U.S. patent application number 10/981573 was filed with the patent office on 2005-05-05 for client portal.
This patent application is currently assigned to Microsoft Corporation. Invention is credited to Alger, Jeffrey H., Guren, Clifford Owen.
Application Number | 20050097007 10/981573 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25399596 |
Filed Date | 2005-05-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050097007 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Alger, Jeffrey H. ; et
al. |
May 5, 2005 |
Client portal
Abstract
A client portal that is optimized to fulfill a specific
function. The portal can include a browser that is dedicated to
performing a particular task, such as reviewing and purchasing
electronic books. For example, to better perform the specific
function, the browser may only be able to directly access sites
designated by an authorized party, e.g., the browser's publisher.
Because the browser is dedicated to performing a single task, the
user interface for operating the dedicated browser may be
simplified to include only those controls useful for performing the
assigned task. Also, the content available for access by the client
portal can be controlled by a single authorized party, such as the
portal's publisher or distributor.
Inventors: |
Alger, Jeffrey H.; (Redmond,
WA) ; Guren, Clifford Owen; (Sammamish, WA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BANNER & WITCOFF LTD.,
ATTORNEYS FOR MICROSOFT
1001 G STREET , N.W.
ELEVENTH STREET
WASHINGTON
DC
20001-4597
US
|
Assignee: |
Microsoft Corporation
Redmond
WA
|
Family ID: |
25399596 |
Appl. No.: |
10/981573 |
Filed: |
November 5, 2004 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10981573 |
Nov 5, 2004 |
|
|
|
09892228 |
Jun 25, 2001 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/26.8 ;
705/27.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0641 20130101;
G06Q 30/0643 20130101; G06Q 30/0601 20130101; G06Q 30/06 20130101;
G06Q 30/0623 20130101; G06Q 30/0625 20130101; G06Q 30/0633
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/026 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/60 |
Claims
1. An application that uses content to perform a function,
comprising: a client portal for retrieving content from a network,
such that content retrieved by the client portal from the network
is seamlessly integrated into the application for use.
2. The application recited in claim 1, wherein the application
provides an interface for manipulating content retrieved from the
network; and the client portal retrieves content from the network
directly into the interface.
3. The application recited in claim 1, wherein the application is a
rendering application for displaying eBooks.
4. The application recited in claim 1, wherein the application is a
media player for playing electronic media.
5. The application recited claim 1, wherein the client portal is
capable of retrieving content from only preselected sites in the
network.
6. A client portal for facilitating the purchase of a particular
product, comprising: a browser capable of retrieving content from
only preselected sites that are related to providing the particular
product.
7. The client portal recited in claim 6, further including a memory
for storing the preselected sites.
8. The client portal recited in claim 6, wherein at least one of
the preselected sites lists other preselected sites.
9. The client portal recited in claim 6, wherein at least one of
the preselected sites lists sites that are available for
preselection.
10. The client portal recited in claim 6, wherein, when the browser
requests content from a site, the browser provides a header
identifying characteristics of the browser.
11. The client portal recited in claim 6, wherein at least one of
the preselected sites includes a catalog of items for purchase
through the client portal.
12. The client portal recited in claim 11, wherein the client
portal further includes a memory, and the catalog is downloaded to
the memory.
13. The client portal recited in claim 11, wherein the catalog
contains content from multiple content sources.
14. The client portal recited in claim 11, wherein the browser
identifies a user of the client portal; and the catalog contains a
selection of items for purchase based upon a previous purchase
history of the user.
15. The client portal recited in claim 11, wherein the browser
identifies a user of the client portal; and the catalog contains a
selection of items for purchase based upon a previous relationship
between the user and a content retailer.
16. A catalog of content available to a user through a client
portal, comprising: a first electronic page including a
representation of a first item available for purchase through the
client portal; a second electronic page including a representation
of a second item available for purchase through the client portal;
and a third electronic page including a representation of a third
item available for purchase through the client portal, such that
the first page, the second page and the third page are configured
for display by the client portal in a sequential order.
17. The catalog recited in claim 16, wherein the second page can be
retrieved by the client portal only through a first electronic link
contained in the first page and a second electronic link contained
in a table of contents page for the catalog.
18. The catalog recited in claim 17, wherein the third page can be
retrieved by the client portal only through a third electronic link
contained in the second page and a fourth electronic link contained
in the table of contents page for the catalog.
19. A method of purchasing products through a client portal,
comprising: connecting the client portal to a network; retrieving a
vendor's catalog from the network into the client portal during the
client portal's connection to the network; disconnecting the client
portal from the network; while the client portal is disconnected
from the network, selecting an item for purchase from the vendor's
catalog; reconnecting the client portal to the network; and during
the reconnection of the client portal to the network, sending a
purchase request to the vendor for the item.
20. The method of purchasing products recited in claim 19, wherein
the vendor's catalog includes a first electronic page including a
representation of a first item available for purchase through the
client portal; a second electronic page including a representation
of a second item available for purchase through the client portal;
and a third electronic page including a representation of a third
item available for purchase through the client portal, such that
the first page, the second page and the third page are configured
for display by the client portal in a sequential order.
21. The method of purchasing products recited in claim 19, wherein
the vendor's catalog is a catalog offering eBooks for purchase
through the client portal.
22. A method of purchasing products through a client portal,
comprising: connecting the client portal to a network; retrieving
from the network into the client portal during the client portal's
connection to the network both a vendor's catalog and content
offered in the vendor's catalog; disconnecting the client portal
from the network; while the client portal is disconnected from the
network, selecting content for purchase from the vendor's catalog,
and making the selected content available for use through the
client portal; reconnecting the client portal to the network; and
during the reconnection of the client portal to the network,
sending a purchase request to the vendor for the selected
content.
