Patent ID: 8631490

Claim:
A portable electronic device, comprising: a processor; a hardware sensor integrated in the portable electronic device, the hardware sensor operable to produce hardware sensor output indicative of orientation or motion or both of the portable electronic device within its environment; a hardware user-input component integrated in the portable electronic device, the hardware user-input component having multiple elements operable to accept user input through touch; a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing: an operating system; a sensor driver for use by the operating system to interface with the hardware sensor; a user-input driver for use by the operating system to interface with the hardware user-input component, the user-input driver and operating system jointly operable to detect touch events involving the elements; and a software application, wherein, while the software application is executed by the processor as a process, the sensor driver or the operating system or both are configured to control what hardware sensor output, if any, is available to the process as follows: hardware sensor output sampled during first time periods is receivable by the process at a higher sampling rate and hardware sensor output sampled during second time periods is downsampled from the higher sampling rate to a lower sampling rate prior to being made receivable by the process, wherein the first time periods are those time periods throughout which the operating system is operable to notify the process of any detected touch events and the second time periods are those time periods throughout which the operating system is operable not to notify the process of any detected touch events.