Removable protective cover with embedded proximity sensors

1. A removable cover for a handheld electronic device, comprising:

a protective cover that at least partially covers rear and side surfaces of a handheld electronic device, comprising narrow slits;

a plurality of proximity sensors mounted in said protective cover for detecting user gestures performed outside of the electronic device, comprising:

alternating light emitters and light receivers; and

lenses that direct light beams from said light emitters out of said protective cover through said narrow slits, wherein a finger that covers one or more of said lenses reflects the directed light beams back through at least one of said narrow slits and, via said lenses, onto one or more of said light receivers;

a battery;

wireless communication circuitry; and

a processor configured to operate said proximity sensors, and to operate said wireless communication circuitry to transmit commands to the electronic device based on gestures detected by said proximity sensors.

2. The removable cover of claim 1 wherein the electronic device comprises a cell phone, and wherein the transmitted commands comprise commands to answer/reject an incoming call.

3. The removable cover of claim 2 wherein the transmitted commands comprise commands to control volume of sound produced by the electronic device.

4. The removable cover of claim 1 wherein the electronic device comprises a music player, and wherein the transmitted commands include play control commands.

5. The removable cover of claim 1 wherein said wireless communication circuitry comprises short range radio communication circuitry.

6. The removable cover of claim 1 wherein the user gestures detected by said proximity sensors comprise slide and tap gestures along a surface of said protective cover.

7. The removable cover of claim 1 wherein the user gestures detected by said proximity sensors comprise non-contact gestures performed in the air, in the vicinity of said protective cover.

8. The removable cover of claim 1 wherein said proximity sensors are arranged as a strip along a side of said protective cover.

9. The removable cover of claim 1 wherein said proximity sensors are arranged in two dimensions on the rear of said protective cover.

10. The removable cover of claim 9 wherein said processor transmits a first command to the electronic device based on a first slide gesture, detected by said proximity sensors, performed in a first direction on the rear side of said protective cover, and transmits a second command to the electronic device based on a second slide gesture, detected by said proximity sensors, performed in a second direction, substantially perpendicular to the first direction, on the rear side of said protective cover.

11. The removable cover of claim 9 wherein said processor transmits to the electronic device a command to control an application running on the electronic device, based on a wave gesture, detected by said proximity sensors, performed over the rear of said protective cover.

12. The removable cover of claim 1 wherein said lenses are positioned inside of said protective cover facing the narrow slits in said protective cover.

13. The removable cover of claim 12 wherein the electronic device comprises a cell phone, and wherein said processor transmits to the electronic device a command to answer an incoming phone call, based on a slide gesture along one of the narrow slits, detected by said proximity sensors.

14. The removable cover of claim 12 wherein the electronic device comprises a cell phone, and wherein said processor transmits to the electronic device a command to hang up a phone call, based on a slide gesture along one of the narrow slits, detected by said proximity sensors.

15. The removable cover of claim 12 wherein said processor transmits to the electronic device a command to modify volume of sound produced by the electronic device, based on a slide gesture along one of the narrow slits, detected by said proximity sensors.

16. The removable cover of claim 12 wherein the electronic device is a music player, and wherein said processor transmits a play control command to the electronic device, in response to a slide gesture along one of the narrow slits, detected by said proximity sensors.

17. The removable cover of claim 12 wherein the electronic device comprises a camera, and wherein said processor transmits a camera control command to the electronic device, based on a tap gesture on one of the narrow slits, detected by said proximity sensors.

18. The removable cover of claim 12 wherein said processor transmits a command to the electronic device to control an application running on the electronic device, based on a slide gesture performed at a distance away from one of the narrow slits, detected by said proximity sensors.