Apple Inc.

Paul Orri Lazarescu

Daniel H Goodman

Adithya Raghavan

Devices, using emitted acoustic signals and received vibrations, determine resonant frequencies of a surface or other object, and determine useful information about that surface, including size, thickness, and material. Received vibrations include impulse vibrations from striking that surface with a finger or stylus, or from a frequency or from a swept-sinusoid emitted by the device. The device can adjust its frequency output to use the surface as an amplifier for alarms or speakers, or a center frequency for sonic output. Using an accelerometer, devices sense impulse vibrations, translating those impulses into information, such as keystrokes, game controls, mice, or musical instrument controls. Devices can emulate keyboards and input devices using tabletops. Devices can coordinate signals through multiple media, including air, surface, or EMF channels.

Frequency sensing and magnification of portable device output

The described embodiments relate generally to portable computing devices such as notebook computers and more particularly to failsafe mechanisms designed to prevent electrical shorts in the event that a portable computing device comes in contact with a liquid. A plurality of liquid sensors can be positioned within a computing device and electrically coupled to a controller. The controller can respond to varying amounts of liquid by immediately decoupling the system electronics from the power supply, performing a controlled shut-down of the computing device, or taking no action. In some embodiments, the controller can also limit the ability of a user to reactivate the computing device following a spill until any remaining liquids are removed from the computing device.

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Irvine, CA, United States of America

Paul Orri Lazarescu