Apple Inc.

Sonos, Inc.

Benjamin M Rappoport

John Patrick Ternus

Jeremy C Franklin

Scott A Myers

Stephen Brian Lynch

Fletcher R Rothkopf

Stephen Robert McClure

Richard P Howarth

Christopher J Stringer

Paul Stephen Drzaic

Kevin David Gibbs

Julian Hoenig

Derek William Wright

John Raff

Justin Richard Wodrich

Sean S Corbin

Joshua D Banko

Wei Chen

Elvis Mwenda Kibiti

Carl R Peterson

Jules B Henry

Dayn Wilberding

Jiang Ai

Erik Andrew Uttermann

Amy Qian

Bruce E Berg

Ming Yu

Cheng Kai Chen

John J Baker

Yohji Hamada

Alex Chun Lap Yeung

Joseph Benjamin Walker

Nicholas D'Amato

Peter F Coxeter

John Z Zhong

Timothy W Sheen

Patrick Kessler

Hilmar Lehnert

Ryan Taylor

Julian Hoeing

Russell Dougherty

Andrew Kwatinetz

Andrea Testa

Nash Reilly

Jonathan P Ive

Duncan Robert Kerr

Bartley K Andre

Eugene Antony Whang

Peter N Russell-Clarke

Rico L Zorkendorfer

Daniele De Iuliis

Daniel J Coster

Jody R Akana

Matthew Dean Rohrbach

Jeremy D Bataillou

Martha Evans Hankey

Shin Nishibori

Zheng Gao

Christopher D Prest

Douglas Joseph Weber

Hrishikesh Gossain

Shayan Malek

Samuel Gilkison Smith

Enkhamgalan Dorjgotov

Frank Faqiu Liang

Masato Kuwabara

Santhana Krishnan Balaji

Ihtesham H Chowdhury

Amaury J Heresztyn

Jared Sartee

Nick D'Amato

Jivan Kumar Khosla

Eugene C Cheung

Steve McClure

Julio C Quintero

Harry W Smith, Iv

Erik A Utterman

Lawrence Stefani

Eva J Dixon

Ateet Piplani

Brianna C Wilson

Roland Lue

An example computing system may be configured to cause one or more playback devices located in a location of a commercial environment to play back an advertisement. The example computing system may also be configured to receive an indication that a user device is detected proximate to the location, during playback of the advertisement. The example computing system may also be configured to, after receiving the indication that the user device has been detected, receive an indication of a purchase of the subject of the advertisement, the purchase associated with the user profile. The example computing system may also be configured to, based on (i) the indication that the user device has been detected during play back of the advertisement and (ii) the indication of the purchase of the subject of the advertisement, cause a content service account associated with the computing system to be updated.

Adaptive media playback experiences for commercial environments

Example techniques may involve a playback device modifying its playback configuration when the playback device is placed onto a device base. In an example implementation, the playback device may receive, via an 802.15-compatible radio of one or more network interfaces, one or more packets comprising data representing an identifier of the first device base. After receipt of the one or more packets, the playback device queries a database for state information corresponding to the identifier of the first device base and modifies a playback configuration of the playback device from a first configuration to a second configuration based on the queried state information corresponding to the identifier of the first device base.

Playback device base

Examples described herein involve networking in a media playback system. In one aspect, an access point may prevent two or more grouped playback devices from being steered to different networks. In another aspect, an access point may operate as a sleep proxy for a playback device. In a third aspect, an example system may include a fixture configured to receive a bulb. Example bulbs include sound bulbs with one or more audio transducers and access point bulbs, among other examples.

Networking in a media playback system

Systems and methods for authenticating a passive speaker include (i) activating, by a playback device configured to drive the passive speaker, a passive speaker identification circuit of the passive speaker by providing an identification signal to an input terminal of the passive speaker, wherein the passive speaker is a particular type of passive speaker having particular acoustic characteristics; (ii) while the passive speaker identification circuit is active, measuring, by the playback device, an electrical current of the identification signal; (iii) determining, based on the measured electrical current of the identification signal, an impedance modulation of the passive speaker; (iv) determining, by the playback device, the particular type of the passive speaker based on the impedance modulation of the passive speaker; and (v) applying, by the playback device, a calibration to the playback device based on the determined particular type of the passive speaker.

Passive speaker authentication

An electronic device may have a display mounted in a housing. The display may have layers such as polarizer layers, a color filter layer, and a thin-film transistor layer. Display layers such as color filter layers and thin-film-transistor layers may have glass substrates. Notches or other openings may be formed in the layers of a display. For example, a notch with a curved chamfered edge may be formed in a lower end of a thin-film-transistor layer. A component such as a button may overlap the notch. Structures such as sensors, cameras, acoustic components, and other electronic components, buttons, communications path structures such as flexible printed circuit cables and wire bonding wires, and housing structures may be received within a display layer notch.

