A device communication method applied to a field of communication technologies includes, in a process in which a user uses a mobile phone to assist a large-screen device with input, that another auxiliary device in a same distributed network as the large-screen device and the mobile phone preempts auxiliary input of the mobile phone and further assists, based on input content on the mobile phone, the large-screen device with input.

Methods and systems that provide enhanced personal video recorder (“PVR”) and interactive television program guide (“IPG”) functionality are provided. An interactive television application (“application”) may be implemented to provide such functionality. The application may be used to display a list of PVR recordings, to schedule recordings to a PVR, to configure recordings, to view a list of scheduled recordings, to configure recording settings, or to select delete priority settings for recordings. The application may integrate pay-per-view and PVR functionality. The application may send user notifications for changes that are to be made to the recording content of a PVR. Live programming may be buffered by the application using a straight buffers that are created for each new program. Parallel buffers for concurrent programs may be implemented using multiple tuners. Straight buffers may be used in managing or controlling the flow of programming. Television content may be automatically paused when a user is engaged in using the application. Multiple IPGs for different users of a PVR may be implemented. Other PVR related features are also provided.

A display apparatus is provided. The display apparatus includes a display configured to display a user interface window for receiving a letter input; a communication interface configured to receive a control instruction for inputting letters from a control device; and a controller configured to control the display to selectively display an on-screen keypad for inputting letters on the user interface window based on whether the control device includes letter keys for inputting letters.

Methods and systems that provide enhanced personal video recorder (PVR) and interactive television program guide (IPG) functionality are provided. An interactive television application (application) may be implemented to provide such functionality. The application may be used to display a list of PVR recordings, to schedule recordings to a PVR, to configure recordings, to view a list of scheduled recordings, to configure recording settings, or to select delete priority settings for recordings. The application may integrate pay-per-view and PVR functionality. The application may send user notifications for changes that are to be made to the recording content of a PVR. Live programming may be buffered by the application using a straight buffers that are created for each new program. Parallel buffers for concurrent programs may be implemented using multiple tuners. Straight buffers may be used in managing or controlling the flow of programming. Television content may be automatically paused when a user is engaged in using the application. Multiple IPGs for different users of a PVR may be implemented. Other PVR related features are also provided.

A software application and system that enables point-and-click interaction with a TV screen. The application determines geocode positioning information for a handheld device, and uses that data to create a virtual pointer for a television display or interactive device. Some embodiments utilize motion sensing and touchscreen input for gesture recognition interacting with video content or interactive device. Motion sensing can be coupled with positioning or localization techniques the user to calibrate the location of the interactive devices and the user location to establish and maintain virtual pointer connection relationships. The system may utilize wireless network infrastructure and cloud-based calculation and storage of position and orientation values to enable the handheld device in the TV viewing area to replace or surpass the functionality of the traditional TV remote control, and also interface directly with visual feedback on the TV screen.

Embodiments of this application disclose a terminal control method and a terminal. The method includes: obtaining, by a first terminal, text information that is input in a preset area of the first terminal, and determining an operation type of the text information; recognizing, by the first terminal, the text information based on the operation type, to obtain at least one key matching the text information; and generating, by the first terminal, a key value of each key, and sending the generated key value to a second terminal, to control the second terminal by using the key value. According to the embodiments of this application, processing efficiency and convenience of operation can be improved.

The disclosed methods and systems are related to a navigation of user interfaces that is vector based. Vector based navigation combines the efficiency of orthogonal direction navigation (up/down/left/right) with the flexibility of pointer-based (e.g. mouse/touch-pad) navigation. User interface elements can be arranged arbitrarily in 2D (or 3D) space and described in term of vector relationships from the currently active UI element. Directional gestures coming from control devices such as a track-ball, touch-pad, or gyroscopic remote can be translated into vector movements to affect navigation between UI elements.

A display apparatus is provided. The display apparatus includes a display configured to display a user interface window for receiving a letter input; a communication interface configured to receive a control instruction for inputting letters from a control device; and a controller configured to control the display to selectively display an on-screen keypad for inputting letters on the user interface window based on whether the control device includes letter keys for inputting letters.

The application provides a channel switching method for a display apparatus, and a display apparatus. The display apparatus includes: a display, a remote control, a communicator, an input interface and a controller, the controller is configured to perform: receiving a channel switch instruction generated from an input number, taking the input number as a digital channel number for a first round of channel search, and determining whether a first channel corresponding to the digital channel number exists in a channel table stored in the display apparatus; in response to the first channel not existing in the channel table, further processing the input number to obtain a processed input number and taking processed input number as a physical channel number for a second round of channel search; and in response to the first channel existing in the channel table, control the display to play content from the first channel.

A display apparatus is provided. The display apparatus includes a display configured to display a user interface window for receiving a letter input; a communication interface configured to receive a control instruction for inputting letters from a control device; and a controller configured to control the display to selectively display an on-screen keypad for inputting letters on the user interface window based on whether the control device includes letter keys for inputting letters.