Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Palm, Incorporated

Paul Cousineau

William B Rees

Thomas Benton Bridgwater

Jeffrey Charles Hawkins

Robert Yuji Haitani

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for managing power states in a personal computing device, while maintaining a perception by the user of 'instant on' functionality. In various embodiments of the invention, the power states are presented to the user as a simple on/off option and the power management protocol is not visible within the user interface of the personal computing device thereby providing the user with the impression that the system is operating with a simple binary on/off protocol. In one embodiment of the invention, the personal computing device is operable to transition between a set of power states that include: 1) an 'on' power state wherein the display is on and the customer can use all input devices; 2) a &#x201c;ready&#x201d; state wherein the display is turned off, but some modules, such as a radio module, remain on; 3) an &#x201c;off&#x201d; state wherein the personal computing device turns off after a slight pause, but a &#x201c;booted kernel&#x201d; is held in SDRAM; and 4) a &#x201c;dead&#x201d; state wherein none of the modules of the personal computing device are powered and the device must be cold booted to restart.

Management of power states in a portable computing device

A computing navigation mechanism includes a scroll wheel integrated below a keyboard layout for navigation of applications displayed on a computer screen. In one embodiment, the scroll wheel is configured to direct movement in response to a context of interaction with an application visible as active on the computer screen. The scroll wheel includes intra-element scrolling for moving content within a window of the application and for moving between items within a menu of the application and inter-element scrolling for moving between enabled links in the application. Intra-element scrolling may include pane scrolling to move content in the first direction or the second direction within the window pane of an application. It also may include selection scrolling to incrementally select between items in a menu list in a menu. In addition, inter-element scrolling comprises item scrolling, which incrementally moves between links within applications such as a web browser.

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Burlingame, CA, United States of America

Paul Cousineau