U.S. patent application number 13/964908 was filed with the patent office on 2014-02-13 for wearable communication device.
This patent application is currently assigned to SilverPlus, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is SilverPlus, Inc.. Invention is credited to Jeffrey Hsieh, Stanley Kinsey, Dennis Kwan, Suresh Singamsetty.
Application Number | 20140045463 13/964908 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50066556 |
Filed Date | 2014-02-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140045463 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hsieh; Jeffrey ; et
al. |
February 13, 2014 |
Wearable Communication Device
Abstract
Wearable communication devices, e.g. implemented in a watch,
using short range communication e.g. to a cell phone allow a user
to talk and listen, place and answer calls, send and receive text
messages, initiate voice commands to mobile search for information
and find locations, and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and
events, all while a phone is nearby but not visible. Notification
is performed with vibration, an LED light or OLED text display of
incoming calls, texts, and calendar events. It allows communicating
hands-free. The watches can be directly connected to a smartphone
allowing using the watch as "remote control" for home appliances or
any other devices via voice and buttons. Motion sensors such as
accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope, together with audio
generation device can be used for gaming applications.
Inventors: |
Hsieh; Jeffrey; (Dove
Canyon, CA) ; Kwan; Dennis; (San Diego, CA) ;
Singamsetty; Suresh; (Aliso Viejo, CA) ; Kinsey;
Stanley; (Rancho Santa Fe, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SilverPlus, Inc. |
Irvine |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
SilverPlus, Inc.
Irvine
CA
|
Family ID: |
50066556 |
Appl. No.: |
13/964908 |
Filed: |
August 12, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61682804 |
Aug 14, 2012 |
|
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|
61682814 |
Aug 14, 2012 |
|
|
|
61681791 |
Aug 10, 2012 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
455/411 ;
455/414.1; 455/556.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 2250/12 20130101;
H04B 1/38 20130101; G04G 21/04 20130101; Y02D 70/142 20180101; G06F
1/163 20130101; H04M 1/0279 20130101; Y02D 70/164 20180101; Y02D
70/26 20180101; Y02D 70/1262 20180101; H04M 1/7253 20130101; Y02D
70/22 20180101; G06F 1/1643 20130101; Y02D 30/70 20200801; Y02D
70/144 20180101; H04W 88/06 20130101; G04G 21/06 20130101; Y02D
70/166 20180101; H04B 2001/3861 20130101; H04M 2250/02
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/411 ;
455/556.1; 455/414.1 |
International
Class: |
H04M 1/02 20060101
H04M001/02 |
Claims
1. A wearable communication device configured to talk and to
listen, place and answer calls, send and receive text messages,
initiate voice commands to mobile search for information and to
find locations, and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and
events, all while a mobile phone is nearby, comprising: a
near-field short distance wireless communication chipset, wherein
the near-field short distance wireless communication chipset is
used for communication with the phone; a speakerphone means
configured to make and receive phone calls via the mobile phone
comprising a microphone and a loudspeaker device and to accept
voice commands; and an alerting means to alert a user of the
wearable communication device to consider an action.
2. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the communication
device has also watch functions.
3. The communication device of claim 2 wherein the watch further
comprises analog watch movement.
4. The communication device of claim 2 wherein the watch has a
digital watch display.
5. The communication device of claim 2 wherein a time of day can be
adjusted by knob of the watch.
6. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the communication
device comprises two buttons.
7. The communication device of claim 6 wherein the two buttons are
programmable buttons.
8. The communication device of claim 7 wherein the two buttons are
configured via a web portal.
9. The communication device of claim 7 wherein the two buttons are
configured via a smartphone application.
10. The communication device of claim 7 wherein pre-programmed
configurations of the two buttons can be activated by duration of
pressing the buttons.
11. The communication device of claim 7 wherein the two buttons
comprise social, and/or messaging, and/or emergency, and/or further
functions.