23. The method of purchasing products recited in claim 21, wherein
the vendor's catalog includes a first electronic page including a
representation of a first item available for purchase through the
client portal; a second electronic page including a representation
of a second item available for purchase through the client portal;
and a third electronic page including a representation of a third
item available for purchase through the client portal, such that
the first page, the second page and the third page are configured
for display by the client portal in a sequential order.
24. The method of purchasing products recited in claim 19, wherein
the vendor's catalog is a catalog offering eBooks for purchase
through the client portal.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention relates to a client portal optimized for
fulfilling a specific function. More particularly, the invention is
directed to a client portal for facilitating the performance of a
specific task, such as purchasing a particular type of item or
service (e.g., eBooks). The invention may be implemented, for
example, by a browser or other application that is dedicated to
performing a single task and which employs a user interface that is
simplified to only those controls useful for performing the
assigned task.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Early in their evolution, computers employed operating
systems such as MS-DOS.RTM. that used command line interfaces. That
is, a user controlled these operating systems by typing specific
commands on a command line. Similarly, the application programs
that ran on these early computers used command line interfaces.
While these operating systems and applications were very powerful,
they required a user to know a number of different specialized
commands in order to effectively operate a computer. The complexity
of these commands severely limited the number of people who could
use a computer. Many people who did not have the time or ability to
learn the necessary commands were unable to operate these
computers, or at least unable to operate them effectively.
[0003] As computers evolved, software developers created both
operating systems and applications that were simpler to learn and
use. For example, the Windows.RTM. operating system provided
graphical user interfaces instead of command line interfaces. This
allowed users to operate a computer simply by moving or activating
icons. Also, instead of having to remember a specific command, a
user could now activate a menu that would list all of the available
commands. The user could then activate the desired command by, for
example, moving a displayed cursor to the listing of that command
and pressing an activation button (sometimes referred to as
"clicking on" the command).
[0004] The Windows.RTM. operating system had a dramatic effect on
the use of computers around the globe. Rather than having to learn
a detailed list of user commands, a user could now employ almost
any software application with only a rudimentary knowledge of that
application and its underlying operating system. This revolution
has opened the use of computers to a wide segment of the
population, from small children too young to read to senior
citizens. In turn, it has led to the exponential and ubiquitous use
of computers in all walks of society.
[0005] Similarly, the development of the hypertext markup language
(HTML) has spurred the growth of an entirely new economy
implemented over computer networks, such as the Internet. While the
Internet has existed in one form or another for decades, it was
difficult for the ordinary person to navigate the Internet.
Instead, a user typically had to be skilled in telnet and the file
transfer protocol (FTP) to consistently obtain information over the
Internet. With the advent of HTML and the World Wide Web, users now
routinely employ browsers (i.e., software applications for
retrieving and displaying markup language pages from the Internet)
to perform almost every type of commercial transaction, including
buying and reading books in electronic form.
[0006] This growth in the use of computers to conduct business over
the Internet has created some problems, however. For example, in
order to obtain content from the Internet, a user must employ a
browser program, but these browser programs have become very
complex. Part of the problem with these browser programs is that
they must offer a generalized interface in order to accomplish a
variety of tasks and goals. In order to perform this variety of
tasks and goals, these browser programs must be complex, with a
large number of commands and control options. Thus, many
individuals still find this software difficult to use, and these
people have been cut off from the benefits provided by the new
digital marketplace.
[0007] Further, as more and more information is accessible over the
Internet, it becomes more and more difficult to isolate information
useful for a particular purpose. For example, a number of companies
maintain Web sites for selling electronic books over the Internet.
If a user does not know the specific Internet address for one of
these Web sites, however, the user may have to employ a search
engine to obtain one. Depending upon the user's search criteria,
the search results produced by the search engine may include only a
few useful Web sites, if any at all. Alternately, the search
results may include several useful Web sites, but list these useful
Web sites among so many other unrelated Web sites that the user
must tediously parse through all of the results to identify those
Web sites that are pertinent.
[0008] Moreover, once a user has located a useful Web site and
would like to make a purchase, the process of making the purchase
may be difficult or confusing for the user. For example, one
merchant may require the user to submit a great deal of
information, such as the user's age, education, occupation, email
address, etc. Another merchant, on the other hand, may only require
the user's credit card information and the delivery address. Some
merchants may accept electronic cash, while still other merchants
may accept only charges to a well-established credit card account.
Further, some merchants may require a new user to set up a
permanent account in order to make a purchase, while other
merchants may allow a user to make a one-time purchase. Still
further, if the user has not made a previous purchase from the
merchant, the user may be uncertain as to the honesty of the
merchant or the quality of the merchant's goods. Also, even after a
user has located and accessed a useful Web site, the Web site may
not have its information organized in a convenient fashion. Some
merchants may provide a detailed description and image of each
product, while other merchants may only give a list of its
products, identifying each with only a short reference.
[0009] The wide variety in the access, use and format of different
commercial Web sites make it difficult for some user's to employ
multiple sites. Instead, many users locate only a few sites that
they feel comfortable navigating and purchasing from, and then
limit their future purchases to just those Web sites. Also, while
some software for making purchases over the Internet (e.g.,
browsers) allow a user to save the Internet addresses of useful Web
sites once they've been located, the addresses for these sites can
be changed or deleted without updating the user's software. Thus, a
user may be unable to identify a favorite Web site if its address
is changed. Moreover, if a user is purchasing content for use with
a software application, the user cannot do so in a single step.
Instead, the user must separately locate the relevant content,
purchase the content, download the content, and then integrate the
content with the application, each in a different operation.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The various embodiments of the invention relate to a device
for making purchases over the Internet, i.e., a client portal,
which is optimized for fulfilling a specific function or performing
a particular task. For example, the client portal may be optimized
for reviewing and purchasing electronic books (hereafter referred
to as eBooks). To achieve this optimization, the client portal may
have limited or specific functionality. Thus, the client portal may
only access sites from a list of available sites preselected or
maintained by an authorized party, such as the portal's publisher.
