While they were a lot of my own work, they were filed and paid for by my various employers, hence the ideas belong to them. Hey, they paid me well enough I suppose.
US 9,805,032 - October 2017
Back in the early 2000s we, at Philips, were working on a multimedia tablet called AViU. The tablet provided an agreggated directory of all multimedia content available on the PCs in the house, and a collection of external media services (Yahoo! music videos, Shoutcast, etc.).
This client-server protocol allowed for the distribution of search requests amongst the available content servers, and the reliable and sorted aggregation of returned results on the tablet's UI.
The protocol is designed to support responsive, memory efficient sorting of content.
I particularly like this protocol as I called it 'WiMP' - Wireless Internet Media Protocol
US 8,222,994 - July 2012
A feature to enhance the usability of a voice memo application installed on a PDA, Smartphone or Tablet.
Based on my experience writing the Voice Recorder application on the Treo 700p, this feature is designed to integrate a voice memo application with the reminder subsystem(s) of a smartphone, tablet, PDA or computer.
Once a memo has been created, various mechasisms are imagined to generate a reminder, prompting the user to review their memos at some appropriate later time. One example would be to generate an alert at a prescribed time, for example, the following morning. Equally a notification could be generated when the user returns to their office, deduced using the devices GPS, the local WiFi networks or other techniques.
US 7,698,652 - April 2010
This is one of my favorites. How are you supposed to scroll through all those Emails, MP3 or contacts on that piddlingly small device, using just an up and down button. Simple, with this invention later referred to as Super Scroll.
This featured on some of the Philips Internet Enabled mini-systems in the early 2000s. And now there's a patent for it with my name on it!
US 7,689,446 - March 2010
You will agree, it's jolly annoying being in a hotel room where the TV channels are all in a jumble. Clearly, I need Discovery Channel to be on 278. I also need the phone speed dial to match what I have at home, so I can speed dial mum if I have an issue, while I'm on my business trip.
The invention leverages the connected nature of the devices in the home, plus the home gateway, to transfer my personal settings to whatever hotel room I am in.
US 6,873,841 - March 2005
Ever have the problem that your PDA, your mobile and your microwave all have different sets of contact details for your friends? No!? OK, not any more you don't 'cuz they all sync effortlessly over the internet. However, in 1997 no-one had even thought of this problem, 'cept me, and I filled a patent on it. Now the patent's been granted I can start suing everyone's ass for implementing the idea since then :)
US 6,604,650 - August 2003
Ever have the problem that you forgot to take your meds, or you forgot if you forgot to take your meds!? This nifty little invention incorporates several pieces of tech into the cap of the medication bottle to track when you take drugs, plus remind you if you forget.
Some doctor is currently shipping such a device in South Africa. Just waiting for him to break into the US market, then he's gonna get his ass sued.
US 6,560,559 - May 2003
Technique (or as we inventors say Method or Aperatus) for detecting the incorrect positioning of the typists hand, based on knowledge of the keyboard layout and the computer's dictionary.
US 8,934,871 - Jan 2015
Listen to your podcasts on your phone, of all places, can you imagine it! Well, it seems like everybody can these days, but back when we started doing it not everybody even knew what a podcast was.
US 7,680,067 - March 2010
Keeping your data synchronized across all your devices, without the need for big iron. Ideal for your personal area network.