Methods and apparatus to identify users of handheld computing devices

1. A method comprising:

generating, at a first time, via a logic circuit, a first handling pattern indicative of a manner in which a handheld computing device is moved while presenting media;

in response to the generating, storing, via the logic circuit, the first handling pattern and corresponding user identification information in a database for subsequent analysis to identify a user of the handheld computing device;

detecting a second handling pattern from data collected by a sensor that detects interaction with the handheld computing device by the user, the second handling pattern being detected at a second time later than the first time;

generating a similarity score between the first handling pattern generated at the first time and the second handling pattern detected at the second time;

generating a confidence value that the second handling pattern is the first handling pattern based on the similarity score;

in response to the confidence value satisfying a threshold, identifying, via the logic circuit, the user based on the first handling pattern matching the second handling pattern and requesting the user to enter the user identification information; and

in response to detecting that the user identification information entered by the user matches the user identification information stored with the first handling pattern, storing, via the logic circuit, a verification indication in connection with the second handling pattern.

2. The method of claim 1 , further including storing a type of media in connection with the second handling pattern, the type of media corresponding to the media that triggered the generation of the second handling pattern.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting of the second handling pattern at the second time further includes interpreting sensor data collected by sensors native to the handheld computing device at the second time, the sensors including the sensor.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the requesting of the user identification information is performed in response to interpreting the sensor data as representative of the second handling pattern.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the requesting of the user to enter the user identification information is implemented by a prompt requesting the user to verify the user identification information.

6. The method of claim 1 , further including, when the confidence value meets or exceeds a threshold, associating the user identification information with media presented on the handheld computing device at the second time.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating of the first handling pattern is in response to detecting the media presentation on the handheld computing device.

8. A method comprising:

generating, at a first time, via a logic circuit, a first handling pattern indicative of a manner in which a handheld computing device is moved during media presentation;

in response to the generating, storing the first handling pattern and corresponding user identification information in a database for subsequent analysis to identify a user of the handheld computing device;

detecting a second handling pattern, at a second time later than the first time, from data collected by a sensor that detects interaction with the handheld computing device by the user;

generating a similarity score between the first handling pattern generated at the first time and the second handling pattern detected at the second time;

generating a confidence value for the first handling pattern based on the similarity score;

incorporating a media type match into the confidence value, the media type match corresponding to a similarity between a first type of media corresponding to a first piece of media that triggered the generation of the first handling pattern and a second type of media corresponding to a second piece of media that is presented at the second time after the first time; and

verifying that the second handling pattern is attributable to the user identification information stored in connection with the first handling pattern by requesting the user identification information from the user.

9. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a handheld computing device to at least:

generate, at a first time, a first handling pattern indicative of a manner in which a handheld computing device is moved during media presentation on the handheld computing device;

in response to the generating, store the first handling pattern and corresponding user identification information in a database to identify a user of the handheld computing device during future handling of the handheld computing device;

detect a second handling pattern from data collected by a sensor that detects interaction with the handheld computing device by the user, the second handling pattern being detected at a second time later than the first time;

generate a similarity score between the first handling pattern generated at the first time and the second handling pattern detected at the second time;

generate a confidence value for the second handling pattern for the second time being associated with the user based on the similarity score;

in response the confidence value satisfying a threshold, identify the user based on the second handling pattern matching the first handling pattern and request the user to self-identify to verify that the second handling pattern detected at the second time is of the user associated with the corresponding user identification information; and

in response to detecting that the user matches the user identification information stored with the first handling pattern, store a verification indication in connection with the second handling pattern.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the handheld computing device to store a type of media in connection with the first handling pattern, the type of media corresponding to the media presentation that triggered the generation of the first handling pattern.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the handheld computing device to detect the second handling pattern at the second time by interpreting sensor data collected by sensors native to the handheld computing device at the second time later, the sensors including the sensor.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the handheld computing device to interpret the sensor data as representative of the first handling pattern.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the user is requested to self-identify via a prompt.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the handheld computing device to, when the confidence value meets or exceeds a threshold, associate the user identification information with media presented on the handheld computing device at the second time.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the generating of the first handling pattern is in response to detecting the media presentation on the handheld computing device.

16. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a handheld computing device to at least:

generate, at a first time, a first handling pattern indicative of a manner in which a handheld computing device is moved while presenting media on the handheld computing device;

in response to the generating, store the first handling pattern and corresponding user identification information in a database to identify a user of the handheld computing device during future handling of the handheld computing device;

detect a second handling pattern, at a second time later than the first time, from data collected by a sensor that detects interaction with the handheld computing device by the user;

generate a similarity score between the first handling pattern generated at the first time and the second handling pattern detected at the second time later than the first time;

generate a confidence value for the second handling pattern based on the similarity score;

incorporate a media type match into the confidence value, the media type match corresponding to a similarity between a first type of media corresponding to a first piece of media that triggered the generation of the first handling pattern and a second type of media corresponding to a second piece of media that is presented at the second time after the first time; and

verify that the second handling pattern is attributable to the user identification information stored in connection with the first handling pattern by requesting the user identification information from the user.

17. A handheld computing device comprising:

a memory containing machine readable instructions;

a processor to execute the machine readable instructions to:

collect, at a first time, a first handling pattern indicative of a manner in which a handheld computing device is moved while the handheld computing device is presenting media,

detect a second handling pattern from data collected by a sensor that detects interaction with the handheld computing device by a user, the second handling pattern being detected at a second time later than the first time,

generate a similarity score between the first handling pattern generated at the first time and the second handling pattern detected at the second time,

generate a confidence value that the second handling pattern is the first handling pattern based on the similarity score, and

in response to the confidence value satisfying a threshold, identify the user based on the first handling pattern matching the second handling pattern and request the user to self-identify; and

a database to:

store the first handling pattern and corresponding user identification information to subsequently identify the user of the handheld computing device, and

in response to detecting that user identification information received from the user in response to the request to self-identify matches the user identification information stored with at least one of the first handling pattern or the second handling pattern, store a verification indication in connection with the first handling pattern.

18. The handheld computing device of claim 17 , wherein the processor is to collect the first handling pattern by interpreting a signal associated with an accelerometer of the handheld computing device while the handheld computing device is outputting the media.

19. The handheld computing device of claim 17 , wherein the processor is to collect the first handling pattern by interpreting a signal associated with a tilt sensor of the handheld computing device while the handheld computing device is outputting the media.

20. The handheld computing device of claim 17 , wherein the processor is to collect the first handling pattern by determining a path of movement of the handheld computing device while the handheld computing device is outputting the media.

21. The handheld computing device of claim 17 , wherein the processor is to collect the first handling pattern by determining a rhythm of movements of the handheld computing device while the handheld computing device is outputting the media.

22. The handheld computing device of claim 17 , wherein the database is to store a type of the media in connection with the first handling pattern.

23. The handheld computing device of claim 17 , further including a recognizer to interpret sensor data collected by sensors native to the handheld computing device at the second time later than the first time as corresponding to the first handling pattern, the sensors including the sensor.

24. The handheld computing device of claim 23 , further including a requester to, in response to the recognizer interpreting the sensor data as corresponding to the first handling pattern, initiate a prompt for display on the handheld computing device to confirm the user is associated with the user identification information stored in association with the first handling pattern.

25. The handheld computing device of claim 17 , wherein the processor is to associate, when the confidence value meets or exceeds a threshold, the user identification information with media presented on the handheld computing device at the second time.

26. The handheld computing device of claim 17 , wherein the processor is to incorporate a media type match into the confidence value, the media type match corresponding to a similarity between a first type of media corresponding to a first piece of media that triggered the collection of the first handling pattern and a second type of media corresponding to a second piece of media presented at the second time.

27. The handheld computing device of claim 17 , wherein the processor is to verify the first handling pattern is attributable to the user identification information stored in connection with the first handling pattern by requesting the user identification information from the user.