Still further, some embodiments of a client portal according to the
invention may only access those sites that offer the product that
the portal is optimized to purchase (e.g., eBooks). Additionally,
the portal may be implemented as part of an application (e.g., an
eBook reader) such that the portal seamlessly retrieves content
from a network and integrates the content into the application in a
single operation.
[0011] Because the portal is dedicated to performing a specific
task, the user interface for operating the dedicated portal may
also be simplified to include only those controls useful for
performing the assigned task. This interface simplification makes
the dedicated client portal easier to use for the assigned task
than, e.g., a general-purpose browser program. Further, dedicating
the client portal to a specific task allows the authorized party to
maintain a degree of control over the use of the portal, thereby
permitting the authorized party to sell access through the client
portal. Moreover, the authorized party can ensure that the
merchants that maintain the preselected sites present their
information in a consistent manner, so that the user can easily
navigate all of the preselected sites. For example, the authorized
party can ensure that all of the preselected sites selling eBooks
organize the titles of the eBooks into catalogs based upon, e.g.,
genre, time period, authors, etc. Further, the authorized party can
ensure that all of the merchants that maintain preselected sites
are reputable, and employ consistent financial transactions for the
purchase of their products.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates one possible computing
device for implementing various embodiments of the invention.
[0013] FIG. 2 shows a generic user interface for a conventional
browser.
[0014] FIG. 3 schematically depicts a dedicated client portal
according to one embodiment of the invention.
[0015] FIG. 4 shows a first user interface according to one
embodiment of the invention.
[0016] FIG. 5 shows a second user interface according to one
embodiment of the invention.
[0017] FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate catalog pages from a catalog for
obtaining items for purchase according to embodiments of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] Devices For Implementing Various Embodiments Of The
Invention
[0019] Various embodiments of the invention can be implemented with
computer systems, such as the exemplary computer system illustrated
in FIG. 1. The system includes a general purpose computing device
in the form of a conventional personal digital assistant, personal
computer or network server 120 or the like, including a processing
unit 121, a system memory 122, and a system bus 123 that couples
various system components including the system memory 122 to the
processing unit 121. The system bus 123 may be any of several types
of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a
peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus
architectures. The system memory includes read-only memory (ROM)
124 and random access memory (RAM) 125. A basic input/output system
126 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer
information between elements within the personal computer 120, such
as during startup, is stored in ROM 124.
[0020] The personal computer or network server 120 may further
include a hard disk drive 127 for reading from and writing to a
hard disk (not shown), a magnetic disk drive 128 for reading from
or writing to a removable magnetic disk 129, and an optical disk
drive 130 for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk
131 such as a CD-ROM or other optical media. The hard disk drive
127, magnetic disk drive 128, and optical disk drive 130 are
connected to the system bus 123 by a hard disk drive interface 132,
a magnetic disk drive interface 133, and an optical drive interface
134, respectively. The drives and their associated
computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage of computer
readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other
data for the personal computer or network server 120. Although the
exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk, a
removable magnetic disk 129 and a removable optical disk 131, it
should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types
of computer readable media which can store data that is accessible
by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards,
digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories
(RAMs), read-only memories (ROMs) and the like may also be used in
the exemplary operating environment.
[0021] A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk
127, magnetic disk 129, optical disk 131, ROM 124 or RAM 125,
including an operating system 135 (e.g., the Windows CE,
Windows.RTM. 2000, Windows NT.RTM., or Windows 95/98 operating
system), one or more application programs 136 (e.g. Word, Access,
Pocket PC, Pocket Outlook, etc.), other program modules 137 and
program data 138. A user may enter commands and information into
the personal computer 120 through input devices such as a keyboard
140 and pointing device 142. Other input devices (not shown) may
include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite disk, scanner,
touch pad, touch screen, or the like. These and other input devices
are often connected to the processing unit 121 through a serial
port interface 46 that is coupled to the system bus 123, but may be
connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port,
universal serial bus (USB), or a 1394 high-speed serial port. A
monitor 147 or other type of display device is also connected to
the system bus 123 via an interface, such as a video adapter 148.
In addition to the monitor 147, personal computers typically
include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as
speakers and printers.
[0022] The personal digital assistant, personal computer or network
server 120 may operate in a networked environment using logical
connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote
computer 149. The remote computer 149 may be another personal
digital assistant, personal computer or network server, a router, a
network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and
typically includes many or all of the elements described above
relative to the personal computer 120, although only a memory
storage device 150 has been illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, a
personal digital assistant using a Windows CE operating system can
operate as a standalone computer, or as a connected extension of a
personal computer. The logical connections depicted in FIG. 1
include a local area network (LAN) 151 and a wide area network
(WAN) 152. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices,
enterprise-wide computer networks, Intranets and the Internet.
[0023] When used in a LAN networking environment, the personal
digital assistant, personal computer or network server 120 is
connected to the local network 151 through a network interface or
adapter 153. When used in a WAN networking environment, the
personal digital assistant, personal computer or network server 120
typically includes a modem 154 or other means for establishing
communications over the wide area network 152, such as the
Internet. The modem 154, which may be internal or external, is
connected to the system bus 123 via the serial port interface 146.
In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to
the personal digital assistant, personal computer or network server
120, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory
storage device 150. It will be appreciated that the network
connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a
communications link between the computers may be used.