12. The communication device of claim 12 wherein a top button
comprises: default functions comprising voice command activation,
activate phone call, receive phone call, terminate a phone call,
and pairing with the phone; social functions comprising reading and
sensing text messages; safety functions comprising start/stop
calling pre-programmed numbers; gaming and/or remote control
functions comprising start/stop 3D motion reporting; audio
functions comprising start/stop playing audio files; and recording
functions comprising activating voice recordings.
13. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the communication
device comprises voice recognition capability and a button of the
two buttons can be used for voice recognition activation.
14. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising a
display.
15. The communication device of claim 15 wherein the display is an
OLED display using an RGB LED light.
16. The communication device of claim 15 wherein the display is a
one-line digital display.
17. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the near-field
short distance wireless communication chipset is a chipset of a
short distance wireless communication technology.
18. The communication device of claim 18 wherein the near-field
short distance wireless communication chipset comprises a regular
chip of the short distance wireless communication technology and/or
a low energy chip of the short distance wireless communication
technology, wherein both are used for communication to a phone or a
to a smart phone or another device capable of the same a short
distance wireless communication technology.
19. The communication device of claim 17 wherein the near-field
short distance wireless communication chipset allows a bump-type
feature to transfer data from the phone to the watch.
20. The communication device of claim 17 wherein the connection to
the mobile phone is performed by the chipset using no-code pairing
system according to a related protocol wherein this protocol allows
a user to easily and rapidly pair a wearable communication device
and a mobile phone without having the user entering a passcode and
wherein pairing is done only once to allow connections between the
communication device and the mobile phone
21. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the speakerphone
means comprises echo cancellation and is configured to
making/receiving phone calls
22. The communication device of claim 1 wherein said loudspeaker
device comprises a piezo speaker.
23. The communication device of claim 1 wherein said communication
device further comprises means to support gaming applications.
24. The communication device of claim 23 wherein the means to
support gaming applications comprise a magnetometer and a gyroscope
together with an audio generating device.
25. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising a
processor wherein the processor controls the operation of the
communication device comprising the speakerphone means, a vibration
motor, movement sensing means comprising a 3-axis accelerometer, a
magnetometer, a gyroscope, an infra-red proximity sensor, and a
touch sensor connected to a capacitive touch panel.
26. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the processor
further controls a watch function.
27. The communication device of claim 1 wherein a micro USB-port
provides power supply of the communication device which enables
charging of a main battery wherein the main battery provides power
to all components of the communication device requiring power.
28. The communication device of claim 27 wherein the main battery
is a rechargeable battery.
29. The communication device of claim 28 wherein the charging of
the main battery is performed wirelessly.
30. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising a motion
sensing means to initiate functions of the communication device by
moving the communication device.
31. The communication device of claim 30 wherein the communication
device is configured to perform multi-point motion sensing wherein
multiple similar devices are synchronized via star or mesh
network
32. The communication device of claim 1 wherein incoming call
alerts are provided via vibration, color LED and/or caller ID
display.
33. The communication device of claim 1 wherein the mobile phone is
a smartphone which is connected to Internet.
34. The communication device of claim 33 wherein the communication
device is directly connected to a smartphone application through a
chipset of a short distance wireless communication technology and
the smartphone is connected to the internet via Wi-Fi or mobile
phone networks.
35. A method to achieve a wearable communication device configured
for gaming applications, to talk and to listen, place and answer
calls, send and receive text messages, initiate voice commands to
mobile search for information and to find locations, and be
notified of incoming calls, texts, and events, all while a mobile
phone is nearby, comprising the steps of: (1) deploying a mobile
phone within reach of a near-field short distance wireless
communication chipset used for communication between the wearable
communication device and the mobile phone; (2) deploying the
near-field short distance wireless communication chipset in the
wearable communication device; (3) connecting the mobile phone to
the internet via Wi-Fi or to mobile phone networks; and (4)
deploying a speakerphone means in the wearable communication device
configured to make and receive phone calls via the mobile phone
comprising a microphone and a loudspeaker device and to accept
voice commands; and (5) deploying an alerting means to alert a user
of the wearable communication device to consider an action.
