Did You Know...
...that while attempting to develop a super strong glue, 3M employee Spencer Silver accidentally developed a glue that was so weak it would barely hold two pieces of paper together? However, his colleague Art Fry needed the glue. Fry sang with his church choir and marked the pages of his hymnal with small scraps of paper that often fell out. He used Silver's glue to hold the papers in place. Today we call this invention Post-it Notes.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8166514 | Hardware module for adding functionality to television using mechanical and wireless links A set-box (SBB) is advanced into a receptacle on the rear of a TV to add functionality to the TV. Digital video information is conveyed from the SBB to the TV using respective HDMI connectors on the SBB and TV that mechanically engage each other, whereas bi-directio... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8146132 | Device registration using a wireless home entertainment hub A method of managing a power state of devices in a home entertainment system using a wireless home entertainment hub comprises obtaining a registration of a plurality of devices, where the plurality of devices includes at least one sink device and at least one sourc... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8037509 | Signal processing system and method, signal processing apparatus and method, recording medium, and program According to one aspect of the invention, when an algorithm bay is connected to a signal processing apparatus according to a first connection mode, a selector of the algorithm bay selects and sets a first function provided by a first function provider as the signal ... | 10/11/2011 |
| 7992187 | System and method of dual-screen interactive digital television Disclosed is a system and method of dual-screen interactive digital television (IDTV), which is implemented by applying modality-independent remote console technology. The system has two ends, referred to as host IDTV and handheld device. The host IDTV includes a ho... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7937742 | Broadcasting receiving apparatus and control method for receiving audio/video signals and additional audio signal for outputting to an external device A broadcasting receiving apparatus includes: a signal receiving unit which receives a first signal and a second signal different from the first signal; a signal processing unit which processes the first and second signals; a communication unit which communicates wit... | 05/03/2011 |
| 7904939 | Methods, systems, and products for automated control of devices Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for automated control of devices. A tag is received with Electronic Programming Guide data, and the tag includes control data. The tag is stripped from the Electronic Programming Guide data and communicated to a device. | 03/08/2011 |
| 7886333 | In-vehicle recording/reproduction device, recording/reproduction device, recording/reproduction system, and recording/reproduction method An in-vehicle recording/reproduction device (121) records in a recording device a program which the user starts watching, and reads and reproduces the data when watching is permitted, such as, for example, when a vehicle is stopped. The in-vehicle recording/r... | 02/08/2011 |
| 7840991 | In-theatre interactive entertainment system In-theater interactive entertainment system. A game server generates video content in digital form and is displayed on a digital display in a theater. A telephony system is connected to the game server enabling a group of individual game participants in the theater ... | 11/23/2010 |
| 7805751 | Automatic reconfiguration device The present invention provides a method and device that can easily configure an entertainment system automatically or semi-automatically. The reconfiguration of the entertainment system can be achieved by cycling through the possible configurations of the entertainm... | 09/28/2010 |
| 7793332 | Signal processing apparatus and methods A unified system of programming communication. The system encompasses the prior art (television, radio, broadcast hardcopy, computer communications, etc.) and new user specific mass media. Within the unified system, parallel processing computer systems, each having ... | 09/07/2010 |
| 7757267 | Method for delivering cable channels to handheld devices A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture provide the ability to broadcast premium video programming. Thus, once premium video programming is received, it is encoded into the vertical blanking interval and unused/non-interfering Active lines found in a typical... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7657922 | Dynamic digital recording Dynamic digital recording is described. A client device is configured to include digital recording capabilities. The digital recording capabilities are automatically enabled when recording media is connected to the client device, and the digital recording capabiliti... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7617518 | Information storage medium storing a plurality of titles, reproducing apparatus and method thereof An information storage medium on which a plurality of titles are recorded, and a reproducing apparatus and method thereof. The information storage medium includes a plurality of titles which are reproduced as motion pictures and a plurality of units of attribute inf... | 11/10/2009 |
| 7610609 | Network system and electronic device A network system has a plurality of electronic devices connected to a network. At least one of the electronic devices receives a broadcast signal including data relating to an electronic device. The network system has a processing circuit that collates data containe... | 10/27/2009 |
| 7594255 | Television receiver and display control method thereof A television receiver which allows a user to view at least an image of a broadcast program, includes a first display unit adapted to display a video of a broadcast program upon selection of a first channel, a second display unit adapted to display a slide show that ... | 09/22/2009 |
| 7461394 | Information processing apparatus connected to home TV set in use An information processing apparatus includes man-machine interface, a semiconductor memory and an information processor. The semiconductor memory is configured by an application software contents portion, an application software engine, an operating system, an infor... | 12/02/2008 |
| 7433070 | Home printing from internet sources Internet-based printing to a home printer in which the print job is pre-rasterized at the cable head end and sent in rasterized format to the set top box. Because the print job is pre-rasterized at the cable head end, and not at the set top box, resources are not wa... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7409703 | Method and system for efficient storage of data in a set top box A method, system and computer program product for efficient storage of data for use by an application, including a set top box. The set top box including a physical memory, a bulk storage device, and a memory management unit (MMU) coupled between the application and... | 08/05/2008 |
| 7382784 | Apparatus and method for switching broadcast channel using VCC information An optical transmission network is disclosed that classifies digital broadcast channel data according to virtual channel connection (VCC) before transmission. In the optical transmission network, an optical signal receiver converts an optical signal from an optical ... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7360235 | Systems and methods for operating a peripheral record/playback device in a networked multimedia system Systems and methods are disclosed of a network including a primary device, a plurality of remote devices, and a shared peripheral device. The network allows the remote devices to operate the peripheral device, such as a DVD player, VCR, or camcorder, via the primary... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7360077 | Production line boot sector lock Hacking of a class of Set-Top Boxes known as Integrated Receiver-Decoders (IRDs) used to receive satellite broadcasts for display on television sets is prevented by use of connections to the reprogramming enable pin of a flash memory. If a user attempts to reprogram... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7360236 | Data reception apparatus, data communication apparatus, information presentation apparatus, television control apparatus, data reception method, data communication method, information presentation method, and television control method A memory stores data supplied to each of a plurality of users via a communication network. A verification unit identifies a user. A reading unit reads data supplied to the user identified by the verification unit from the memory, and presents the data to the user. | 04/15/2008 |