[0024] Conventional Browsers
[0025] As is well known in the art, a browser is a software program
that can be implemented on a computer system that allows a user to
view (or "browse") documents written in the hypertext markup
language (HTML), as well as other files and software related to
those HTML documents. While browsers are typically used to access
Web pages over the Internet (i.e., HTML documents residing on
computer servers using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol), those of
ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that browsers can also be
used to browse information from other sources, such as other
networks, an intranet, or the local hard drive. Conventional
browsers are also typically capable of downloading files,
transferring files, displaying graphic images embedded in a HTML
document, and executing programs such as Java.TM. applets or
ActiveX.RTM. controls. Accordingly, browsers are often used to
purchase goods or services over the Internet. For example, a user
may use a browser both to select an item for purchase from a Web
page provided by merchant, and then to provide credit card
information to the merchant to complete the purchase.
[0026] FIG. 2 shows a generic user interface 201 for a conventional
browser. As seen in this figure, the browser interface 201 includes
a first task bar 202 with a number of command buttons 203-208
entitled "File," "Edit," "View," "Go," "Favorites," and "Help,"
respectively. The interface 201 also includes a second task bar 409
with still more command buttons 210-218, entitled "Back,"
"Forward," "Stop," "Refresh," "Home," "Search," "Favorites,"
"Print," and "Mail," respectively, and a third task bar 219, with
command buttons 220-224 entitled "News," "Sports," "Weather,"
"Money," and "Food," respectively. These commands allow the browser
to perform a variety of functions. For example, activating the
"Edit" command button 204 may produce a command menu that includes
commands allowing a user to cut text or images from a document,
paste text or images to a document, delete text or images from a
document, or select text or images in a document for any of these
procedures. Similarly, activating the "Favorites" command button
216 will provide the user with a list of Universal Resource Locator
(URL) addresses for previously selected Web sites. Activating the
"Home" command button 222 might cause the browser to retrieve and
display a preselected Web page that the user has designated as a
default page.
[0027] The browser interface 201 also has a display portion 225 for
displaying retrieved documents, and an address line 226. The
address line 226 allows a user to enter the URL address of a HTML
document (hereafter referred to as a page or Web page for
convenience only) to be retrieved by the browser. As is known in
the art, the URL defines a request for a specific page, document or
file stored on a server computer in the network. The browser then
sends this request to a router for the network, which uses the URL
address to pass the request onto the appropriate server computer
with the desired page, object or file. While the address line
allows a user to retrieve any accessible Web page, if the user
mistypes the URL then the browser may retrieve an incorrect page or
fail to retrieve a page altogether.
[0028] A Client Portal According to one Embodiment of the
Invention
[0029] FIG. 3 schematically depicts a dedicated client portal 301
according to one embodiment of the invention. As seen in this
figure, the client portal 301 includes a set of operating functions
302 and a memory 303. The client portal 301 provides access to
obtain and convey information over a network such as the Internet.
In order to provide this access, the operating functions 302 may
include many of the functions typically associated with a
conventional browser. For example, the operating functions 302 may
include all of the functions necessary to operate a browser as
known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The operating
functions 302 for this particular embodiment of the invention also
preferably include objects to provide at least two user interfaces,
interface 304 and interface 305. Each of these interfaces will be
discussed in greater detail below.
[0030] The embodiment of the client portal 301 illustrated in FIG.
3 is specifically for the sale and subsequent viewing of eBooks.
More particularly, the client portal 301 is an expression of a
browser in a rendering application for displaying eBooks. The
portal memory 303 for this particular embodiment of the invention
preferably has at least three portions, entitled "Library 306,"
"Bookstore 307," and "Guidebook 308." Each of these portions also
will be explained in greater detail below as well.
[0031] All of the various components of the client portal 301 may
reside on a single memory medium for a local computer like that
described above with reference to FIG. 1. Alternately, portions of
the client portal 301 may be divided among different memory media
for a local computer (i.e., it may be divided between RAM and ROM
memories, between a hard drive and a RAM memory, etc.), or even
among memory media for the local computer and memory media residing
with a remote computer. For example, while the operating functions
302 may reside on a local computer, the Bookstore 307 portion of
the portal memory 303 may reside on a remote computer connected to
the local computer via a network, such as the Internet. Similarly,
the Library 306 and/or Guidebook 308 portions of the portal memory
303 may also reside on a remote computer connected to the local
computer via a network. Some embodiments of the invention may even
have the entire memory 303 located on a remote computer connected
to the local computer via a network. Those of ordinary skill in the
art will appreciate that a number of possible variations in the
location of the components of the portal 301 are possible.
[0032] Those of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate that
one or more of the components of the portal 301 may be shared with
or borrowed from other software programs. For example, because the
client portal 301 may perform many of the functions typically
associated with a conventional browser, portions of the operating
functions 302 may be shared with, or borrowed from, a browser
program employed by the local computer, such as Microsoft Internet
Explorer.
[0033] In order to streamline the operation of the client portal
301 and simplify its use for consumers, the functions 302 of the
client portal may preferably be limited to only those necessary to
perform a specific task. For example, if the client portal 301 is
configured to purchase a particular type of goods or services
(e.g., eBooks) over a network such as the Internet, the client
portal 301 may limit the user's access to points on the network to
only those that offer the particular type of goods or services for
purchase. Further, the client portal 301 may provide the user with
user interfaces that include only the commands necessary to examine
and purchase that particular type of goods or services.
[0034] The client portal 301 may also limit the user to the
purchase of goods or services from particular vendors. This allows
the publisher or distributor of the client portal 301 to restrict
the use of the portal 301 to purchases from only those vendors
that, e.g., are trustworthy, have an agreement with the publisher
or distributor, etc. Thus, the client portal 301 may be seen as a
filter that filters out extraneous information for the user,
thereby providing the user with only the information the user needs
to purchase the particular type of goods or services from
particular vendors for which the client portal 301 has been
configured.
