Scanner having connected and unconnected operational behaviors
Information is scanned to a scanner memory. A user of the scanner is signaled when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one action associated with the scanned information.
1 . A method in a computing system, comprising:
scanning information to a scanner memory; and
signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one action associated with the scanned information.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein scanning information further comprises:
applying at least one of a charge coupled device, pixelator, or a contact image sensor to a printed document or to an optical display.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one action associated with the scanned information further comprises:
signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one document comprising the scanned information.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the scanned information further comprises:
one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises one or more of:
information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols; counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types; an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words; a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols; or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.
6 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained further comprises one or more of:
changing the state of at least one light emitting diode; providing a tone, beep, or other auditory signal; providing an indication on a display; or producing a vibration.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanned information further comprises:
one or more, or a combination of: an image fragment; text produced from an image fragment; a parametric representation of scanned symbols; or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises one or more of:
information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols; counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types; an overall number of scanned symbols; a number of scanned words; a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols; or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanner memory further comprises:
at least one of a flash memory or a dynamically refreshed random access memory.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained further comprises one or more of:
changing the state of at least one light emitting diode; providing a tone, beep, or other auditory signal; providing an indication on a display; or producing a vibration.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the action associated with the scanned information further comprises:
at least one of a commerce operation, an annotation, a format operation, identifying an advertisement, or identifying a document.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanner further comprises:
at least part of a pen-style device, at least part of a mouse, at least part of a cell phone, at least part of a remote control, or at least part of a personal digital assistant.
13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
subsequent to the scanning, upon establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network, transferring the scanned information to at least one of the separate computing device or the network.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the scanned information further comprises one or more, or a combination of:
an image fragment; text produced from an image fragment; a parametric representation of scanned symbols; or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises one or more, or a combination of:
information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols; counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types; an overall number of scanned symbols; a number of scanned words; a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols; or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.
16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network further comprises one or more, or a combination of:
establishing communication using wires or optical fibers, or wireless communication.
17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the separate computing device further comprises at least one of:
a cell phone; personal digital assistant; desktop computer; laptop computer; portable music player; television; or set top box.
18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the network further comprises one or more, or a combination of:
the Internet; an intranet; a home network; or another telephone or data network.
19 . The method of claim 13 , wherein establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network further comprises at least one of:
docking the scanning device in a cradle coupled to the separate computing device or network; establishing a wireless connection between the scanner and the separate computing device or network; or completing a Plug and Play connection between the scanner and the separate computing device or network.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the separate computing device further comprises at least one of:
a cell phone; personal digital assistant; desktop computer; laptop computer; portable music player; television; or set top box.
21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the network further comprises one or more, or a combination of:
the Internet; an intranet; a home network; or some other telephone or data network.
22 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing scan context information with the scanned information in the scanner memory.
23 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scan context further comprises:
an indication of a publication comprising or likely comprising the document.
24 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scan context further comprises:
a manner in which the scan was performed.
25 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scan context further comprises:
a time of day or date or combination thereof at which or during which the scan was performed.
26 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scan context further comprises:
a location in the document from which the scanned information was obtained.
27 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the scanned information further comprises:
one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.
28 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:
information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.
29 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scan context further comprises:
a physical location at which the scan was performed.
30 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scan context further comprises:
environment signals proximate in time with the scan.
31 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scan context further comprises:
information derived at least in part from the information from the scan.
32 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scan context further comprises:
at least part of scan habits for a person performing the scan, or at least part of scan habits for a group with which the person performing the scan is associated.
33 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scan context further comprises:
at least one attribute of a person performing the scan, or at least one attribute of a group with which the person performing the scan is associated.
34 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scan context further comprises:
a relationship of the information from the scan with metadata associated with the document.
35 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scanned information further comprises:
one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.
36 . The method of claim 35 , wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:
information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.
37 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the scanner memory further comprises:
at least one of a flash memory or a dynamically refreshed random access memory.
