Application state and activity transfer between devices

1. A method of operating a first electronic device and second electronic device, the first electronic device comprising one of a personal electronic device and an in-vehicle infotainment system, the second electronic device comprising a different one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system, the method comprising:

running a first application on the first electronic device;

recording user inputs to the first electronic device with the first electronic device;

determining an activity being performed by a user on the first electronic device based on the recorded user inputs;

at least one of (i) sensing that the personal electronic device has been moved at least one of into and out of a vehicle that includes the in-vehicle infotainment system, and (ii) sensing that the personal electronic device will be moved at least one of into and out of a vehicle that includes the in-vehicle infotainment system within a predetermined time period;

transferring information regarding a state of the first electronic device from the first electronic device to the second electronic device, the information at least including the determined activity being performed by the user;

selecting a second application for the second electronic device; and

replicating the state of the first electronic device on the second electronic device using the selected second application.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transferred information further includes at least one of:

an identity of the first application;

the recorded user inputs;

information regarding input devices of the first electronic device;

time stamps associated with the recorded user inputs; and

an identification of a field of the first application into which the recorded user inputs have been entered.

3. The method of claim 1 , the selecting further comprising:

selecting the second application for the second electronic device based on the transferred information.

4. The method of claim 3 , the selecting further comprising:

selecting the second application for the second electronic device based on the determined activity being performed by the user.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first application is configured to enable at least one of:

web browsing;

exchanging at least one of emails, text messages and instant messages;

listening to radio stations; and

GPS navigation.

6. The method of claim 1 , the transferring further comprising:

using HTML with attached Javascript to encode the information;

transferring the encoded information to the second electronic device; and

displaying-the transferred information with a web browser on the second electronic device if no other suitable application is available.

7. A method of operating a personal electronic device and an in-vehicle infotainment system, the method comprising:

running a first application on the personal electronic device;

sensing that the personal electronic device at least one of (i) has been and (ii) will be within a predetermined time period moved into a vehicle that includes the in-vehicle infotainment system;

transferring information regarding a state of the personal electronic device from the personal electronic device to the in-vehicle infotainment system in response to the sensing;

selecting a second application for the in-vehicle infotainment system; and

replicating the state of the personal electronic device on the in-vehicle infotainment system using the selected second application.

8. The method of claim 7 , the sensing further comprising at least one of:

receiving a signal from a vehicle door unlock sensor;

receiving a signal from a vehicle seat occupancy sensor;

detecting at least one of a RFID tag, Bluetooth ID, and WiFi address of at least one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

receiving a beacon signal from at least one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

receiving a signal from a vehicle ignition sensor; and

receiving a signal from a seat adjustment assembly.

9. The method of claim 7 , the replicating further comprising:

downloading the selected second application from an on-line store.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the transferred information includes at least one of:

an identity of the first application;

inputs that a user has entered into the personal electronic device;

information regarding input devices of the personal electronic device;

time stamps associated with inputs that a user has entered into the personal electronic device; and

an identification of a field of the first application into which inputs have been entered by a user of the personal electronic device.

11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

analyzing the transferred information in order to determine an activity being performed by a user on the personal electronic device; and

selecting the second application for the in-vehicle infotainment system based on the determined activity being performed by the user.

12. The method of claim 7 , the selecting further comprising:

selecting the second application for the in-vehicle infotainment system based on the transferred information.

13. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first application is configured to enable at least one of:

web browsing;

exchanging at least one of emails, text messages and instant messages;

listening to radio stations; and

GPS navigation.

14. A method of operating a personal electronic device and an in-vehicle infotainment system, the method comprising:

running a first application on one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

displaying information regarding the running of the application on a display screen of the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

capturing an image of the display screen using an optical sensor of an other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

analyzing the captured image to extract information regarding a state of the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

selecting a second application for the other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system based on the extracted information; and

replicating the state of the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system on the other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system using the selected second application.

15. The method of claim 14 , the analyzing further comprising:

recognizing at least one of text content and objects on the display screen.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the optical sensor comprises a video camera.

17. The method of claim 14 , the analyzing further comprising:

detecting in the captured image at least one of an identification tag, a bar code, and a specific image on the display.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

analyzing the captured image to determine an activity being performed by a user on the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system; and

selecting the second application for the other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system based on the determined activity being performed by the user.