Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Rovi Technologies Corporation

Rosanna H Ho

Darren Alexander Apfel

Sandra Irene Vargas

Keith Lindsey Rowe

Peter Andrew Bernard

Matthew Justin Von Bencke

Jonathan David Friedman

Jon Friedman

Justin Michael Maguire

Matthew James Schoenholz

Michael J Kruzeniski

Brian M Wilson

Paula Guntaur

Chad A Voss

Michael A Smuga

Michael K Henderlight

Stephanie E Teng

Kenneth Paul Hinckley

Michael Jack Sinclair

Joel Bernard Jacobs

Patrick Markus Baudisch

Avi R Geiger

David Henry Wykes

Georg F Petschnigg

Imran I Qureshi

Eric Peter Wilfrid

John E Tafoya

Hannes Helmut Ruescher

David Paul Gorbet

Robert L Parker

Cathleen G Harris

Marc R Keller

Albert Yiu-So Shum

Brendan G Busch

Susan Grabau

In implementations of creating a communication group, a mobile device can receive a selection to enable communication of location information between devices that correspond to entities from a group of entities associated with a user of the mobile device. The mobile device can receive location information that describes a physical location or proximity of the devices that correspond to the entities, and present in a user interface on a display device, a visual representation that indicates at least one of the entities is at a location within a pre-set distance of the mobile device. A communication group can be created that includes the entities selected from the group of entities associated with the user of the mobile device. The mobile device can also communicate the location information of the mobile device to all of the devices that correspond to the entities as a group communication based on the communication group.

Creating a communication group

This document describes tools capable of differentiating a superset of entities from which a user may receive current updates effective to provide current updates for only some of the entities of the superset. In one embodiment, for example, the tools enable a user of a mobile device to select a set of entities from which the user will automatically receive updates that are current, easily accessible, and visible at-a-glance. The tools may forgo providing current updates for entities that are not selected by the user, though the tools may provide these updates when explicitly requested by the user or at particular times or events.

Current updates

This document describes tools capable of enabling users of mobile communication devices to create communication groups quickly and easily. With such a communication group a user may call, text, or instant message all persons in the group at once by selecting the communication group rather than each person in the group. In one embodiment, the tools enable a user to build a communication group by dragging and dropping indicators for persons he or she knows from one area of a screen into another area. In another embodiment, the tools automatically collect persons from those that the user knows based on one or more criteria. The user may then easily create a communication group of those collected persons, such as by tapping on an area of a mobile device's display.

Location-based display characteristics in a user interface are described. In an implementation, a determination is made by mobile communications device that icon is to be displayed at a particular location in the user interface. A display characteristic is applied by the mobile communications device that is defined for the particular location such that a display of the icon is changed. The icon is displayed having an applied display characteristic on the display device of the mobile communications device at the particular location in the user interface.

Location-based display characteristics in a user interface

Location based display characteristics in a user interface

In an example embodiment, a method is adapted to tracking input with a device. The method includes an act of monitoring and acts of activating and displaying if a touch input is detected. The device has a first side and a second side, with the second side opposite the first side. The device has a display screen disposed on the first side, and a screen-reflective interface disposed on the second side. Respective positions on the screen-reflective interface correspond to respective locations of the display screen. The screen-reflective interface of the device is monitored. If a touch input is detected on the screen-reflective interface, the device performs acts of activating and displaying. Specifically, a tracking state is activated for the screen-reflective interface responsive to the detected touch input on the screen-reflective interface. The interface icon is displayed on the display screen to indicate that the tracking state has been activated.

Tracking input in a screen-reflective interface environment

A method and system for automatically adding graphics to a document to illustrate concepts referred to therein is provided. The method and system selects an instance of graphics illustrating concepts expressed by an input word in the document from among instances of graphics, at least a portion of which have associated with them one or more words characterizing their subject. The method and system further utilizes a list of words, each representing a concept. The method and system first determines whether the input word is among the list of words that each represent a concept. If the input word is among the list of words that each represent a concept, the method and system identifies an instance of graphics having associated with it the input word. The method and system then selects the identified instance of graphics.

Method and system for automatically adding graphics to a document to

A presentation system having a control window that may be invoked while the presentation system is in a slide-show mode. The control window may be displayed on a monitor, in front of a slide, within the boundary of the slide, and without resizing the slide, while the presentation system remains in the slide-show mode. The control window has the appearance of a file folder including an edit field and three tabs that may be selected to invoke three different control functions. The control functions selectively invoked by these tabs allow the user to effectively interact with the content of a slide presentation during the course of the presentation. The three tabs are notes pages tab, meeting minutes tab, and action items tab. Selecting the notes pages tab causes speaker's note associated with the current slide to be displayed in the control window. Selecting the meeting minutes tab allows the user to record a contemporaneous note during the course of the presentation. Selecting the action items tab allows the user to create new slides that are automatically appended to the end of the slide presentation. The font size of an action-item slide may be automatically adjusted, and a topic item may be moved from one action items slide to another, to avoid presenting a single 'orphan' topic item on the last action-item slide.

Method and system for interacting with the content of a slide

A method and system for selecting a color for display in a computer system. The present invention provides a color picker that displays the available colors in a honeycomb with an overall shape of a hexagon ('hexagonal honeycomb'). The color picker fills each cell of the honeycomb with a distinct color. The color picker fills each cell at a corner of the hexagonal honeycomb with certain colors and the center cell of the hexagonal honeycomb with a gray scale color. The other cells are filled with colors that are based approximately on their distance from the corner cells. The color picker also displays a second honeycomb that contains gray scale colors. A user then uses a mouse to select a cell of either honeycomb that contains the desired color.

Method and system for selecting a color value using a hexagonal honeycomb

A presentation transport system is provided that transfers a slide presentation from a source computer to a destination computer in such a manner as to ensure that the presentation will look and operate in the manner in which it was intended on the destination computer. In order to provide this functionality, the presentation transport system packs up the presentation on the source computer, including the link sources for the presentation, stores the presentation and the link sources onto a transfer medium, and unpacks the presentation and the link sources after it has been transferred to the destination computer. During this process, the links contained in the presentation are maintained so that when the presentation is displayed on the destination computer, the links are operational. Additionally, the fonts used by the presentation are transferred by the presentation transport system so as to ensure that when the presentation is displayed, the correct fonts are used. Further, the presentation transport system allows the user to package a viewer with the presentation so as to ensure that there is a means for displaying the presentation after it has been transferred to the destination computer.

Method and system for transferring a slide presentation between computers

Growing community of inventors

Kirkland, WA, United States of America

Rosanna H Ho