[0035] One exemplary embodiment of the client portal 301, as shown
in FIG. 3, is for use as part of a reader for purchasing and
subsequently reading eBooks, as previously mentioned. Accordingly,
when a user activates the client portal 301 according to this
embodiment of the invention, the operating functions 302 operate to
provide the user with the user interface 304, shown in FIG. 4. As
seen in this figure, the user interface 304 is much simpler than
the user interface 201 for a conventional browser shown in FIG. 2.
For example, the client portal interface 304 shown in FIG. 4 only
has three display areas. Display area 401 displays the content
retrieved by the client portal 301, display area 402 displays the
title of the content retrieved by portal 301, and display area 403
shows the "page number" of the content currently being displayed in
display area 401.
[0036] In addition, the operating functions 302 of the client
portal 301 may be configured in any way useful to provide features
that facilitate the particular use for the client portal 301. Thus,
in the above-described embodiment for reading and viewing eBooks,
the operating functions 302 may display the content retrieved by
the client portal 301 in a manner similar to that of actual paper
books or catalogs. For example, the operating functions 302 may
divide the retrieved content into individual page segments with
corresponding page numbers. A user may then skip to the next (or
previous) sequential page segment by activating the page turn
command 408 (to be discussed below), instead of having to scroll
through the content as with a conventional browser. Further, the
user may access a specific portion of the retrieved eBook simply by
referring to its page number.
[0037] The interface 304 includes a "Library" command button 404,
which instructs the portal 301 to retrieve the contents of the
Library 306 portion of the memory 303. The Library 306 contains a
listing of the eBooks and other content accessible to the portal
301 for viewing by the user. For example, if the user has
previously employed the portal to download, e.g., Tom Sawyer by
Mark Twain, The Inferno by Dante, the King James Bible and the
October, 2000 issue of Slate magazine, each of these items will be
listed in the Library 306. This listing may be contained, for
example, in an eBook page, a HTML page, a XML page or in a page of
any other suitable type of format for rendering content in the
Library 306 portion of the memory 303. For example, as is known in
the art, one well-known eBook format, commonly referred to as the
".lit" format, is a variant of the HTML format that has been
converted to a binary listing. These content rendering formats,
including the ".lit" format, will be well known to those of
ordinary skill in the art, and thus will not be discussed here in
further detail.
[0038] Accordingly, when the user activates the "Library" command
button 404, the client portal 301 retrieves and displays the page
of content listing each of these items. This content page (not
shown) may also preferably contain a link to each listed item, so
that the user can retrieve a desired item for viewing simply by
activating the link. It should be noted that an item listed in the
Library 306 portion of the memory 303 may represent content that
has actually been downloaded by the client portal 301 for viewing.
With some embodiments of the invention, an item may alternately
represent content for which the client portal 301 has only.
obtained the information (e.g., password information) necessary to
download the content in the future.
[0039] Like the "Library" command button 404, the "Bookstore"
command button 405 causes the portal 301 to retrieve the contents
of the Bookstore 307 portion of the memory 303. The Bookstore 307
portion of the memory 303 contains a listing of the locations
(e.g., Web pages or Web sites) accessible to the client portal 301
for obtaining new content. This listing may be, for example, a set
of Web sites displayed in the eBook page 409 as shown in FIG. 4.
Accordingly, when the user activates the "Bookstore" command button
405, the portal 301 retrieves the eBook page 409 listing each of
the accessible Web pages or Web sites. Each listing on this eBook
page 409 may also preferably be a link to the listed Web page or
site, so that the user can instruct the portal 301 to access and
display a desired page or site for viewing simply by activating the
listing of the site on the eBook page 409.
[0040] The "Guidebook" command button 406 causes the client portal
301 to retrieve the contents of the Guidebook 308 portion of the
memory 303. Preferably, the Guidebook 308 portion contains an
instruction manual explaining the operation of the client portal
301. The "Return" command button 407 causes the client portal 301
to display the most recently displayed content (i.e., the content
displayed just prior to the currently displayed content.)
[0041] As previously noted, the user interface 304 also provides
the page up/down button 408, which is located in the display area
403. This button 408 advances the view of the content displayed in
the display area 401 in page-sized increments, just as with a
conventional paper book. It should be noted that the use of page
increments to view rendered content, rather than using conventional
scrolling, is more familiar to users who are accustomed to turning
individual pages in a book or catalog. Thus, the use of
consistently-sized page increments is yet another feature of some
embodiments of the invention that serves to facilitate commercial
transactions over a communications network such as the
Internet.
[0042] In the example shown in FIG. 4, the display area 401
displays the first "page" of the contents of the Library 306, so
the page up/down command button 408 appears as a single arrow in
the display area 403. Of course, as known to those of ordinary
skill in the art, if the second or subsequent "page" of the
contents of the Library 306 were displayed, then the page up/down
command button 408 would appear as two oppositely directed
arrows.
[0043] It should be noted that the client portal interface 304 does
not have an address line that would allow a user to type in a URL
as with a conventional browser to access new content (i.e., content
that has not been previously stored in the client portal's memory).
Rather, as previously indicated, the user activates the "Bookstore"
command button to retrieve the eBook or HTML page 409 listing the
Web pages or sites that are accessible to the portal 301 for
retrieving new content. The particular page 409 shown in FIG. 4
contains three site listings 410-412. To access any of these Web
pages or sites, the user simply activates the link to that site
contained in its listing. This causes the client portal 301 to send
the URL for the listed page or site to a router and onto the
appropriate server to obtain that page or site.
[0044] It should also be noted that the page 409 does not provide a
mechanism for a user to add new Web sites to its list of accessible
sites (although the interface 304 may allow a user to activate a
command to delete a Web site from the list, as is know in the art).
Instead, the page 409 also includes a listing 410 for a Web site
entitled "Bookstore Directory." To add a new site to the Bookstore
307 portion of the client portal memory 303, the user must first
access the "Bookstore Directory" Web site by activating the
bookstore directory site listing 410, as will be explained below.
