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EP-4325805-B1 - DELAYED OR SUSPENDED ALERTS WITH MULTIPLE DEVICES IN PROXIMITY

EP4325805B1EP 4325805 B1EP4325805 B1EP 4325805B1EP-4325805-B1

Inventors

  • GRAY, ROBERT CARY

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20120619

Claims (15)

  1. A method for controlling notification of arrival of a message, comprising: determining by an alert controller (238) whether a plurality of electronic devices (102, 104, 106) are in proximity with each other, based on the plurality of electronic devices (102, 104, 106) being connected with each other via a short range communications means; determining by the alert controller (238) that a same message was received by two or more of the plurality of electronic devices, one of said two or more of the plurality of electronic devices being a priority device (104, 106) and another being a secondary device (102); and determining by the alert controller (238) at least one electronic device of the two or more of the plurality of electronic devices (102, 104, 106) on which to inhibit producing a notification that indicates the message was received, said at least one electronic device being the secondary device (102).
  2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting proximity status information between the plurality of electronic devices (102, 104, 106), to confirm the determined proximity between two or more devices of the plurality of electronic devices (102, 104, 106).
  3. The method of any of claims 1 or 2, further comprising: inhibiting producing the notification on the determined at least one electronic device.
  4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: delaying a pre-determined amount of time while monitoring for reception of a signal that indicates the message was read; determining that the delay of the pre-determined amount of time has expired and that the monitoring for the signal indicating the message has been read has failed to receive the signal; and producing the notification on the determined at least one electronic device; optionally wherein at least one of a notification type and the pre-determined amount of time is user-configurable.
  5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: configuring at least one of the notification type and the pre-determined amount of time for one of the plurality of electronic devices; communicating information between the configured electronic device and at least one other electronic device of the plurality of electronic devices; and configuring the at least one of the notification type and the pre-determined amount of time in the at least one other electronic device based on the communicated information.
  6. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the plurality of electronic devices includes a wireless electronic device and at least one other electronic device, the method further comprising: storing in memory of the wireless electronic device same-message-received alert priority information that identifies an alert priority among the wireless electronic device and the at least one other electronic device in response to each device receiving the same message.
  7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the plurality of electronic devices includes a wireless electronic device and at least one other electronic device, the method further comprising: wirelessly communicating, via short range wireless communication, between the wireless electronic device and the at least one other electronic device that a message was received by at least one of the wireless electronic device and the at least one other electronic device.
  8. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the determining at least one electronic device on which to inhibit producing the notification is based on same-message-received alert priority information associated with at least one of the plurality of electronic devices.
  9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the notification that is produced to indicate the message was received comprises at least one of: a silent alert, an audible alert, and a visual alert.
  10. A electronic device (102, 104, 106) comprising: a processor/controller (204); a short range communications device (230); memory (206, 208), communicatively coupled with the processor/controller; an alert controller (238), communicatively coupled with the processor/controller and the memory, the alert controller being configured to determine (1008), based on a plurality of electronic devices (102, 104, 106) being connected with each other, via a short range communications means, whether the plurality of electronic devices (102, 104, 106) are in proximity with each other; determine (1004, 1016) that a same message was received by the electronic device and at least one other one of the plurality of electronic devices (102, 104, 106), one of said two or more of the plurality of electronic devices being a priority device (104, 106) and another being a secondary device (102); and determine whether to inhibit (1022) producing by the electronic device a notification that indicates the message was received, said at least one electronic device being the secondary device (102).
  11. The electronic device of claim 10, the alert controller being further configured to transmit proximity status information to the plurality of electronic devices (102, 104, 106), to confirm the determined proximity between two or more devices of the plurality of electronic devices (102, 104, 106).
  12. The electronic device of any of claims 10 or 11, the alert controller being further configured to inhibit producing the notification by the electronic device based on same-message-received alert priority information (504) associated with the electronic device; optionally wherein same-message-received alert priority information (504) is stored in the memory (208).
  13. The electronic device of any of claims 10 to 12, the alert controller being further configured to delay a pre-determined amount of time delay (1202, 1204) while monitoring for reception of a signal that indicates the message was read; and determine that a delay of a pre-determined amount of time has expired (1204) and that the monitoring for the signal indicating the message has been read has failed to receive the signal; and produce (1206) the notification that indicates the message was received.
  14. The electronic device of any of claims 10 to 13, the alert controller being further configured to wirelessly communicate, via short range wireless communication using the short range communications device (230), between the electronic device and at least one other electronic device an information signal indicating that a message was received (1020) by at least one of the electronic device and the at least one other electronic device.
  15. A computer program product for controlling notification of arrival of a message, the computer program product comprising: a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising instructions for performing all the operations of a method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