Notched display layers

Flexible electronic devices may be provided. A flexible electronic device may include a flexible display, a flexible housing and one or more flexible internal components configured to allow the flexible electronic device to be deformed. Flexible displays may include flexible display layers, flexible touch-sensitive layers, and flexible display cover layers. The flexible housing may be a multi-stable flexible housing having one or more stable positions. The flexible housing may include a configurable support structure that, when engaged, provides a rigid support structure for the flexible housing. The flexible internal components may include flexible batteries, flexible printed circuits or other flexible components. A flexible battery may include flexible and rigid portions or may include a lubricious separator layer that provides flexibility for the flexible battery. A flexible printed circuit may include flexible and rigid portions or openings that allow some rigid portions to flex with respect to other rigid portions.

Flexible electronic devices

Electronic equipment may include structured fabric. Structured fabric may be used as a protective case or cosmetic cover for an electronic device, may be used to form a band that holds an electronic device against a user's body, or may be used to cover one or more openings in an electronic device. Structured fabrics may be soft and pliable while maintaining the ability to hold a given shape without added support. Structured fabric may be formed by laminating fabric such as warp-knit fabric with a stiffener such as polymer film. Structured fabrics may include openings through which signals such as optical or audio signals pass. To maintain the geometry and shape of the openings in the structured fabric without covering the openings, the stiffener and adhesive that are attached to the fabric may be cut to form a pattern of openings that align with the openings in the fabric.

Structured fabrics for electronic devices

An example computing system may be configured to receive an indication that a user device has been detected in a commercial environment and to determine a first set of musical preferences associated with the commercial environment. The example computing system may also be configured to determine a user profile associated with the user device and to determine a second set of musical preferences associated with the user profile. The example computing system may also be configured to, based on at least (i) the first set of musical preferences associated with the commercial environment, and (ii) the second set of musical preferences associated with the user profile, determine one or more media items for playback and then cause one or more playback devices in the commercial environment to play back the one or more media items.

Display for a portable display device

An electronic device may have a display. The display may have an active region in which display pixels are used to display images. The display may have one or more openings and may be mounted in a housing associated with the electronic device. An electronic component may be mounted in alignment with the openings in the display. The electronic component may include a camera, a light sensor, a light-based proximity sensor, status indicator lights, a light-based touch sensor array, a secondary display that has display pixels that may be viewed through the openings, antenna structures, a speaker, a microphone, or other acoustic, electromagnetic, or light-based component. One or more openings in the display may form a window through which a user of the device may view an external object. Display pixels in the window region may be used in forming a heads-up display.

Electronic devices having displays with openings

A portable computing device is disclosed. The portable computing device can take many forms such as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and so on. The portable computing device can include at least a single piece housing. The single piece housing can be machined from a single billet of material, such as a billet of aluminum. The single piece housing can include ledges with a surface receiving a trim bead and a cover. Corner brackets can be attached to the single piece housing to improve the damage resistance of the housing.

Handheld portable device

Transparent structures for portions of electronic device housings are disclosed. The transparent structures are formed from multiple layers of transparent (optically clear) materials. The multiple layers can include at least an outer glass layer and one or more other transparent layers that can be either glass or polymer layers. The multiple layers can be bonded together with one or more lamination layers. Accordingly, multi-layer transparent structures that are formed from multiple layers bonded together are able to be not only thin but also sufficiently strong and resistant to damage. The multi-layer transparent structures are well suited for use in consumer products, such as consumer electronic devices (e.g., portable electronic devices).

Multi-layer transparent structures for electronic device housings

Systems and methods for authenticating a passive speaker include (i) activating, by a playback device configured to drive the passive speaker, a passive speaker identification circuit of the passive speaker by providing an identification signal to an input terminal of the passive speaker, wherein the passive speaker is a particular type of passive speaker having particular characteristics; (ii) while the passive speaker identification circuit is active, measuring, by the playback device, an electrical current of the identification signal; (iii) determining, based on the measured electrical current of the identification signal, an impedance modulation of the passive speaker; (iv) determining, by the playback device, the particular type of the passive speaker based on the impedance modulation of the passive speaker; and (v) applying, by the playback device, a calibration to the playback device based on the determined particular type of the passive speaker.

Growing community of inventors

Los Gatos, CA, United States of America

Benjamin M Rappoport