Thus, in order to access a new Web page whose address was not
originally stored in the client portal memory 303, the user must
obtain the address for the new Web page from the bookstore
directory site.
[0045] When the user activates the bookstore directory site listing
410, the client portal 301 retrieves the content from the Bookstore
Directory site, and displays the retrieved content using the
interface 305 as shown in FIG. 5. As seen in this figure, the
interface 305 does not include any of the command buttons 404-407
of the first interface 304. Instead, the interface 305 has a
navigation bar 501 with four navigation command buttons 502-505:
the "back" command button 502, the "forward" command button 503,
the "stop" command button 504 and the "refresh" command button 505.
These command buttons and their functions are well known with
respect to conventional browsers, and thus will not be described in
detail. The interface 305 also includes a first display area 506
for displaying the name of the retrieved content and a second
display area 507 for displaying the retrieved content itself.
[0046] As also shown in FIG. 5, the content 508 of the Bookstore
Directory site may be interactive, i.e., it may accept commands
from the user in addition to simply displaying information. For
example, the content 508 illustrated in FIG. 5 includes two
listings 509 and 510 of new Web sites available to the client
portal 301 (i.e., Web sites that are not listed in the bookstore
page 409, but which may still be accessed through the client portal
301). Each listing includes the name 511 for the Web site and an
activation button 512. When the user wants to add a link to or a
URL for the listed Web site to the bookstore page 409, the user
selects the activation button 512 corresponding to the name 511 of
the desired title. This causes the name and URL for the Web site
(and any other pertinent information) to be downloaded to the
client portal 301 and stored in the Bookstore portion 307 of the
portal memory 303 for future inclusion on the list 409 of sites
accessible to the client portal 301.
[0047] In this manner, a user unfamiliar with the operation of a
conventional browser can easily add new sites accessible to the
client portal 301 of the invention. At the same time, the user can
maintain some control over the list 409 of sites accessible to the
client portal 301. For example, if the page 508 listing the
available locations or sites includes fifty different vendors, the
user may select only one or two of his or her favorite vendors for
access through the client portal 301. Thus, by giving the user
control to limit the number of possible vendors from page 508 to
those selected for the list 409, the invention allows the user to
avoid being overwhelmed by a large number of possible vendors on
the page 508. Further, the distributor or publisher of the client
portal 301 can change or update the listing the locations or sites
available for access by the client portal 301 at any time, without
the need to contact the client portal 301, simply by changing or
updating the content of page 508. Still further, the publisher or
distributor of the client portal 301 (or other authorized party)
can determine which network locations or sites are available for
access by the client portal 301. As will be discussed in detail
below, this control of access provides a number of benefits for
both the client portal's user and its publisher or distributor (or
other authorized party).
[0048] It should be noted that, with these embodiments of the
invention, the user of the reader does not need to obtain content
for the reader using a separate application (e.g., a browser) and
then integrate the content into the reader for viewing in a
separate operation. Instead, content retrieved by the client portal
301 is seamlessly integrated into the rendering portion of the
eBook reader for display in the interface 304 or the interface 305.
That is, with these embodiments, the retrieved content is displayed
in the interface 304 or the interface 305, and manipulated using
only the simplified set of commands provided in these interfaces
rather than with the numerous commands that are provided in a
conventional browser. Thus, if the retrieved content is the
Bookstore Directory site, the contents of this site are seamlessly
displayed by the reader in interface 305 similar to the display of
an eBook in interface 304. Likewise, if the retrieved content is,
e.g., a catalog of eBooks available to purchase from one of the
sites listed on the Bookstore Directory site, the catalog is
displayed in the interface 305 similar to the display of an eBook
in interface 304.
[0049] Accordingly, with a client portal according to these
embodiments of the invention, a user does not need to obtain
content from a browser in a first operation, and then transfer the
content to the application that will employ the content in a
second, separate operation. Of course, this feature of the
invention is not limited to the purchase and reading of eBooks. For
example, other embodiments of the invention can be used with a
media player application for playing back electronic media (e.g.,
for audibly playing MP3 files, visually displaying JPEG files,
etc.). With these embodiments, a user can employ the client portal
301 according to the invention to list only Web sites that offer
electronic media, and then to retrieve content from these sites
directly into the media player.
[0050] While the embodiment of the invention described above
advantageously employs the Bookstore Directory content 508 to list
network locations or sites available for access by the client
portal 301, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that
other embodiments of the invention can omit this feature. For
example, other embodiments of the invention may arrange for the
Bookstore page 409 to automatically include all of the sites or
locations available for access by the client portal 301, without
allowing the user to select the sites or locations appear on this
page.
[0051] As previously noted, the specificity of the Web site access
permitted to the client portal 301 provides a number of benefits to
both the portal user and to the publisher or distributor of the
client portal 301. For example, limiting access to particular sites
allows the portal 301 to be optimized for its particular task, such
as retrieving and viewing eBooks. The party authorized to maintain
the Bookstore Directory Web site, e.g., the publisher or
distributor of the client portal 301, or another authorized party
such as a merchant affiliated with the publisher or distributor of
the client portal 301, can ensure that all of the new sites
accessible through the bookstore directory offer eBooks for
downloading to the portal 301. Thus, if a merchant wants to begin
selling goods or services compatible with the specific purpose of
the client portal 301 (e.g., eBooks), the authorized party can add
that merchant's Web site to the list 508. Similarly, if a listed
merchant decides to no longer provide goods or services for the
client portal 301, the authorized party can delete that merchant's
Web site from the list 508. This relieves the user of the need to
search for sites offering eBooks, or to maintain a list of favorite
sites offering eBooks.