36. The method of claim 35 wherein the mobile phone is a smart
phone.
37. The method of claim 35 further comprising watch functions
deployed in the wearable communication device.
38. The method of claim 37 further comprising analog watch
movements.
39. The method of claim 37 further comprising a digital watch
display.
40. The method of claim 37 further comprising a time of day display
that can be adjusted by a knob of the watch.
41. The method of claim 35 further comprising two buttons deployed
on the communication device.
42. The method of claim 41 wherein the two buttons are programmable
buttons.
43. The method of claim 42 wherein the two buttons are configured
via a web portal.
44. The method of claim 42 wherein the two buttons are configured
via a smartphone application.
45. The method of claim 42 wherein pre-programmed configurations of
the two buttons can be activated by duration of pressing the one or
more buttons.
46. The method of claim 42 wherein the one or more buttons comprise
social, and/or messaging, and/or emergency, and/or further
functions.
47. The method of claim 42 wherein a top button comprises: default
functions comprising voice command activation, activate phone call,
receive phone call, terminate a phone call, and pairing with the
phone; social functions comprising reading and sensing text
messages; safety functions comprising start/stop calling
pre-programmed numbers; gaming and/or remote control functions
comprising start/stop 3D motion reporting; audio functions
comprising start/stop playing audio files; and recording functions
comprising activating voice recordings.
48. The method of claim 35 further comprising deploying voice
recognition capabilities wherein a button of one or more function
buttons can be used for voice recognition activation.
49. The method of claim 35 further comprising deploying a
display.
50. The method of claim 49 wherein the display is an OLED display
using an RGB LED light.
51. The method of claim 49 wherein the display is a one-line
digital display.
52. The method of claim 35 wherein the near-field short distance
wireless communication chipset is a chipset of a short distance
wireless communication technology.
53. The method of claim 52 wherein the near-field short distance
wireless communication chipset comprises a regular chip of the
short distance wireless communication technology and/or a low
energy chip of the short distance wireless communication
technology.
54. The method of claim 53 further comprising using the sensors in
home applications.
55. The method of claim 35 wherein the near-field short distance
wireless communication chipset allows a bump-type feature to
transfer data from the phone to the watch.
56. The method of claim 35 wherein the connection to the mobile
phone is performed by the chipset using no-code pairing system
according to a related protocol wherein this protocol allows a user
to easily and rapidly pair a wearable communication device and a
mobile phone without having the user entering a passcode and
wherein pairing is done only once to allow connections between the
communication device and the mobile phone
57. The method of claim 35 wherein the speakerphone means comprises
echo cancellation and is configured to making/receiving phone
calls
58. The method of claim 35 wherein said loudspeaker device
comprises a piezo speaker.
59. The method of claim 35 further comprising deploying means to
support gaming applications.
60. The method of claim 59 wherein the means to support gaming
applications comprise a magnetometer and a gyroscope together with
an audio generating device.
61. The method of claim 35 further comprising deploying a processor
wherein the processor controls the operation of the communication
device comprising the speakerphone means, a vibration motor, motion
sensing means comprising a 3-axis accelerometer, a magnetometer, a
gyroscope, an infra-red proximity sensor, and a touch sensor
connected to a capacitive touch panel.
62. The method of claim 61 wherein the processor further controls a
watch function.
63. The method of claim 35 further comprising deploying a micro
USB-port providing power supply of the communication device which
enables charging of a main battery wherein the main battery
provides power to all components of the communication device
requiring power.
64. The method of claim 63 wherein the main battery is a
rechargeable battery.
65. The method of claim 64 wherein the charging of the main battery
is performed wirelessly.
66. The method of claim 35 further comprising deploying a motion
sensing means to initiate functions of the communication device by
moving the communication device.
67. The method of claim 66 wherein the motion sensing means is
configured to perform multi-point motion sensing wherein multiple
similar devices are synchronized via star or mesh network
68. The method of claim 35 wherein incoming call alerts are
provided via vibration, color LED and/or caller ID display.
