KEYS AND SENSORS FOR DAILY CONSUMER ACTIVITIES

• US 20130297711A1
• Filed: 05/07/2013
• Published: 11/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nhu Hoang
• Original Assignee: Nhu Hoang
• Inventors: Nhu, Hoang
• Granted Patent: US 9,959,242 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/163 Interprocessor communication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

Communication accessories, such as keyfobs (KFs) and/or transmitter/receiver dongles, which can transmit and receive signals to enable connectivity between owners of different portable devices even when the devices are off or when in a sleep mode, are described. In some examples, the keyfobs and/or the dongles are programmed with connectivity tokens, such as being programmed with Facebook (FB) information, FB accounts or FBIDs, LinkedIn ID, or generically social network user information, that can be used to authenticate different smart portable devices belonging to different users to facilitate networking. Once the keyfobs and/or dongles are authenticated, they will buzz, sound, or otherwise alert their respective owners that one or more social network users, such as a FB user or a LinkedIn user, are within the general vicinity and that further actions through smart portable devices may be needed to connect the users.

Claims

1. A keyfob for use with at least one of a computing device and a smart portable device, said keyfob comprising a housing, a button, an integrated chip, and one or more sensors, said integrated chip is programmed to emit a signal that advertises social network user identification for detecting by a smart device and accelerometer data.

2. The keyfob of claim 1, wherein the social network user identification is linked to Facebook.

3. The keyfob of claim 1, wherein the advertising is performed using Bluetooth low energy connectivity.

4. The keyfob of claim 1, wherein the integrated chip is programmed to activate a camera on a smart portable device.

5. The keyfob of claim 1, wherein the button is either a soft button or a hard button.

6. The keyfob of claim 1, wherein the smart device is either a smart portable device or a plugged in smart device.

7. The keyfob of claim 1, further comprising a unique key programmed into the keyfob for use by a smart portable device to encrypt and decrypt cloud data.

8. The keyfob of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise an accelerometer and an infrared sensor.

9. The keyfob of claim 1, further comprising a smart portable device (SPD), and wherein the SPD is programmed with an app for activating the IR sensor or for analyzing data generated by the accelerometer.

10. The keyfob of claim 1, wherein business information comprising a business e-mail address is stored on the keyfob for broadcasting in a meeting environment.

11. A communication system comprising a keyfob and at least one of a computing device and a smart portable device (SPD), said keyfob comprising a housing, a button, an integrated chip, and one or more sensors, said integrated chip is programmed with a key for use by the at least one of a computing device and a smart portable device to encrypt and decrypt data to or from cloud computing.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein software operated by the computing device prompts for a password before data is encrypted or decrypted.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein said integrated chip is programmed to emit a signal that advertises social network user identification for detecting by a smart device.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein said one or more sensors comprise an infrared (IR) sensor and IR circuitries and wherein said SPD is programmed with an app for sending remote control signals to the keyfob.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein said one or more sensors comprise an accelerometer and an accelerometer circuitries and wherein said SPD is programmed with an app for processing acceleration data generated by the keyfob.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the SPD is programmed to speed up or slow down audio files.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the scanning is performed at a movie theatre, a restaurant, a bar, a night club, or a classroom.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the scanning is performed by a computing device.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the sending step comprises sending information about a website.

17. A method for facilitating F-commerce comprising:

scanning for information advertised by at least one keyfob or at least one dongle;

sending a signal to the at least one keyfob or the at least one dongle; and

wherein the information scanned is related to social network user identification; and

wherein the signal sent to the at least one keyfob or the at least one dongle is related to pricing for a merchandise, a meal, a drink, or combinations thereof.