Interaction between devices displaying application status information

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for displaying dynamic status information on a plurality of devices and enabling interactions between these devices are described. In an embodiment, a trigger signal is sent to one or more computing devices to trigger the launch of an application client on the computing device. The trigger signal is generated on another device in response to a user interacting with the displayed status information. This other device may be an impoverished device which displays status information for an application but is not capable of running the application client. In various embodiments, the status information is displayed in the form of a GUI element called a tile and this status information may be pushed to the device by a proxy server. The trigger signal may be sent to multiple devices or in some embodiments, a computing device may be selected to receive the trigger signal.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, at a device, a signal indicative of a user input associated with a GUI element displaying dynamic status information for an application; and   transmitting a trigger signal to a separate computing device, wherein the trigger signal is arranged to cause a client for the application to launch on the separate computing device and to provide an input to the client for the application.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying a master computing device from a candidate set of computing devices; and   wherein the trigger signal is transmitted to the master computing device.   
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 2 , wherein identifying a master computing device from a candidate set of computing devices comprises:
 identifying a candidate set of computing devices based on proximity; and   selecting one of the candidate set of computing devices.   
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 2 , wherein identifying a master computing device from a candidate set of computing devices comprises:
 identifying a candidate set of computing devices based on device location;   triggering an alert on each of the candidate set of devices; and   selecting one of the candidate set of computing devices based on user input on one of the candidate set of computing devices.   
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the signal indicative of a user input is generated by a user input device in response to a user interaction with the GUI element. 
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 5 , wherein the trigger signal is transmitted from a device comprising the user input device and a display arranged to display the GUI element to the computing device. 
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 6 , wherein the trigger signal is transmitted from the device comprising the user input device and display to the computing device via a proxy device. 
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 6 , wherein the device comprising the user input device and display comprises insufficient hardware resources to run the client for the application. 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the signal indicative of a user input associated with a GUI element comprises a trigger signal transmitted by a remote device and received at a proxy device and wherein transmitting a trigger signal to a separate computing device comprises:
 forwarding the trigger signal received from the remote device to the separate computing device.   
     
     
         10 . A system comprising a device arranged to display status update information for an application, the device comprising:
 a display arranged to display a GUI element displaying status information for an application; and   a communication interface arranged to transmit a trigger signal to a separate computing device, wherein the trigger signal is indicative of a user input associated with the GUI element and arranged to cause a client for the application to launch on the separate computing device and to provide an input to the client for the application.   
     
     
         11 . A system according to  claim 10 , wherein the trigger signal is transmitted to the separate computing device via a proxy device. 
     
     
         12 . A system according to  claim 10 , wherein the trigger signal is transmitted to a plurality of separate computing devices. 
     
     
         13 . A system according to  claim 10 , wherein the device is a small form factor device further comprising a processor and wherein the processor has insufficient resources to run the client for the application. 
     
     
         14 . A system according to  claim 10 , further comprising a proxy device, wherein the proxy device comprises:
 a processor;   a communication interface arranged to receive the trigger signal from the device and to forward the trigger signal to a computing device; and   a memory arranged to store device executable instructions, which when executed cause the processor to identify a candidate set of computing devices and select a computing device from the candidate set to which the trigger signal is forwarded.   
     
     
         15 . A system according to  claim 14 , wherein the candidate set of computing devices is selected based on proximity of the computing devices to the device displaying the GUI element. 
     
     
         16 . A system according to  claim 14 , wherein the computing device is selected from the candidate set based on a user input received at one of the computing devices in the candidate set. 
     
     
         17 . A system according to  claim 16 , wherein the communication interface in the device arranged to display the status update information or the communication interface in the proxy device is arranged to transmit a trigger alert signal to the candidate set of devices and wherein the user input is received at one of the candidate set of computing devices following the transmission of the alert signal. 
     
     
         18 . A system according to  claim 10 , further comprising the computing device, wherein the computing device comprises:
 a processor;   a communication interface arranged to receive the trigger signal from the device; and   a memory arranged to store device executable instructions, which when executed cause the processor to launch the client for the application on receipt of the trigger signal and to provide the trigger signal as an input to the client for the application.   
     
     
         19 . A system according to  claim 17 , wherein the memory in the computing device is further arranged to store device executable instructions, which when executed cause the processor to install the client for the application prior to launching the client for the application. 
     
     
         20 . A method comprising:
 receiving a signal from a device displaying a GUI element that shows dynamic status information for an application, the signal identifying a user interaction with the GUI element;   selecting a master computing device from a set of candidate computing devices; and   transmitting a trigger signal to the master computing device, wherein the trigger signal is arranged to cause a client for the application to launch on the master computing device and to provide an input to the client for the application.