69. The method of claim 35 wherein the mobile phone is a smartphone
which is connected to Internet.
70. The method of claim 35 wherein the communication device is
directly connected to a smartphone application through a chipset of
a short distance wireless communication technology and the
smartphone is connected to the internet via Wi-Fi or mobile phone
networks.
Description
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent
application Ser. No. 61/682,804 filed Aug. 14, 2012, which is owned
by a common assignee, and which is herein incorporated by reference
in its entirety.
[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent
application Ser. No. 61/682,814 filed Aug. 14, 2012, which is owned
by a common assignee, and which is herein incorporated by reference
in its entirety.
[0003] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent
application Ser. No. 61/681,791 filed Aug. 10, 2012, which is owned
by a common assignee, and which is herein incorporated by reference
in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0004] (1) Field of the Disclosure
[0005] This disclosure relates generally to electronic mobile
devices and relates in particular to wearable communication devices
using short range communication to a cell phone or other portable
electronic device.
[0006] (2) Background of Disclosure
[0007] Notification watches are used for some time now, which can
receive information from portable electronic devices such as cell
phones. They notify a user when a mobile phone rings by a vibrating
or alerting for specific issues. They can pass through from the
mobile phone information such as emails, SMS, calendar events and
caller Ids.
SUMMARY
[0008] A principal object of the present disclosure is to allow use
of a wearable communication device, such as a watch (and
hereinafter referred to as, but not limited to, a watch) to talk,
listen, initiate voice commands, and be notified with vibration, an
LED light and OLED text display of incoming calls, texts, and
calendar events, all while a phone is nearby but not visible, such
as in a pocket or purse.
[0009] A further object of the present disclosure is to be notified
with vibration, an LED light and OLED text display of incoming
calls, texts, and calendar events, all without a phone being
visible.
[0010] A further object of the present disclosure is to put a
wearable Bluetooth communication device into a watch that would
connect to a cell phone.
[0011] A further object of the present disclosure is to achieve a
watch enabling a hands-free communication with a cell phone.
[0012] In accordance with the objects of this disclosure, a
wearable communication device configured to talk and to listen,
place and answer calls, send and receive text messages, initiate
voice commands to mobile search for information and to find
locations, and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and events,
all while a mobile phone is nearby has been achieved, firstly
comprising a display to show information, one or more function
buttons, and a near-field short distance wireless communication
chipset, wherein the near-field short distance wireless
communication chipset is used for communication with the phone.
Furthermore the wearable communication device comprises a
speakerphone means configured to make and receive phone calls via
the mobile phone comprising a microphone and a loudspeaker device
and to accept voice commands, an alerting means to alert a user of
the wearable communication device to consider an action, a movement
sensing means to initiate functions of the communication device by
moving the communication device, and a processor controlling
operation of the communication device.
[0013] In accordance with the objects of this disclosure a method
to achieve a wearable communication device configured to talk and
to listen, place and answer calls, send and receive text messages,
initiate voice commands to mobile search for information and to
find locations, and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and
events has been disclosed. The method disclosed comprises the steps
of: (1) deploying a mobile phone within reach of a near-field short
distance wireless communication chipset used for communication
between the wearable communication device and the mobile phone, (2)
deploying the near-field short distance wireless communication
chipset in the wearable communication device, (3) connecting the
mobile phone to the internet via Wi-Fi or to mobile phone networks,
and (4) configure the wearable communication device to enable to
talking and listening, placing and answering phone calls, sending
and receiving text messages, initiating voice commands to mobile
search for information and to find locations, and being notified of
incoming calls, texts, and events.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this
description, there is shown:
[0015] FIG. 1 shows a top view of an embodiment of a watch
disclosed.
[0016] FIG. 2 illustrates examples of connections between watch and
home appliances.
[0017] FIG. 3 shows the integration of the BT headset to the
watch.