[0052] Further, having the authorized party retain control over the
use of the client portal 301 empowers the authorized party to
maintain the quality and consistency of the sites accessible
through the client portal 301. It also allows the authorized party
to collect information on the user's preferences (i.e., the user's
tastes in literature), in order to assist the user in accessing
other desirable content. For example, the publisher or distributor
of the client portal 301 may be able to determine that a user
favors books in a particular genre of literature, such as horror
novels. The publisher or distributor can then make other content
available for access through the client portal 301 that may be of
interest to that user, such as a catalog for purchasing Goth-style
clothing or a catalog for purchasing horror movies on VHS or DVD.
For example, if the user purchases a book on birds of North
America, the publisher or distributor can offer the user the
opportunity to purchase a book on the flowers of North America.
Similarly, if a publisher of a medical textbook can include a link
within that content that provides an offer to the user to purchase
a medical terminology dictionary. Thus, by retaining control of the
content available for access by the client portal 301, the
publisher or distributor of the client portal 301 (or other
authorized party) can effectively cross-market merchandise from
different vendors for the benefit of the user.
[0053] Still further, permitting the publisher or distributor or
other authorized party to retain control over the sites accessible
through the client portal 301 allows the publisher or distributor
or other authorized party to remove accessible content from that
the user does not regularly view. For example, if the client portal
301 is optimized for the purchase of clothing, it may initially be
able to access content including catalogs for the purchase of
children's clothes. If the user is, e.g., a college student,
however, he or she may not ever use the client portal 301 to
purchase children's clothes. When the publisher, distributor, or
other authorized party determines that the user does not use the
client portal 301 to purchase children's clothes, it may then
remove the portal's access to the catalog for children's clothes,
and provide the portal 301 with access to a vendor's catalog for
college-aged clothes instead.
[0054] Thus, the portal 301 distributor, publisher or other
authorized party can manage the content access available to the
client portal 301 much like a landlord manages the tenants renting
space from a shopping mall. The distributor, publisher or other
authorized party can limit the access of the client portal 301 to
the purchase of a particular type of item (e.g., eBooks), or to
making purchases from a particular group of vendors (e.g., those
vendors that have affiliated themselves with the distributor,
publisher or other authorized party). Further, with some
embodiments of the invention, the distributor, publisher or other
authorized party can tailor the "tenants" of the "mall" to match
the buying habits of the user.
[0055] Catalogs for Purchasing Items Using the Client Portal
According to the Invention
[0056] Returning now to FIG. 4, a user can access either of the
sites identified in listing 411 and 412 to purchase goods or
services with the client portal 301 (in this example, to purchase
eBooks). In some embodiments of the invention, the client portal
301 can display the content of these purchase sites using the
interface 305. With other embodiments of the invention, the client
portal 301 may display the content of these purchase sites using an
interface for a conventional browser, such as the browser interface
201 shown in FIG. 2.
[0057] As previously discussed, because the client portal 301
according to the described embodiment of the invention may only
access sites selected by an authorized party, that authorized party
may be able to control the format of those accessible sites. This
allows the authorized party to provide the user with consistent
formatting, so that a user will be able to easily navigate through
any site accessed through the client portal 301.
[0058] One preferred format for presenting content at the purchase
sites is electronic catalogs. For the purposes of this application,
an electronic catalog is a sequential listing of information for
items, where the position of the information for each item bears
some relationship to the previously described item and the next
sequentially described item. For example, as with conventional
paper catalogs, an electronic catalog is arranged into a series of
sequential pages. The items described in the catalog are then
arranged in some type of specific order, so that the catalog's
merchant can tell a particular "story" about its product. For
example, a book vendor may want user to view the current
bestseller's first, and then view its seasonal books (e.g., horror
books for Halloween) next. It may then want users to be able to
view its entire library according to selected genre categories.
Another book vendor, however, may users to view its sale items
first, and then view the current bestsellers.
[0059] Because the electronic catalogs according to the invention
present the items for purchase in a sequential order designated by
the merchant, both merchants can have a user sequentially view its
products in the order in which it desires. This arrangement is
different from conventional product disclosures, which list
available products using HTML pages. With these conventional HTML
listings, a user jumps from product to product in a random order.
Of course, according to the electronic catalogs of the invention, a
user can view a particular product out of sequence by using a table
of contents to skip ahead to the particular page on which that
product is described. In the normal course of leafing through the
catalog, however, the user will view the merchant's products in the
particular order desired by the merchant.
[0060] In addition to allowing a merchant to display its items to a
user in a particular sequence, by arranging the available products
into catalogs, a user can also more easily navigate through the
catalogs to locate items the user desires to purchase. FIG. 6 shows
a first page 601 of one possible electronic catalog for selling
eBooks. The catalog page 601 may be an eBook page, an HTML page, or
a page written in some other suitable content rendering format. As
seen in FIG. 6, the page 601 may include the name or brand 602 of
the merchant selling the eBooks (e.g., the merchant maintaining the
purchase site) and a list of a number links 603 to other pages in
the catalog. When the user identifies the page of a subject of
interest, the user then activates the link 603 for that page. This
causes the client portal 301 to retrieve the page for that
particular subject.
[0061] As can be seen from page 601, the contents of the catalog
are arranged according to a particular order desired by the
merchant. In particular, the first items listed in the catalog are
the current week's bestselling books, followed by horror books for
Halloween sales. The merchant's regular library of books are then
displayed, starting with romance books on page 4 and ending with
mystery books on page 18. Lastly, the sale books are listed on page
22. Accordingly, a user that sequentially views the pages of the
catalog will view the items offered by the book merchant in the
particular order desired by the merchant. Alternately, if the user
sees a particular category of item he or she wants to view out of
order, the user can activate the link 603 associated with that
category or subject to view it immediately.