38 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
upon establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network, processing the scanned information to determine at least one of an action or actions associated with the scanned information, or a document or documents associated with the scanned information.
39 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the scanned information further comprises:
one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.
40 . The method of claim 39 , wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:
information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.
41 . The method of claim 38 , wherein establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network further comprises:
establishing communication using wires or optical fibers, or wireless communication.
42 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the separate computing device further comprises:
at least one of a cell phone, personal digital assistant, desktop computer, laptop computer, portable music player, television, or set top box.
43 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the network further comprises:
the Internet, an intranet, a home network, or some other telephone or data network.
44 . The method of claim 38 , wherein establishing communication between the scanner and at least one of a separate computing device or a network further comprises:
docking the scanning device in a cradle coupled to the separate computing device or network, establishing a wireless connection between the scanner and the separate computing device or network, or completing a Plug and Play connection between the scanner and the separate computing device or network.
45 . The method of claim 44 , wherein the separate computing device further comprises:
at least one of a cell phone, personal digital assistant, desktop computer, laptop computer, portable music player, television, or set top box.
46 . The method of claim 44 , wherein the network further comprises:
Internet, intranet, home net, or other telephone or data net.
47 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the processing the scanned information further comprises:
at least one of submitting at least part of the scanned information to a search engine as part of a query, applying the scanned information at least in part to form a Uniform Resource Locator or other link to content of a network, applying at least part of the scanned information to at least in part determine a product or class of products, or advertisements associated therewith, or applying at least part of the scanned information to at least in part determine the contents of a menu of options presented in conjunction with a document interaction.
48 . The method of claim 47 , wherein the scanned information further comprises:
one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.
49 . The method of claim 48 , wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:
information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.
50 . The method of claim 47 , wherein the network further comprises:
Internet, intranet, home net, or other telephone or data net.
51 . A device, comprising:
a scanner;
a memory; and
logic that when applied to affect the operation of the device results in scanning information to a scanner memory, and
signaling a user of the device when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one action associated with the scanned information.
52 . The device of claim 51 , wherein scanning information further comprises:
applying at least one of a charge coupled device or a contact image sensor to a printed document or to an optical display.
53 . The device of claim 51 , wherein signaling a user of the device when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one action associated with the scanned information further comprises:
signaling a user of the device when sufficient information has been obtained to determine at least one document comprising the scanned information.
54 . The device of claim 53 , wherein the scanned information further comprises:
one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.
55 . The device of claim 54 , wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:
information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.
56 . The device of claim 53 , wherein the signaling a user of the device when sufficient information has been obtained further comprises:
changing the state of at least one light emitting diode, providing a tone, beep, or other auditory signal, providing an indication on a display, or producing a vibration.
57 . The device of claim 51 , wherein the scanned information further comprises:
one or more, or a combination of, an image fragment, text produced from an image fragment, a parametric representation of scanned symbols, or a statistical representation of scanned symbols.
58 . The device of claim 57 , wherein the parametric representation of scanned symbols further comprises:
information about at least one of a type or types of the scanned symbols, counts or relative positions of the scanned symbols of various types, an overall number of scanned symbols, a number of scanned words, a count of stop and non-stop words or symbols, or the frequency of occurrence of words or symbols of various types.
59 . The device of claim 51 , wherein the scanner memory further comprises:
at least one of a flash memory or a dynamically refreshed random access memory.
60 . The device of claim 51 , wherein signaling a user of the scanner when sufficient information has been obtained further comprises:
changing the state of at least one light emitting diode, providing a tone, beep, or other auditory signal, providing an indication on a display, or producing a vibration.
61 . The device of claim 51 , wherein the action associated with the scanned information further comprises:
at least one of a commerce operation, an annotation, a format operation, identifying an advertisement, or identifying a document.
62 . The device of claim 51 , wherein the scanner further comprises:
at least part of a pen-style device, at least part of a mouse, at least part of a cell phone, at least part of a remote control, or at least part of a personal digital assistant.