| 7346920 | System, method and article of manufacture for a common cross platform framework for development of DVD-Video content integrated with ROM content A method for providing enhanced content for play across multiple play platforms employs steps of delivering media content to a client device; delivering HTML content to a client device, the HTML content being accessible and usable by a plurality of client device pla... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7337461 | CATV system provided with a digital broadcasting receiving unit and a bilateral remote controller A digital broadcasting transmitting unit multiplexes a content exclusively used for remote controller in addition to contents of programs A and B and transmits the multiplexed contents. A digital broadcasting receiving unit separates the multiplexed contents and tra... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7336775 | Image storage apparatus, image storage supporting apparatus, image storage system, image management apparatus and image saving apparatus An image storage system includes: an image storage apparatus; and a supporting apparatus. And the image storage apparatus includes an input unit to which image information is input, a first communication unit, a management unit that executes management so that the i... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7337463 | Displaying heterogeneous video Heterogeneous video may be independently encoded in a processor-based system and transmitted for display on a display device. In the display device, the independent video streams may be de-packetized for display on the same display at different frame rates. Thus, ea... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7327108 | System and methods for automatically moving access barriers initiated by mobile transmitter devices An operator system and related methods for automatically controlling access barriers which includes a base controller associated with at least one access barrier and at least one base receiver associated with the base controller. The system also includes at least on... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7327107 | System and methods for automatically moving access barriers initiated by mobile transmitter devices An operator system and related methods for automatically controlling access barriers which includes a base controller associated with at least one access barrier and at least one base receiver associated with the base controller. The system also includes at least on... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7324168 | Universal remote control unit A universal remote control unit for controlling the operation of a plurality of devices such as a cable box, a television, a video device, and an audio device, includes a processor having a plurality of operating modes. In one embodiment the universal remote control... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7321763 | Communication terminal receiving connection information from a cellular phone and communication system including such a communication terminal The communication terminal and a communication system is capable of eliminating necessity of complicated setting inputs related to communication in a communication terminal in performing dial-up connection to a communication apparatus on a network from the communica... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7313811 | Optical conversion device A residential gateway (RG) for distributing video, data and telephony services to multiple devices within a residence is disclosed. The RG receives signals from a telecommunications network, converts the signals to formats compatible with the multiple devices, and t... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7310808 | Method of and apparatus for supporting and enabling the selection and mixing of multiple streams of audio/video data from multiple sources within a receiving device allowing external control A method of and apparatus for supporting and enabling the selection and mixing of multiple input data streams from multiple sources within a receiving device allowing external control includes a receiving device, a control device and one or more source devices. The ... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7305691 | System and method for providing targeted programming outside of the home A system and method for providing targeted programming to a user outside of the user's home. The method of receiving at least one of a user identification and a user profile, selecting a program based at least in part on the at least one of the user identification a... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7303471 | Method and system for transferring data to an electronic toy or other electronic device A method for transferring data from a display device to an electronic device includes displaying a visual pattern on the display device. The visual pattern represents the data being transferred. In the electronic device, the visual pattern is received and processed ... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7305694 | Method and apparatus for remotely controlling a receiver according to content and user selection System and method for automatically controlling a media receiver by instructing the media receiver to use a particular receiver connection and to play a selected media unit using one of a plurality of play modes according to characteristics of the media unit. Media ... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7302239 | Wireless receiving device A wireless receiving device of the present invention is so arranged that (i) a high-frequency circuit section is provided on a front surface of a printed board and (ii) a digital video signal processing section and a wireless LAN digital signal processing section ar... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7289014 | System for automatically moving access barriers and methods for using the same An operator system and related methods for automatically controlling access barriers including a controller associated with at least one access barrier and a transceiver associated with the controller for transmitting and receiving operational signals. The system al... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7283491 | Communication system and method capable of broadcasting by using terrestrial and satellite communication networks In a communication system for carrying out satellite communication through a satellite among users, a satellite communication center is located in a terrestrial network, such as an internet, and has a program table accessible through the terrestrial network and repr... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7281262 | Universal remote control system A remote control adapted for use with a releasable readable media storage device. A readable media storage device having data and target indicators. Electrical contacts provide releasable connection with the remote control. ... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7277398 | Method and terminal for providing services in telecommunication network A method and a terminal for providing services in a telecommunication network wherein the selection data of a service is formed by using the identification and control date of the services located in the multiplexed frames used for transmitting the services. The ter... | 10/02/2007 |
