TELEPHONE FOR MUSIC SHARING
The invention relates to a mobile telephone enabled for audio signal playback between telephones within a cluster. In one aspect, a member telephone of the cluster is enabled to transmit audio signals to another telephone in the cluster while the music plays synchronously on each device. Alternatively, the telephones use synchronization signals to enable playback of music synchronously from a storage unit on each telephone. In another aspect, telephony communication and audio transfer can be available through the same mode or through parallel communications systems such that playback of audio signals and other communication can occur at the same time. In yet another aspect, an amplitude control enables users to vary the ratio of sound between telephony communication and audio signal.
1 . A telephone having a unit for transmission of an audio signal, comprising:
a microphone integrated within the telephone for telephony communications;
a storage unit for storage of audio signals;
a transmitter to transmit audio signals from the storage unit;
a receiver for receiving audio signals; and
an audio player to play received audio signals from the storage unit or from the receiver;
wherein, the telephone has a first communications mode for telephony communications; and a second communications mode parallel with the first communications mode for playing of audio signal, and wherein each of the first communications mode and the second communications mode comprise an amplitude of sound.
2 . The telephone of claim 1 wherein the receiver receives over the telephone network.
3 . The telephone of claim 1 , wherein the receiver further comprises a first mode to receive audio signals via an Internet connection and a second mode to receive audio signals from a transmitter of a compatible device.
4 . The telephone of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the first to the second communication mode is adjustable.
5 . The telephone of claim 1 , further comprising an amplitude control for separately controlling either the amplitude of sound from playing the audio selection or the amplitude of sound from telephony communications.
6 . The telephone of claim 1 , wherein the player plays the audio selection synchronously with the player of the compatible device that transmitted the audio selection to the receiver.
7 . The telephone of claim 1 , wherein the receiver uses a communications system selected from the group consisting of CDMA and GSM.
8 . The telephone of claim 1 , wherein the receiver uses an Internet protocol.
9 . A telephone having a unit for transmission of an audio signal, comprising:
a microphone integrated within the telephone for telephony communications;
a storage unit for storage of audio signals;
a transmitter to transmit audio signals from the storage unit;
a receiver for receiving audio signals, the receiver further comprising a first mode to receive audio signals via an Internet connection and a second mode to receive audio signals from a transmitter of a compatible device; and
an audio player to play received audio signals from the storage unit or from the receiver;
wherein, telephony communications are coincident with playing of audio signals.
10 . The telephone of claim 9 , wherein the audio signal received by the receiver is streamed.
11 . The telephone of claim 10 , wherein the audio player plays the streamed music synchronously with a player of a second telephone.
12 . The telephone of claim 9 , additionally comprising a delay for delaying the music playing from the receiving.
13 . The telephone of claim 9 , wherein the telephony communications is CDMA or GSM.
14 . The telephone of claim 9 , wherein the audio player plays the telephony communications coincident with the playing of audio signals.
15 . The telephone of claim 9 , wherein the telephone has a first communications mode for telephony communications; and a second communications mode parallel with the first communications mode for playing of audio signal, wherein the first and second communication modes operate simultaneously and wherein each of the first communications mode and the second communications mode comprise an amplitude of sound.
16 . The telephone of claim 15 , further comprising an amplitude control enabled to adjust the ratio of the amplitude of sound of the telephony communications to the amplitude of sound of the audio signal.
17 . The telephone of claim 9 , wherein the player plays the audio signal from storage synchronously with a player of a second telephone playing music stored in storage on the second telephone.
18 . The telephone of claim 17 , wherein the second telephone transmits synchronization signals to the first telephone.
19 . A method for using a telephone to share dynamic information within a cluster of telephones, comprising:
playing an audio selection on a first member telephone;
broadcasting the audio selection from the first member telephone to a second member telephone;
playing the broadcast audio selection on the second member telephone;
transferring dynamic information from the second member telephone to the first member telephone coincident with playing of the audio selection on the first and second telephones; and
presenting the dynamic information on the first member telephone.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the step of playing an audio selection further comprises playing voice communications from another telephone.
21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the step of broadcasting the audio selection further comprises sending synchronization signals from the first telephone to another telephone to enable the telephones to listen to the audio selection synchronously.
22 . A telephone for sharing dynamic information within a cluster of telephones, the cluster of telephones having one or more members, comprising:
means for playing an audio selection on a first member telephone;
means for broadcasting the audio selection;
means for receiving audio selections;
means for playing the audio selection;
means for transferring dynamic information to a member telephone coincident with playing of the audio selection on the first member telephone;
means for receiving dynamic information; and
means for presenting the dynamic information to a user on the first member telephone.
23 . The telephone of claim 22 , wherein the broadcasting means transmits coincidentally with playing by the playing means.
24 . The telephone of claim 22 , wherein the broadcasting means broadcasts over a telephone network.
25 . The telephone of claim 22 , wherein dynamic information comprises one or more of chatting, voice communication, text messaging, and electronic mail.
26 . The telephone of claim 22 , wherein the receiving means uses CDMA or GSM.
27 . The telephone of claim 22 , wherein the receiving means uses an Internet protocol.
28 . The telephone of claim 22 , wherein the receiving means receives streaming audio.
29 . The telephone of claim 22 , wherein the receiving means receives a file transfer of the audio selection.
30 . The telephone of claim 22 , wherein the receiving means receives the audio selection coincident with receiving dynamic information.
31 . The telephone of claim 22 , further comprising a connection to the Internet over which the audio selection is downloaded.
32 . The telephone of claim 22 , wherein the audio selection is received from a second member device.
33 . The telephone of claim 22 , further comprising a storage means for storage of the received audio selection.
34 . The telephone of claim 22 , wherein the means for broadcasting an audio selection comprises a link layer with a protocol selected from the group consisting of 802.11, Bluetooth, ultrawideband, HiperLAN and WDCT.