[0018] FIG. 4 shows the main components of the watch.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure present
a wearable communication device, which can be, for example, a watch
(and hereinafter referred to, though not limited to, as a watch),
comprising functions enabling to talk and to listen, place and
answer calls, send and receive text messages, initiate voice
commands to mobile search for information and to find locations,
and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and events, all while a
phone is nearby but not visible, as when it is in the user's pocket
or purse or, in other words, within the reach of a near-field
communication short-distance wireless communication module of the
communication device for exchanging data.
[0020] Simple notification watches, in communication with a nearby
cell phone, exist in the art, but a disadvantage of them is that
they don't have the ability to actually answer, reply and connect
to a caller without having to look at the cell phone.
[0021] It is a challenge to designers of communication devices to
achieve a watch that allows a user to talk and to listen, place and
answer calls, send and receive text messages, initiate voice
commands to mobile search for information and to find locations,
and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and events, all while a
phone is in a pocket or purse.
[0022] FIG. 1 shows a top view of a preferred embodiment of the
disclosure. The watch 1 has an always-on analog watch movement.
Alternatively a digital watch display, instead of an analog clock,
can be used; there is no need to touch the screen to see the time.
The upper half shows the hands of an analog Quartz watch. The watch
comprises two physical buttons 3 and 4. Knob 2 can be used to
adjust the time of day. Button 3 is an upper command button; button
4 is a lower select button.
[0023] The buttons 3 and 4 are programmable buttons, configured by
the user via either (a) a web portal or (b) a smartphone
application. Pre-programmed configurations can include "social",
"messaging/tweet", or "emergency". Other pre-programmed
configurations are possible, such as for example: in idle state,
short press a button to activate voice recognition, long press to
call last number dialed, OR, short press to read new texts or
messages, long press to send new texts or messages.
[0024] The table below shows examples of such pre-programmed
configurations. The functions in the table are determined by the
state of the watch, together with the duration and number of times
the button is pressed:
TABLE-US-00001 TOP BUTTON BOTTOM BUTTON CONFIG FUNCTIONS FUNCTIONS
Default Voice command activation, Activate status display, make
call, receive call, volume control. terminate call, pairing with
phone. Social Read and send text Display new postings from messages
social websites: e.g., Facebook, twitter. Safety Start/stop calling
Call 911 pre-programmed numbers. Gaming/ Start/Stop 3D motion
Left/right mouse button remote reporting (for cursor control
control) Audio Start/stop playing music Volume control Record
Activate voice recording Terminate voice recording audio
[0025] The preferred embodiment has an OLED display and an RGB LED
light. Alternatively an LCD display, as e.g. one line LCD dot
matrix, can be used. The one-line digital display of FIG. 1 shows a
phone number because the most basic function is just to show the
number of an incoming call. It should be noted that the display can
also show alphanumeric messages, icons, and the like.
[0026] The communication is performed using a Bluetooth, or other
near-field short distance wireless communication technology, chip.
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for
exchanging data over short distances (using short-wavelength radio
transmissions in the ISM band from 2400-2480 MHz) from fixed and
mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs) with high
levels of security. It can connect several devices, overcoming
problems of synchronization. For example, a chip meeting the
specifications of Bluetooth 4.0 can be used, together with a
microphone and speaker. Speakerphone capabilities are built into
the watch such as echo cancellation and make/receive calls. In the
preferred embodiment a piezo speaker has been deployed. Other types
of speakers are possible as well.
[0027] The two buttons 3 and 4 control all functions of the
wearable communication device 1 other than setting time, which is
performed by knob 2. In one exemplary application, one button can
be used to activate voice recognition, and be used to, for example,
initiate a call, by the user speaking the command "call home".
[0028] In order to communicate an alert a vibrating motor is
deployed inside the watch. Furthermore the watch comprises a 3-axis
accelerometer.
[0029] Moreover motion sensors such as a magnetometer and
gyroscope, together with an audio generation device can be used for
gaming applications.
[0030] FIG. 4 shows a summary of the main components of the watch
and their interconnections. There is the watch 40 having an analog
or a digital display. The watch comprises two physical buttons 3
and 4. Knob 2 can be used to adjust the time of day. Button 3 is an
upper command button; button 4 is a lower select button.
