A method includes displaying information associated with a first application on a touch-sensitive display, detecting a touch on a touch-sensitive display and determining touch attributes, determining when the touch is a first gesture type based on the touch attributes, and when the touch is determined to be the first gesture type, forwarding information related to the touch to a second application, otherwise forwarding the information related to the touch to the first application.

Portable electronic device and method of controlling same

A system and method-are directed towards providing a user interface (21) for controlling a communication mode for a client device (103). The interface enables user to set a presence and/or a communicaiton mode, which the client device communicates to other devices directly or via an intermidiary server (106). The presence generally reflects the user's availability, communication capability, desire to communicate, and the like. The presence can be directly or indirectly associated with the communicaiton mode, which can comprise SMS, IM, email, voice, and the like, The interface includes a contact list and enables the user to select a mode to communicate with a contact. The communication modes associated with each contact can also be incorporated into and displayed (21 in an email address book. This interface also indicates the communication mode of each incoming and outgoing (228) message conversations with one or more other client devices.

Multimodal interface for mobile messaging

An intelligent home automation system answers questions of a user speaking “natural language” located in a home. The system is connected to, and may carry out the user's commands to control, any circuit, object, or system in the home. The system can answer questions by accessing the Internet. Using a transducer that “hears” human pulses, the system may be able to identify, announce and keep track of anyone entering or staying in the home or participating in a conversation, including announcing their identity in advance. The system may interrupt a conversation to implement specific commands and resume the conversation after implementation. The system may have extensible memory structures for term, phrase, relation and knowledge, question answering routines and a parser analyzer that uses transformational grammar and a modified three hypothesis analysis. The parser analyzer can be dormant unless spoken to. The system has emergency modes for prioritization of commands.

Intelligent home automation

Method and apparatus for previewing new events in a computing device having a plurality of applications for managing respective events are described. Applications are represented.by application icons on a screen of a graphical user interface. In response to a new event of a one of the applications, the application's icon is visually modified to notify of the new event. A visual modification may be determined in response to the new event, for example, to preview a content of the event. The visual modification may include a count of all new events that remain to be disposed. On a selection of the visually modified icon, additional previewing may be provided. Activation of the application having a visually modified icon may be configured to automatically initiate, the application at the new event.

Previewing a new event on a small screen device

A stand-alone icon (i.e., an icon that is not part of an application interface) is provided to facilitate communications across a network between users of at least one communications program. The icon represents a contact or a set of contacts. Status information regarding the contact or set of contacts is received and displayed using the icon or in response to an operation performed on the icon. The icon additionally may provide an interface for performing actions related to the contact or set of contacts. The actions may generally include, for example, retrieving profile information about the contact, setting an alert to indicate that the contact's network/login status (e.g., login, logout, or idle) has changed, or performing communications with the contact.

Facilitating communications between computer users across a network

A user interface on a display enables user perception of information regarding a communications session that leverages an instant messaging platform. The user interface includes an instant messaging application user interface and one or more tear-off elements corresponding to ongoing instant messaging communications sessions. Each tear-off element is configured to enable perception and selection by a user of a corresponding instant messaging communications session. Also, each tear-off element is configured to be independently visually separated from other elements of the instant messaging application user interface and maintained as a separate entity on the instant messaging application user interface.

Instant messaging interface having a tear-off element

A user interface that enables user perception of status regarding communications that leverage an instant messaging platform may be rendered on a display. The user interface includes an instant messaging application user interface that enables perception and selection of instant messages for an instant messaging user, and a status indicator that provides a perceivable indication to the user of statistics regarding concurrent instant messaging sessions.

IM conversation counter and indicator

An interface enables perception of information regarding e-mail communications. The interface includes an e-mail application user interface that enables perception of e-mail message information for one or more e-mails received by an e-mail participant and that enables active display of one or more of the received e-mails selected by the e-mail participant, The interface also includes a mechanism that determines a request for e-mail message information for one of the e-mails from within a desired e-mail message that is not actively displayed. The interface further includes an informational tool tip that provides a temporary perceivable indication to the e-mail participant of at least a portion of the requested information for the desired e-mail message while maintaining active display of the one or more selected e-mails.

E-mail interface having an informational tool tip

An interface enables perception of information regarding a communications session that leverages an instant messaging platform. The user interface includes an instant messaging application user interface that enables perception and selection of instant messaging communications sessions for an instant messaging user, a mechanism to determine the content from within a desired instant messaging session that is not actively displayed, and an informational tool tip that provides a perceivable indication to the user of at least a portion of the determined content of the desired instant messaging session.

James Andrew Canfield

Papers

Instant messaging interface having a tear-off element

IM conversation counter and indicator

E-mail interface having an informational tool tip

Instant messaging interface having an informational tool tip

Interface for displaying electronic communications