MOBILE DEVICES WITH PLURAL DISPLAYS

• US 20140132481A1
• Filed: 01/10/2013
• Published: 05/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Bell, Cynthia, Westerinen, William Jefferson, Liu, Tao
• Application Number:
  US13/738,249
• Publication Number:
  US 20140132481A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/1.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/165 the additional display being small, e.g. for presenting status information
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 5/0017 with operator interface units

Abstract

Disclosed herein are embodiments of mobile devices having plural displays. In some embodiments a mobile computing device comprises a body comprising a front side, a rear side, and four lateral sides, a main display on the front side of the body, and a secondary display on one of the four lateral sides of the body. An edge of the secondary display can be adjacent to an edge of the main display and the adjacent edges can positioned in contact with each other, can be joined together with an adhesive, and/or can be joined together with a compliant gasket. The main display and the secondary display can be controlled independently of each other based on predetermined display preference logic. The device can further comprise a cover layer that covers and protects both the main display and the secondary display.

Claims

1. A mobile computing device comprising:

a monolithic body comprising a front side, a rear side, and four lateral sides extending between the front side and the rear side;

a main electronic display on the front side; and

a secondary electronic display on the front side or on one of the lateral sides.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the main display and the secondary display comprise two discrete display devices.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the main display and the secondary display are both touch-sensitive input devices as well as visual display devices.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the main display and the secondary display are configured to be turned on and off independently of each other.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the main display and the secondary display are touching along a common edge.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the main display is disposed in a plane that is non-parallel with a plane in which the secondary display is disposed.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein an edge of the secondary display is coupled to an edge of the main display with a compliant gasket.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the main display comprises a beveled edge that mates with a beveled edge of the secondary display.

9. The device of claim 6, further comprising a one-piece, at least partially transparent cover layer that covers both the main display and the secondary display.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the cover layer extends around one or more edges of the mobile device and along at least two sides of the mobile device.

11. The device of claim 1, further comprising at least a second secondary display.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein two secondary displays are disposed on opposite sides of the main display and configured to display information sweeping around three sides of the device in continuous motion.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the secondary display is on a lateral side of the body and is disposed in a plane that forms a non-right angle relative to a plane of the main display.

14. The device of claim 9, wherein a portion of the cover layer that covers the secondary display comprises a convex outer surface.

15. The device of claim 4, further comprising at least one display controller configured to control whether the main display is powered on or off, control whether the secondary display is powered on or off, and control what information is displayed when either screen is powered on, based on input data received from one or more sensors, a battery charge level input, and characteristics of external wireless data received by the device that is to be displayed.

16. A method of controlling a main display and a secondary display of a mobile computing device, the method comprising:

identifying information to be displayed;

determining whether to display the identified information on the main display or on the secondary display based on an input from a proximity detector, a battery charge level, and characteristics of the identified information; and

displaying the identified information on either the main display or the secondary display.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining whether to display the identified information on the main display or on the secondary display comprises determining if the main display is adjacent to another surface using the proximity detector, and if so, then displaying the identified information on the secondary display.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining whether to display the identified information on the main display or on the secondary display comprises determining if a size of the identified information is less than a size capacity of the secondary display, and if so, then displaying the identified information on the secondary display.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining whether to display the identified information on the main display or on the secondary display comprises determining if the battery charge level is less than a predetermined austerity threshold, and if so, then displaying the identified information on the secondary display.

20. A mobile computing device comprising:

a body having a non-hinged, bar-type form factor and comprising a front side, a rear side, and four lateral sides;

a main display on the front side of the body; and

a secondary display on one of the four lateral sides of the body;

wherein an outer surface of the secondary display is in a plane that is not parallel with a plane of an outer surface of the main display;

wherein an edge of the secondary display is adjacent to an edge of the main display, and the adjacent edges are positioned in contact with each other, are joined together with an adhesive, or are joined together with a compliant gasket;

wherein the main display and the secondary display can be controlled independently of each other based on predetermined display preference logic; and

the device further comprises a one-piece, at least partially transparent cover layer that covers and protects both the main display and the secondary display and extends around the adjacent edges of the main display and the secondary display.