[0062] FIG. 7 illustrates one example of another catalog content
page 701 (numbered as catalog page 12 on the content page 601
described above). As seen in this figure, content page 701 displays
books in the American Literature genre. It includes an eBook
listing 702 for each eBook available in the catalog 701. Each
listing 702 may include the eBook's title 703, the eBook's author
704, the eBook's price 705, and a download command button 706 for
instructing the client portal 301 to purchase and download the
eBook for viewing. Each listing 702 may further include a preview
command button 707 instructing the client portal 301 to download a
preview of the eBook (e.g., a free copy of the first chapter) and a
hard copy command 708, instructing the client portal 301 to order a
paper copy of the eBook from the merchant. The hard copy command
708 may further advantageously instruct the client portal 301 to
download some or all of the eBook for viewing in addition to
ordering the hard copy, so that the user may begin reading the
eBook immediately without having to wait until the hard copy is
delivered.
[0063] The listing 702 can also include a name 709 of the actual
supplier of the eBook if it is different from the merchant
maintaining the purchase Web site. While the merchant maintaining
the purchase site and catalog pages 601 and 701 may provide the
cataloged eBooks for downloading to the client portal 301, this is
not necessary. Instead, the download command button 706 for an
eBook may actually instruct the client portal 301 to download the
eBook (or a preview of the eBook for the preview command button
707) from another location, such as a Web site maintained by the
actual publisher of the eBook or a Web site maintained by another
merchant. Thus, a catalog 701 may include eBooks that are actually
retrieved from a number of different locations. This feature allows
the merchant maintaining the purchase Web site a great deal of
flexibility in creating its catalog of available eBooks. Also,
while the merchant maintaining the purchase Web site may include a
name 708 for the actual publisher of the eBook, the merchant may
also choose not to display this information to the user, so that it
appears that all of the eBooks are provided directly by that
merchant. This feature allows the merchant a great deal of
flexibility in presenting its brand image, either as a broker or as
an original retailer. Further, a publisher of eBooks can maintain a
purchase site for its published eBooks, but identify one or more
merchants as sources for the eBooks to the user.
[0064] The merchant maintaining the purchase site and catalogs 601
and 701 may also tailor the catalogs 601 and/or 701 to the
individual user. As previously noted, when the user activates a
listing 411 or 412 for a purchase site, the client portal 301 sends
out the URL for that site over the Internet (or other network) to
the computer server on which that site is maintained. The client
portal 301 can include an identifying header with that URL, so that
the merchant maintaining the purchase site can recognize that a
particular user is requesting the content. This allows the merchant
to collect information from the user, such as the user's
preferences in eBooks, to prepare a profile of the user's
preferences and purchase habits. The merchant can use the user's
profile to then tailor the content provided to the client portal
301 when the user accesses the merchant's Web site.
[0065] For example, if a user's profile indicates that the user
typically purchases only biographical eBooks, science fiction
eBooks and American literature eBooks, then the merchant can
provide the user with a genre catalog 601 including only these
genres and an option to view an expanded genre catalog 601.
Alternately, the merchant may provide the user with a detailed
catalog 701 including popular eBooks in all three of these genres.
As previously noted, the distributor or publisher of the client
portal 301 (or other authorized party charged with determining the
access available to the client portal 301) can modify the content
offered to the user through the portal 301 based upon the user's
profile. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that a
wide variety of options are possible.
[0066] It should also be noted that the user's profile may include
purchase information for the user. For example, the profile may
include credit card information for a credit card account
frequently employed by the user to purchase goods or services
through the client portal 301, the delivery method preferred by the
user, the user's email and postal address, etc. The merchant can
use this profile information to more conveniently allow the user to
purchase goods or services through the client portal 301.
[0067] It should also be noted that, with some embodiments of the
invention, a user can employ the client portal 301 to purchase
items from a merchant even when the client portal is not connected
to the network hosting the merchant's site. For example, when the
client portal 301 is connected to the network hosting the
merchant's site, the portal 301 can download an electronic catalog
provided by the merchant into the memory 303. The user can then
access the catalog offline from the network (either directly
through the Library 306 or through the Bookstore 307), and make
purchases from the catalog. The portal 301 will record the user's
purchases until it reconnects to the network hosting the merchant's
site. The client portal 301 then conveys the purchase to the
merchant to complete the sales transaction.
[0068] Alternately, if the client portal 301 is for the purchase of
content, the portal 301 may allow the user to obtain the purchased
content while the portal 301 is disconnected from the network. As
previously noted, merchants that provide content for the client
portal 301 may keep track of a user's preferences. With this
arrangement, a merchant can download content preferred by a user to
the client portal 301 in such a way that the user cannot access the
content until the user actually purchases the content. For example,
if a merchant has recorded that the user is a frequent purchaser of
Stephen King novels, the merchant can download the most recent
Stephen King novel to the client portal 301. The downloaded content
may be invisible to the user, or encrypted with a key that is
unavailable to the user. When the user makes an offline request to
purchase the content from the merchant's catalog, the user can be
allowed to retrieve the already-downloaded content or provided with
the key needed to decrypt the content without having to reconnect
to the network. When the user does then subsequently reconnect to
the network, the user's purchase of the content is then conveyed to
the merchant.
[0069] Conclusion
[0070] The present invention has been described above by way of
specific exemplary embodiments, and the many features and
advantages of the present invention are apparent from the written
description. Thus, it is intended that the appended claims cover
all such features and advantages of the invention. Further, since
numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those
skilled in the art, the specification is not intended to limit the
invention to the exact construction and operation ad illustrated
and described. For example, the invention may include any one or
more elements from the apparatus and methods described herein in
any combination or subcombination. Accordingly, there are any
number of alternative combinations for defining the invention,
which incorporate one or more elements from the specification
(including the drawings, claims, and summary of the invention) in
any combinations or subcombinations. Hence, all suitable
modifications and equivalents may be considered as falling within
the scope of the appended claims
* * * * *