Description

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure generally relates to personal electronic devices that provide alerts to users, and more particularly to synchronization of alerts provided by multiple personal electronic devices. BACKGROUND Many types of personal electronic devices (such as cellular phones, smartphones and some kinds of computers and portable computers, such as tablet computers or laptop personal computers, as well as some accessories such as some headsets) exchange data, such as audio data, voice data, image data, video data, text messages, and e-mails, and any combination thereof, with messaging servers over long range wireless data communication links in one or more wireless communication networks. Many such devices can communicate (e.g., with another device or base station) without a wired or cabled physical connection, and may be called wireless communication devices. One example of such wireless data communication links includes cellular-like data networks. Wireless communication devices can receive messages from remote servers over a wireless data communication link in a one-way or a two-way wireless communication protocol. Some of these personal electronic devices may be portable, and some may further be handheld, that is, sized and shaped to be held or carried in a human hand. Communication devices are becoming so ubiquitous in society that users often own, or have authorized use of, two or more such communication devices. Users with two or more communication devices often receive and send data on all of their communication devices, possibly different devices using different communication links. For example, a user can receive emails on their laptop personal computer, optionally using a wireless modem, and contemporaneously will also receive the same emails on their wireless cellular phone devices. Moreover, the same emails may also be received via the user's desktop personal computer. All three devices, i.e., the laptop personal computer, the desktop personal computer, and the wireless cellular phone, may often be located in proximity with each other. In such a case, the user will typically be bombarded at the same time with multiple alerts indicating that the same message was received by each and every one of the plurality of user devices in proximity with each other. This repeated alerting by multiple user devices for every message received can be very disruptive to the user. Additionally, mobile wireless communication devices typically use rechargeable power supplies, such as batteries or other electrical charge storage devices, to permit device operation while roaming and without being tethered to a particular stationary power source. As the rechargeable power source, e.g., the battery, in a wireless communication device becomes depleted, it can be recharged by connecting the device to a stationary power source, such as using a charger that is connected to an AC outlet. It may pose an inconvenience to a user or even worse a loss of function of the device if the battery depletes too far and no power supply is available to recharge. Repeated alerting by multiple user devices for every message received wastes battery power and thereby shortens battery life for battery operated user devices that are all alerting redundant and unnecessary alerts for the same message received at the same time. US 2007/0037605 A1 deals with determining a status condition of a portable phone, and based on the determination of the status condition, an appropriate alert notification is selected to signal the arrival of an incoming call directed to the portable telephone. Referring to EP 1 280 314 A2, a user registers multiple devices with a registration server. US 2008/0074488 A1 assumes that a communication event is received by the plurality of participating devices and notified to users of all the participating devices. SUMMARY Accordingly, there is provided a method, a portable electronic device, and a computer program product according to the claims that follow. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying figures in which like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, and which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the present disclosure, in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one or more personal electronic devices comprising communication devices in a communication system, in accordance with one example;FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a more detailed view of an example personal electronic device comprising a communication device in the communication system of FIG. 1;FIG. 3 is an outer view of the communication device of FIG. 2, illustrating a user interface that is accessible by a user;FIG. 4 is a more detailed view of a message status re