A system for tracking the location of an electronic device includes an electronic device and a wireless location tag. The wireless location tag includes a microcontroller unit, and a modular connector interface configured to be communicatively coupled to a port of the electronic device. The wireless location tag is configured to establish an Internet connection to one or more backend electronic devices in response to detecting that the wireless location tag has been communicatively coupled to the port of the electronic device, obtain identifying information that is associated with the electronic device, and identify tag identifying information associated with the wireless location tag. The wireless location tag is also configured to send one or more instructions to the one or more backend electronic devices via the Internet connection, and send one or more ping messages to the one or more backend electronic devices.

A display apparatus transmits a picture acquisition request for getting picture information to an external image apparatus connected through a predetermined interface to the display apparatus from the external image apparatus at predetermined intervals and gets a plurality of pieces of picture information from the external image apparatus to be displayed. The plurality of pictures may be switched at predetermined intervals, for example, to be displayed, so that the plurality of pictures may be displayed in a so-called slide show manner. A plurality of pictures for thumbnail may be produced from the plurality of pieces of picture information and be arranged together to be displayed in one picture screen of a display device.

A document camera which operates with electric power supplied via a USB cable includes: an image pickup unit which picks up an image of a subject via a lens; a light source unit which emits light toward the subject; a drive unit which drives the lens; a detection unit which detects an amount of current supplied via the USB cable; and a control unit which controls an operation of the light source unit and the drive unit according to the amount of current detected by the detection unit.

An image recording apparatus, including: a housing; an image recording portion held by the housing; a control board having a mounting face and disposed in the housing such that the mounting face extends along a perpendicular plane perpendicular to a height direction, a control circuit for controlling the image recording portion being provided on the control board; and a communication board having a mounting face and disposed in the housing such that the mounting face extends along the perpendicular plane, such that the communication board is distant from the control board in a direction along the perpendicular plane, and such that the communication board is located within a height range ranging to the control board from a distal end of a highest one of mounted components mounted on the control board, an interface circuit to be connected to a telephone line being provided on the communication board.

The present invention provides a technique that simplifies operations for making appropriate print settings. Accordingly, a terminal apparatus serving as an information processing apparatus according to the present invention acquires, from a printing apparatus, information indicating the sheet type and size of the sheets set in each paper feed tray. Then, the terminal apparatus determines whether the acquired information includes a sheet type that matches a sheet type suitable for an attribute of information selected by a user as a print target. If it is determined that the information includes a sheet type that matches the suitable sheet type, the terminal apparatus generates print data including information designating a paper feed tray containing sheets of the matching sheet type, and transmits the generated print data to the printing apparatus.

A display apparatus transmits a picture acquisition request for getting picture information to an external image apparatus connected through a predetermined interface to the display apparatus from the external image apparatus at predetermined intervals and gets a plurality of pieces of picture information from the external image apparatus to be displayed. The plurality of pictures may be switched at predetermined intervals, for example, to be displayed, so that the plurality of pictures may be displayed in a so-called slide show manner. A plurality of pictures for thumbnail may be produced from the plurality of pieces of picture information and be arranged together to be displayed in one picture screen of a display device.

This invention relates to an imaging apparatus and an imaging method for supplying an optimum amount of image data to another apparatus. When a PDA 91 has a maximum transfer rate of 1.5 Mbps, a mobile phone 1 determines that a maximum speed of communication with the PDA 91 is low, reduces accordingly the amount of moving image data captured by a CCD of the mobile phone, and supplies the captured moving image data to the PDA 91. The PDA 91 displays a low-quality moving image 93 on its display unit. When the PDA 91 has a maximum transfer rate of 480 Mbps, the CPU of the mobile phone leaves unchanged the amount of moving picture data captured by the CCD and supplies the captured moving image data to the PDA 91. The PDA 91 then displays a high-quality moving image 94 on the display unit. This invention applies advantageously to digital cameras.

An image forming apparatus including applications and system side software for providing system side services to the applications is provided, in which the image forming apparatus includes: an authentication module for displaying an authentication screen on an operation panel of the image forming apparatus, wherein the authentication module allows the image forming apparatus to display a screen for using the image forming apparatus instead of the authentication screen if authentication data input from the authentication screen satisfies an authentication condition, and wherein the authentication module is provided in the image forming apparatus separately from the system side software.

A display apparatus transmits a picture acquisition request for getting picture information to an external image apparatus connected through a predetermined interface to the display apparatus from the external image apparatus at predetermined intervals and gets a plurality of pieces of picture information from the external image apparatus to be displayed. The plurality of pictures may be switched at predetermined intervals, for example, to be displayed, so that the plurality of pictures may be displayed in a so-called slide show manner. A plurality of pictures for thumbnail may be produced from the plurality of pieces of picture information and be arranged together to be displayed in one picture screen of a display device.

A scanning apparatus and a method thereof include a scanning unit scanning a document and outputting a scanned result, at least one external storage unit detachably attached to the apparatus, at least one internal storage unit, and a controller detecting an attachment state of the external storage unit and storing the scanned result in one of the external storage unit and the internal storage unit according to the attachment state of the external storage unit. The scanning unit of the scanning apparatus is combined with a user scanning unit and a user printing unit into a combination apparatus, and the scanned result is printed in a printing apparatus spaced-apart from the scanning apparatus by a distance, thereby removing cables between the scanning or printing apparatus and a personal computer. Regardless of an attachment state of the external storage unit, the document is scanned in the real time, and the scanning apparatus is commonly used with a plurality of personal computers which are not connected to the scanning apparatus.