Furthermore there is a one-line digital display 41, which can
display a phone number, alphanumeric messages, icons, and the like.
The display may be an LCD or an OLED display. Furthermore there may
be a LED 42 providing by different colors status information.
[0031] In the case of an analog watch display, the analog watch
movements may contain mechanisms for the watch hands to be adjusted
according to signals sent by the Processor 43. it may also contain
mechanisms for the hand positions to be sensed by the Processor.
The analog watch may therefore be set accurately by the Processor,
which receives time information over Bluetooth from the phone.
[0032] The processor 43 controls the operation of the watch
disclosed including a microphone 44, a speaker 45, a vibration
motor 500, motion sensors as a 3-axis accelerometer 46, a
magnetometer 47, a gyroscope 48, an IR proximity sensor 405, and a
touch sensor 406 connected to a capacitive touch panel 407.
[0033] Furthermore the processor 43 controls a Bluetooth (BT)
chipset 49 which may comprise a regular BT chip and/or a Bluetooth
low energy chip. Both used for communication to a phone, smartphone
or another BT-device 401.
[0034] Moreover a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip 402 can be
provided in the watch disclosed. It allows "bump"-type feature to
transfer data from a cell phone to the watch, for instance for
admission control, as used e.g. on subways in Taiwan, China, or
Tokyo subways to eliminate the need for a separate subway card.
[0035] For the power supply of the watch is a micro USB-port 403
provided, which enables charging of the main battery 404. The main
battery 404 provides power to all components of the watch requiring
power.
[0036] Multiple similar devices can be synchronized via star or
mesh network for multi-point motion sensing. For example, an
arm-swing movement detected can cause a punching sound to be
produced, in a "hand-combat" game. Two players may be networked
with their watches synchronized, and depending on the velocity and
3-D locations of the watches, may be playing against each other
with suitable sounds being generated to simulate the opponents
being hit. Another example may be simulation of musical instrument
sounds such as drum and guitar, and multiple players may engage in
generating sounds synchronized with their watch movements, in a
kind of "air-instruments" game, while background music is being
played.
[0037] In summary general features of the wearable communication
device for smartphones are that incoming Call Alerts are provided
via Vibration, RGB LED and Caller ID Display, Furthermore incoming
calls can be accepted or declined by a push of a button. Voice
communication (Talk and Listen) is performed by using the wearable
communication device's speaker and microphone. The connection to a
mobile phone is performed by Bluetooth wireless technology using
no-code pairing system according to the Bluetooth 4.0 protocol.
This protocol allows a user to easily and rapidly pair a wearable
communication device and a smartphone without having the user
entering a passcode. Pairing is done only once to allow connections
between the device and the phone
[0038] In a preferred embodiment of the invention a wearable
communication device of the present disclosure has about 3 hours of
talk time and 14 days of standby time.
[0039] Watch 1 can be directly connected to a smartphone
application through Bluetooth, and the smartphone can then
connected to the internet "cloud" via Wi-Fi or mobile networks such
as 3G or LTE.
[0040] Wi-Fi is a popular technology that allows an electronic
device to exchange data wirelessly (using radio waves) over a
computer network, including high-speed Internet connections. The
Wi-Fi Alliance defines Wi-Fi as any "wireless local area network
(WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards.
[0041] Cloud computing is the delivery of computing and storage
capacity as a service to a community of end-recipients. The name
comes from the use of a cloud-shaped symbol as an abstraction for
the complex infrastructure it contains in system diagrams. Cloud
computing entrusts services with a user's data, software and
computation over a network. Using Cloud Software as a service,
users rent application software and databases. The cloud providers
manage the infrastructure and platforms on which the applications
run.
[0042] This allows using the watch as "remote control" for home
appliances, other home devices, or any other devices via voice and
buttons. The connection would be:
[0043] watch--->phone (via Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi?)-->IT
network-->appliances.
