Electronic Devices and Accessories with Media Streaming Control Features
First Claim
1. A method for operating an electronic device that is configured to play audio for a user from an online service provider through a pair of earphones having sensor structures, comprising:
- with control circuitry in the electronic device, receiving information from the sensor structures indicating whether the earphones are present in the ears of the user; and
in response to receiving information from the sensor structures indicating that the earphones are not present in the ears of the user, communicating with the online service provider using the control circuitry.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic device may play audio content to a user through a pair of earphones. The audio content may be content that is stored locally on the electronic device or may be streaming content that is provided by an online service. Control circuitry in the electronic device may monitor ear presence sensor structures in the earphones to determine whether the earphones are present in the ears of the user. In response to determining that the earphones have been removed from the ears of the user, the control circuitry may communicate with the online service provider. Communicating with the online service provider may include sending media streaming control commands to the online service provider. The media streaming control commands may, for example, include media streaming pause commands that instruct the online service provider to pause the audio content in response to the earphones being removed from the ears of the user.
55 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for operating an electronic device that is configured to play audio for a user from an online service provider through a pair of earphones having sensor structures, comprising:
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with control circuitry in the electronic device, receiving information from the sensor structures indicating whether the earphones are present in the ears of the user; and in response to receiving information from the sensor structures indicating that the earphones are not present in the ears of the user, communicating with the online service provider using the control circuitry. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of using an electronic device of a user listening to audio through earphones that are coupled to the electronic device to communicate with service provider computing equipment over a communications network, comprising:
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with ear presence detectors in the earphones, determining whether the earphones are present in the ears of the user; and in response to determining that the earphones have been removed from the ears of the user, sending information to the service provider computing equipment over the communications network. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An electronic device configured to receive audio content from an online service provider, comprising:
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an audio connector configured to receive an audio connector of earphones having sensor structures that determine whether the earphones are present in the ears of a user; and control circuitry configured to; monitor the sensor structures to determine whether the earphones are present in the ears of the user, and communicate with the online service provider in response to determining with the sensor structures that the earphones are not present in the ears of the user. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification