-sensitive display, and wherein the lock control comprises a slide lock control displayed on the touch-sensitive display.

14. The device of claim 13 wherein the slide lock control includes a graphical indicator that identifies which selected application program would be executed responsive to the user transitioning the consumer electronic device to the unlocked state in the current orientation.

15. The device of claim 14 wherein the programmable controller is configured to change the graphical indicator from a first indicator to a second indicator responsive to detecting a change in the orientation of the consumer electronic device.

16. The device of claim 12 wherein the lock control comprises a control disposed on the housing of the consumer electronic device.

17. The device of claim 11 further comprising a user interface, and wherein the programmable controller is configured to receive user input from the user interface transitioning the consumer electronic device to the unlocked state.

18. The device of claim 17 wherein the programmable controller is configured to:

associate respective identifiers for one or more of the application programs to corresponding orientation indicators for the consumer electronic device; and

store the associations in the memory.

19. The device of claim 18 wherein the programmable controller is further configured to:

place the consumer electronic device into the unlocked state;

determine the orientation of the device;

compare the orientation of the device to the orientation indicators stored in memory; and

execute the application program corresponding to the orientation indicator that matches the determined orientation of the device.

20. A consumer electronic device comprising:

a memory configured to store a plurality of application programs to be executed by the consumer electronic device;

a touch-sensitive slide-lock control configured to transition the consumer electronics device from a locked state to an unlocked state;

an orientation sensor configured to output orientation signals indicating an orientation of the consumer electronic device; and

a programmable controller configured to execute a selected application program in memory when the device transitions to the unlocked state based on the orientation signals.