Smart-Device Spinner Toy

Abstract

A spinner toy that can hold a cellular telephone, particularly those telephones known as “smartphones”. The toy can take any shape, color or configuration, but has a cavity on its upper surface that can receive a smartphone usually laid flat with the screen facing upward. The bottom of the toy has a protruding area that acts as a pivot so that the toy can be spun on a surface. An optional application can run in the smartphone that uses the accelerometer(s), compass and the like to sense the direction the front of the toy is pointing when it stops spinning or how long it spun or how fast. Various games or activities can be programmed to request the person being pointed at to perform some activity.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A flat, spinable device having an upper and lower surface comprising:
 a cavity adapted to receive a handheld telephone in the upper surface of said device;   a pivot point on the lower surface of said device;   wherein, said device together with said handheld telephone can be spun on said pivot point;   a set of executable instructions configured to be stored and execute on a processor in a handheld telephone inserted into said cavity, said executable instructions capable of accessing sensors and a display in said handheld telephone and present data to the display relating to said device being spun.   
     
     
         2 . The flat spinable device of  claim 1  wherein said device has a head and a tail. 
     
     
         3 . The flat spinable device of  claim 1  wherein said executable instructions are configured to sense at least one of: final pointing direction of said device, speed of spin, and length of spin time. 
     
     
         4 . The flat spinable device of  claim 1  wherein said executable instructions are configured to request an action from a player pointed to by said device after the device stops spinning. 
     
     
         5 . The flat spinable device of  claim 1  wherein said sensors include a compass, accelerometer, camera, microphone or GPS 
     
     
         6 . The flat spinable device of  claim 1  wherein said device is themed as a bottle and said executable instructions are configured to show water sloshing on said display as the device is spun. 
     
     
         7 . The flat spinable device of  claim 1  wherein said device is themed as an arrow, a bottle or a large bug. 
     
     
         8 . The flat spinable device of  claim 1  wherein said set of executable instructions can be downloaded into a handheld telephone wirelessly from a network. 
     
     
         9 . The flat spinable device of  claim 1  wherein said set of executable instructions is configured to present different displays based on where the device is located, how fast the device is spun, or which direction the device is pointing. 
     
     
         10 . A spinable device having an upper and lower surface comprising:
 a member adapted to receive a smart electronic unit in the upper surface of said device;   a pivot region on the lower surface of said device;   wherein, said device together with said smart electronic unit can be spun on said pivot region;   a set of executable instructions configured to be stored and execute on a processor in a smart electronic unit inserted into said device, said executable instructions capable of accessing sensors and a display in said smart electronic unit and present data to the display relating to said device being spun.   
     
     
         11 . The spinable device of  claim 10  wherein said executable instructions are configured to sense at least one of: final pointing direction of said device, speed of spin, and length of spin time. 
     
     
         12 . The spinable device of  claim 10  wherein said executable instructions are configured to request an action from a player pointed to by said device after the device stops spinning. 
     
     
         13 . The spinable device of  claim 10  wherein said set of executable instructions is configured to cause said smart electronic unit to present different displays based on where the device is located, how fast the device is spun, or which direction the device is pointing. 
     
     
         14 . The spinable device of  claim 10  wherein the device is configured as a child's toy. 
     
     
         15 . A method for creating a spinable toy comprising:
 providing a flat member devoce with a cavity or holding region adapted and sized to receive and hold a smartphone;   configuring said flat member device with a rounded underside;   providing a set of executable instructions downloadable from a network into a smartphone that are configured to cause said smartphone to react to being spun.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein said flat member is themed as a child's toy. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  wherein said set of executable instructions accesses features in the smartphone including an accelerometer, a compass, a camera or a microphone. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15  wherein said executable instructions are configured to request an action from a player pointed to by said device after the device stops spinning. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15  wherein said executable instructions are configured to sense at least one of: final pointing direction of said device, speed of spin, and length of spin time. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15  wherein said set of executable instructions is configured to cause said smartphone to present different displays based on where the flat member device is located, how fast the flat member device is spun, or which direction the flat member device is pointing.