Apple Inc.

Quality Semiconductor Inc.

Leo Lee

Michael Dale Lampell

Alan Dale Berfield

Eric Snider

David Makower

Pavel V Dudrenov

John S Baumgarten

Francois-Yves Bertrand

Sugam Jain

Hung T Nguyen

Jason N Gould

François-Yves Bertrand

Marin Eubanks

Jennifer U Song

Saman Vafaee

This application relates to a client-server architecture that enables progress tracking related to assignments generated by an instructor. A hand-out can include attachments that specify placeholders for hand-ins and/or activities to be performed by the student as part of the assignment. Some activities can be performed using third-party applications that implement at least a portion of a software framework that causes the applications to generate progress tracking information provided to a daemon executing in the background of a client device. The daemon and/or a client application interface with one or more network services to enable an instructor to utilize the progress tracking information. The network services can include a hand-out service utilized to generate hand-outs assigned to a group of students. The network services can also include a progress pipeline including a number of services configured to process progress tracking information received from a plurality of client devices.

Software framework for progress tracking in a classroom setting

Generic media covers can be generated for digital media items submitted by publishers without a personalized media cover. A generic media cover can be generated for a media item by hashing a unique identifier of the media item that remains consistent throughout the life cycle of the media item. Bytes of the hashed value can be translated into graphic parameters which are used to generate the generic graphic. The graphic parameters can be attached to the generic graphic, thus allowing a user to regenerate the generic graphic at a desired resolution at a later point in time. Also disclosed are techniques for ensuring that generic media covers for a bundle of media items appear substantially similar.

Generic media covers

Techniques for providing input to interactive and multitasking applications are disclosed. A game input area (surface or plane) receives input for multiple applications including an interactive application executed in connection with a scene. The input received is directed to the appropriate application based on one or more locations (e.g., points, positions, regions, portions) of the input area effectively identified when input is received (or entered). In addition, the manner in which input is received (or entered) can be used to determine which application should receive the input. The input area can additionally resemble or approximate the shape of a scene (e.g., game scene) to allow a person to provide input in a more intuitive way. Accordingly, input can be provided in a simple and more intuitive manner by effectively allowing the user to interact with the input area in a way that mimics or approximates a desired action (e.g., moving a ball or bat around by inputting a rotational movement). Examples of such interaction include positional, directional (e.g., rotational), press or pressure input (or movement) which can easily be provided by a thumb or a finger, for example, on a touch screen.

Techniques for interactive input to portable electronic devices

A mixed-mode, overvoltage tolerant input buffer for interfacing to a tristate bus line is disclosed, the input buffer having a bus hold feature for maintaining the state of the input buffer output and bus line when the bus line enters into the tristate mode, the input buffer being capable of suppressing leakage currents from the bus input through the bus hold circuit to the input buffer power supply during overvoltage conditions. The bus hold circuit has a feedback inverter coupled between the output and the bus input for providing a stabilizing feedback signal to the bus input, the inverter being powered by a source voltage which is selectively coupled to the input buffer power supply, the source voltage being isolated from the input buffer power supply during overvoltage conditions.

Mixed mode CMOS input buffer with bus hold

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Hercules, CA, United States of America

Leo Lee