Method and system for unified audio control on a personal computer
First Claim
1. A method for controlling audio output rendered from a computing system, the method comprising:
- the computing system playing media by at least rendering audio output associated with the media;
the computing system detecting an incoming telephone call;
the computing system detecting user input that is operable to answer the telephone call at the computing system; and
the computing system, in response to the user input and prior to connecting the telephone call responsive to the user input, altering how the audio output is rendered by at least one of (1) pausing the media or (2) lowering a volume associated with the rendering of the audio output.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for improved audio controls on a personal computer is provided. The system and method provide a unified architecture for audio controls across hardware and software interfaces of the personal computer. An intelligent facility may automatically change audio controls for users to simply interact with various communications and media applications. To this end, a configurable audio controller intelligently handles various aspects of the system'"'"'s audio devices by following various rules that may be based at least in part on user-configurable settings and a current operating state. The present invention also provides audio controls so that a user may easily change audio settings such as the volume of an audio output device. There are many applications that may use the present invention for automatic control of audio devices based upon the user'"'"'s context.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for controlling audio output rendered from a computing system, the method comprising:
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the computing system playing media by at least rendering audio output associated with the media; the computing system detecting an incoming telephone call; the computing system detecting user input that is operable to answer the telephone call at the computing system; and the computing system, in response to the user input and prior to connecting the telephone call responsive to the user input, altering how the audio output is rendered by at least one of (1) pausing the media or (2) lowering a volume associated with the rendering of the audio output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computing system comprising:
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a touch screen; at least one audio output device configured to render audio output; telephone hardware configured for receiving a telephone call; and storage media storing computer executable instructions for implementing a method for controlling audio output rendered from the computing system, the method comprising; the computing system rendering audio output; the computing system detecting an incoming telephone call; the computing system detecting user input that is operable to answer the telephone call at the computing system; and the computing system, in response to the user input and prior to connecting the telephone call responsive to the user input, altering how the audio output is rendered by at least one of (1) pausing the rendering of the audio output or (2) lowering a volume associated with the rendering of the audio output. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer storage device storing computer executable instructions which, when executed by a computing system, implement a method for controlling audio output rendered from the computing system, the method comprising:
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the computing system rendering audio output; the computing system detecting an incoming telephone call; the computing system detecting user input that is operable to answer the telephone call at the computing system; and the computing system, in response to the user input and prior to connecting the telephone call responsive to the user input, altering how the audio output is rendered by at least one of (1) pausing the rendering of the audio output or (2) lowering a volume associated with the rendering of the audio output. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification