Sony Corporation

Sony Electronics Inc

David George Thiele

Steven Friedlander

Marvin DeMerchant

David Andrew Young

Thomas Patrick Dawson

Klaus Hofrichter

William Arthur Schupp

Norifumi Takaya

Nicholas James Colsey

Marvin Demerchant

A mobile apparatus determines whether it is disposed in a vehicle and, based on a determining that it is in the vehicle, automatically presents a first user interface (UI) that is simplified and/or easier to manipulate while driving relative to a second UI that would otherwise be presented.

Configuring user interface (UI) based on context

Retail store electronic device exhibit

A television (TV) includes a display and a processor controlling the display and receiving signals representing human gestures. The processor is programmed to respond to gestures from a first viewer to control the display. Also the processor is programmed to respond to gestures from a second viewer to control the display only responsive to a determination that the first viewer has both looked toward the second viewer, and that the first viewer has confirmed, as a separate act from looking toward the second viewer, a desire to transfer control of the TV to the second viewer.

Passing control of gesture-controlled apparatus from person to person

Two friends can pair wireless communication devices which subsequently exchange positional information peer-to-peer or through a cloud server. Each device presents a map showing its location and the location of the paired device. Instructions can be provided to the device playing a follower role of how to reach the current location of the other device, which plays a leader role. In turn the leader device can present information as to the location of the follower device so that a user of the leader device can ascertain if the follower is off-track.

Automatic friend following application

When a driver leaves a vehicle as indicated by a separation event such as the driver's portable wireless communication device (WCD) losing Bluetooth connectivity with the vehicle, the WCD uploads to a cloud server its GPS location before the driver has been able to walk away from the vehicle an appreciable distance. The location is recorded and the driver subsequently can use its WCD to communicate with the server to obtain map information showing the current location of the WCD and the location recorded at the separation event, so that the driver knows the location of her vehicle relative to her current location.

Method and apparatus for finding a lost vehicle

A television (TV) includes a display and a processor controlling the display and receiving signals representing human gestures. The processor is programmed to respond to gestures from a first viewer to control the display. Also, the processor is programmed to respond to gestures from a second viewer to control the display only responsive to a determination that the first viewer has both looked toward the second viewer, and that the first viewer has confirmed, as a separate act from looking toward the second viewer, a desire to transfer control of the TV to the second viewer.

In certain implementations, a method of automatically changing an attribute defining operation of a television system involves determining that a plurality of short range radio frequency (RF) transceiver devices have entered RF range of the television system, the television system having a short range RF transceiver compatible with that of the short range RF transceiver device; binding the short range RF transceiver devices to the television set to establish an identity (ID) for the short range RF transceiver devices; determining a priority of each of the plurality of identified short range RF devices; at the television system, looking up a functional attribute associated with the identity having the highest priority; and setting the television parameter according to an attribute associated with a short range RF device having highest priority. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

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San Diego, CA, United States of America

David George Thiele