Notification profile configuration based on device orientation

1. A device comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more sensors coupled to the processors; and

a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors being operable when executing the instructions to:

repeatedly and at predefined intervals of time, periodically access an orientation sensor to determine an orientation of the device at a plurality of instances;

storing the orientation of the device at the plurality of instances to develop an orientation history;

using a sliding window on the orientation history to determine that the device has been in a current orientation for at least a threshold period of time and that the current orientation corresponds to a particular one of a plurality of notification profiles of the device, wherein in at least one of the notification profiles an operating parameter of an indication of an incoming message is modulated according to an affinity value of the incoming message with respect to a user of the device;

in response to determining that the device has been in the current orientation for at least a threshold period of time and that the current orientation corresponds to a particular one of the notification profiles, determine that one or more conditions for transitioning the device to the particular one of the notification profiles are met, wherein at least one of the conditions comprises the device being in the current orientation of down-ward facing such that a backside of the device faces upward for at least a pre-determined amount of time;

in response to determining that the conditions are met, automatically transition the device to the particular one of the notification profiles associated with a quiet mode; and

while the device is in the down-ward facing position and operating according to the particular one of the notification profiles in the quiet mode, displaying content on a first display disposed on the back side of the device while maintaining a second display disposed on a front side of the device in a powered off state.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

the content comprises an indication of the current location of the device; and

the graphical user interface comprises a map comprising the indication.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the content comprises an indication of a current location of a social contact of a user of the device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the content comprises a newsfeed generated by a social networking system, the processor being operable to access one or more remote data stores, based on a user identifier of the social networking system for the user of the device, to obtain the newsfeed.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the content comprises a publication.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the content comprises caller-identification information of an incoming call.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

a first one of the conditions is the device being in a first pre-determined orientation;

a second one of the conditions is the device being in the first pre-determined orientation while in a communication session;

a third one of the conditions is the device being in a second pre-determined orientation after being the first pre-determined orientation, the second pre-determined orientation comprising the current orientation that is the downward-facing orientation and different from the first pre-determined orientation; and

the particular one of the notification profiles is a quiet notification profile.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the communication session is automatically suspended in connection with the device being transitioned to the quiet notification profile.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the communication session is automatically terminated in connection with the device being transitioned to the quiet notification profile.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

while the device is operating according to the particular one of the notification profiles, receiving an incoming call;

determining that the device has transitioned to a new pre-determined orientation, the new pre-determined orientation being an upward-facing or vertical orientation; and

transitioning the device from the particular one of the notification profiles to another one of the notification profiles that is a communication profile.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the incoming call is automatically connected in response to the device being transitioned to the communication profile.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein caller-identification information is automatically displayed on the device in response to the device being transitioned to the communication profile.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the notification profiles is a pre-configured notification profile.

14. A method comprising:

by a computing device, repeatedly and periodically accessing an orientation sensor to determine an orientation of the computing device at a plurality of instances;

by the computing device, storing orientation of the device at each of the plurality of instances to develop an orientation history;

by the computing device, using a sliding window on the orientation history to determine that the device has been in a current orientation for at least a threshold period of time and that the current orientation corresponds to a particular one of a plurality of notification profiles of the device, wherein in at least one of the notification profiles an operating parameter of an indication of an incoming message is modulated according to an affinity value of the incoming message with respect to a user of the device;

by the computing device:

in response to determining that the device has been in the current orientation for at least a threshold period of time and that the current orientation corresponds to a particular one of the notification profiles, determining that one or more conditions for transitioning the computing device to the particular one of the notification profiles are met, wherein at least one of the conditions comprises the computing device being in the current orientation of down-ward facing such that a backside of the device faces upward for at least a pre-determined amount of time;

in response to determining that the conditions are met, automatically transitioning the computing device to the particular one of the notification profiles associated with a quiet mode; and

while the device is in the down-ward facing position and operating according to the particular one of the notification profiles in the quiet mode, displaying content on a first display disposed on the back side of the device while maintaining a second display disposed on a front side of the device in a powered off state.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the content comprises an indication of the current location of a social contact of a user of the device.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the content comprises a newsfeed generated by a social networking system, the processor being operable to access one or more remote data stores, based on a user identifier of the social networking system for the user of the device, to obtain the newsfeed.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the content comprises a publication.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the content comprises caller-identification information of an incoming call.