Patents Portfolio
U.S. Patent: 9,798,516
Patent Title
Smart phones that support wireless printing of emails over air to a wireless printer in a wireless local area network
Meta Information
Issued Date: Oct. 24, 2017
Inventor: William Ho Chang et al
External Links: UPSTO, Google Patents
Technical Fields
Abstract
Smart Phones that support wireless printing of e-mails to a printer in a wireless local area network (WLAN) is disclosed and enabled. The new Smart Phone includes a touch sensitive screen, an operating system, an e-mail application, and a wireless communication unit supporting a protocol within IEEE 802.11 for WLAN communication. To print an email in an inbox of the email application, the smart phone provides a print item on the touch sensitive screen and also a list of one or more printers detected to be available in the WLAN on the touch sensitive screen, subsequent to the user having selected the print item and a selected printer from the list, a print job related to the email is transmitted to the selected printer over the WLAN. Additionally, the smart phone further supports voice activated commands, such as printing or replying to emails received at the Smart Phone.
Sample Claim
1. A smart phone that is a wireless and mobile information apparatus and supporting wireless printing of e-mails to a selected printer in a wireless local area network, the wireless local area network being compatible, at least partly, with at least part of a protocol within IEEE 802.11 standards for wireless local area network communication, and the smart phone further supporting both touch sensitive screen interface and voice activated command functions, the smart phone comprising: a touch sensitive screen interface for displaying a graphical user interface over the touch sensitive screen interface for interacting with the user; a microphone interface; a speaker interface for outputting sound to the user; a processing unit with one or more embedded processors; a memory or storage unit for storing at least a portion of software for operating the smart phone, the software includes operating system software and one or more application software that includes e-mail application software; and a wireless communication unit that includes a radio frequency controller and an antenna for establishing wireless local area network communications that is compatible, at least partly, with at least part of a protocol within IEEE 802.11 standards; and wherein, upon execution of at least part of the software that includes the operating system software and the e-mail application software by the processing unit of the smart phone, the smart phone is configured to perform acts or steps for printing e-mails, including:
(1) establishing, via the wireless communication unit of the smart phone, a wireless local area network communication for connecting the smart phone to one or more printers in a wireless local area network, the wireless local area network communication being compatible, at least partly, with at least part of a protocol within IEEE 802.11 standards;
(2) providing, by the e-mail application software, an inbox item over the touch sensitive screen interface of the smart phone, the inbox item having one or more e-mails in an inbox;
(3) displaying, by the e-mail application software and over the touch sensitive screen interface of the smart phone, an e-mail from among the one or more e-mails in the inbox in (2);
(4) providing a print item over the touch sensitive screen interface of the smart phone for user selection on the touch sensitive screen interface for printing the e-mail displayed on the touch sensitive screen interface in (3);
(5) receiving, via the touch sensitive screen interface of the smart phone, selection of the print item in (4) for printing at least part of the e-mail displayed on the touch sensitive screen interface in (3);
(6) subsequent to receiving, via the touch sensitive screen interface of the smart phone, the selection of the print item in (5), providing, over the touch sensitive screen interface of the smart phone, a list of one or more printers that are available for printing over the established wireless local area network communication in (1) for user selection on the touch sensitive screen interface of the smart phone;
(7) receiving, via the touch sensitive screen interface of the smart phone, an indication of a selected printer from among the list of one or more available printers that were provided over the touch sensitive screen interface for user selection in (6);
(8) transmitting, via the wireless communication unit of the smart phone, at least part of a print job related, at least in part, to the e-mail displayed on the touch sensitive screen interface in (3), over the established wireless local area network communication in (1) from the smart phone to the selected printer in (7), thereby, the smart phone supports wireless printing of e-mails from the smart phone to a selected printer in a wireless local area network; and wherein, upon execution of at least part of the software by the processing unit of the smart phone, the smart phone is further configured to provide a delete item or function control over the touch sensitive screen interface of the smart phone for user selection on the touch sensitive screen interface of the smart phone for deleting the e-mail displayed on the touch sensitive screen interface in (3).