System and method for enabling a person to switch use of computing devices

A method for enabling a person to switch use of computing devices, the method comprising:

• establishing a communication link between a first computing device and a second computing device;
• detecting at the second computing device an event corresponding to a switchover of an operation from a first application operating directly on the first computing device to a second application operating directly on the second computing device;
• receiving at the second computing device through the communication link, in response to detecting the event, (1) state information corresponding to a first state of use of the first application operational on the first computing device, the first state of use reflecting the operation performed on the first computing device, and (2) information identifying a record or document in an open state on the first computing device;
• and
• performing one or more actions at the second computing device on the second application, in response to acquiring the state information, for placing the second application in a second state of use equivalent to the first state of use, the one or more actions including:
• (1) displaying the operation on the second computing device at the switchover to continue the operation on the second computing device at where it is left off on the first computing device,
• (2) identifying a record or document on the second computing device that has correspondence to the identified record or document on the first computing device, and
• (3) providing the record or document on the second computing device in the open state.

A method for exchanging communication between a first computing device and a second computing device, wherein the first computing device maintains a first set of records and the second computing device maintains a second set of records that corresponds to the first set of records, the method comprising:

• performing one or more operations to establish correspondence between the first set of records and the second set of records, and to update the second set of records residing on the second computing device based on the first set of records residing on the first computing device;
• detecting a switchover event corresponding to a user operating the second computing device after operating the first computing device;
• in response to detecting the switchover event, causing state information to be received on the second computing device, wherein the state information identifies one or more records in the first set of records that are in an open or selected state;
• automatically identifying from the state information one or more records in the second set of records that correspond to the one or more records in the first set of records;
• causing the identified one or more records in the second set of records to be in the open or selected state.

A method for preserving state of use of application resources in applications, comprising:

• executing a first instance of an application, where the first instance of the application uses a first application resource, the first application resource including a record or document;
• detecting an event;
• responding to the event, performing:
• (1) identifying the record or document in an open state, and
• (2) preserving information about a state of use of the first application resource in the first instance of the application, the state of use including the record or document being in the open state;
• executing a second instance of the application;
• retrieving the information about the state of use;
• and
• placing the second instance of the application in a state of use that corresponds to the retrieved information about the state of use of the first instance of the application, comprising:
• (1) identifying the record or document, and
• (2) providing the record or document in the open state.