[0044] FIG. 2 illustrates these connections between watch and
appliances using Bluetooth between watch and smartphone, using
Wi-Fi between smartphone and a home Wi-Fi router, and using Wi-Fi
or another communication protocol as e.g. Ethernet between the home
Wi-Fi router and a home appliance as e.g. refrigerator, heating, or
air-conditioner.
[0045] Another function built in the watch 1 is a GPS--or Global
Positioning System--processor. This GPS processor can be used e.g.
for sports and fitness, such as to track a route when hiking,
running, record-keeping--and other movement tracking
applications.
[0046] FIG. 3 shows the integration of the BT headset to the watch.
FIG. 3 shows the BT headset 30 including one or two ear buds with a
small speaker 31 and a microphone 32. The BT headset 30 is
connected to the main speaker 33 of the watch and to the main
battery 34 of the watch. A small battery 35 may be incorporated
into the BT headset 30.
[0047] Another embodiment of the watch 1 integrates a Bluetooth
(BT) headset. This headset could be implemented, as shown in FIG.
3, additionally to a watch having speaker and microphone in the
watch body, or could be implemented instead incorporating a speaker
and microphone in the watch body. The BT headset may be removable
and separately powered, so that if, for example, the watch battery
dies, or for the reason of privacy, the BT headset can be used. One
embodiment of the watch integrates both a microphone/speaker and
also a removable Bluetooth speaker ear bud. When the Bluetooth
speaker ear bud is removed, the speaker switches from the watch to
the ear bud. When replaced in the watch, the ear bud recharges and
audio goes back to the watch known in the art typically have a
quartz movement and are powered by a small battery. An analog
embodiment of the watch can be integrated with Bluetooth features
such that the same rechargeable battery drives both the analog
watch and electronic components. Furthermore a rechargeable battery
could shut down with a fixed percentage of power remaining to allow
the analog watch to continue to operate for a greater length of
time even though other electronic functions are shut down.
[0048] An analog watch with LED light may signal whether an alert
is for an incoming call, text, or other purpose. The LED may be
tri-(RGB) or multi-color, with each color signifying different
types of information--text, email, voice mail, reminder, and social
and the like.
[0049] Furthermore the watch is capable to transfer data sets as
e.g. a contact list from one phone to another phone.
[0050] Moreover application program interfaces (API's) are provided
to control the watch as e.g. to set the display on the watch, to
read peripheral components as e.g. gyroscope, accelerometer, or
magnetometer data, or to play/record audio using the speaker of the
communication device as, and a smart phone.
[0051] The watch allows also reading sensor data using BLE
(Bluetooth Low Energy), and sending the sensor data to applications
on a smartphone via Bluetooth communication.
[0052] It is also possible to remotely re-configure the watch to
multi-display format, i.e. to configure different language fonts,
font sizes, graphical icons, orientations, and combinations
thereof--all on one display.
[0053] Moreover additional features for the communication with
smartphones are provided. These features include accessing a
connected phone's Voice Command functions, allowing a user to place
Calls, to send Voice-to-Text SMS messages, to listen to Text
messages, to set calendar notifications, and to use all other voice
command functions for controlling music, searching the web, setting
reminders and appointments, etc.
[0054] Furthermore incoming Text messages and Calendar entries are
alerted via vibration, blue LED and caller ID Display. Other colors
for incoming text messages or voice calls can be used as well.
Incoming notifications can be processed, such as for popular web-
or phone-based applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Weather,
Foursquare, Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo Mail, and the like.
[0055] In another embodiment, a wireless leash option can be
provided, notifying the user via the watch when the user's phone is
inadvertently left behind and goes out of range of the watch.
[0056] The wearable communication device is enabled to support
following smart-phone functions. They can be executed by the
communication device if they are supported by the smart phone also.
These functions comprise voice command functions allowing a user to
place Calls, to send Voice-to-Text SMS messages, to listen to Text
messages, to set Calendar notifications, and use all other voice
command functions for controlling music, searching the web, setting
reminders and appointments, etc.
[0057] While the disclosure has been particularly shown and
described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it
will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes
in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit
and scope of the disclosure.
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