U.S. patent application number 14/096576 was filed with the patent office on 2017-02-23 for mobile information services.
The applicant listed for this patent is Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC. Invention is credited to Charles L. Friedman, Mike Pell.
Application Number | 20170052664 14/096576 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33303337 |
Filed Date | 2017-02-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170052664 |
Kind Code |
A9 |
Friedman; Charles L. ; et
al. |
February 23, 2017 |
MOBILE INFORMATION SERVICES
Abstract
Building a data template for a mobile computing device. An
aggregate usage profile correlates past usage of services by a
mobile computing device that is associated with a user identifier
with past usage of the services by other computing devices that are
also associated with the user identifier. Presence information
concerning a current presence of the mobile computing device
includes a physical location and/or a temporal state. Portions of
information, which are relevant to the current presence of the
mobile computing device, are identified based on the aggregate
usage profile. The portions of information include data from the
services that is identified as being data that the user will want
to access given the current presence of the mobile computing
device. A data template, which is configured to present the
portions of information at the mobile computing device, is built
and pushed to the mobile computing device.
Inventors: |
Friedman; Charles L.;
(Bellevue, WA) ; Pell; Mike; (Woodinville,
WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC |
Redmond |
WA |
US |
|
|
Prior
Publication: |
|
Document Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20140096028 A1 |
April 3, 2014 |
|
|
Family ID: |
33303337 |
Appl. No.: |
14/096576 |
Filed: |
December 4, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
12839006 |
Jul 19, 2010 |
8612865 |
|
|
14096576 |
|
|
|
|
11227249 |
Sep 15, 2005 |
7761799 |
|
|
12839006 |
|
|
|
|
10715944 |
Nov 18, 2003 |
7356332 |
|
|
11227249 |
|
|
|
|
60477410 |
Jun 9, 2003 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 67/36 20130101;
H04L 67/24 20130101; G06F 16/9577 20190101; G06F 3/0484 20130101;
H04M 1/72563 20130101; H04M 1/72561 20130101; H04L 67/02 20130101;
H04L 67/04 20130101; H04L 67/306 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/0484 20060101
G06F003/0484; H04L 29/08 20060101 H04L029/08 |
Claims
1. At a server computing system comprising one or more processors
and system memory, a method for building a data template for
display at a mobile computing device, the method comprising:
accessing an aggregate usage profile for a user identifier that is
associated with a user, the aggregate usage profile correlating
past usage of one or more services by a mobile computing device
that is associated with the user identifier with past usage of the
one or more services by one or more computing devices other than
the mobile computing device that are also associated with the user
identifier; accessing presence information concerning a current
presence of the mobile computing device, the presence information
including one or both of a physical location of the mobile
computing device or a temporal state of the mobile computing
device; identifying one or more portions of information that are
relevant to the current presence of the mobile computing device,
the one or more portions of information including data from the one
or more services that is identified as being data that the user
will want to access given the current presence of the mobile
computing device, the one or more portions of information being
identified based on the aggregate usage profile; building one or
more data templates for the mobile computing device, the one or
more data templates being configured to present the one or more
portions of information at the mobile computing device; and pushing
the one or more data templates to the mobile computing device.
2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the temporal state of
the mobile computing device comprises a time of use of the mobile
computing device.
3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the past usage of one
or more services by the mobile computing device comprises past
usage of one or more websites and one or more servers at the mobile
computing device.
4. The method as recited in claim 3, the past usage of the one or
more services by one or more computing devices other than the
mobile computing device that are also associated with the user
identifier comprises past usage of the one or more websites and one
or more servers at the one or more computing devices other than the
mobile computing device.
5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the past usage of one
or more services by the mobile computing device comprises mobile
information services utilized by the mobile computing device,
including type of information accessed, time of information access,
and usage pattern in information access.
6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the aggregate usage
profile includes information about accesses by one or more other
users to the one or more services.
7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the aggregate usage
profile includes user preference information regarding user
preferences when accessing the one or more services.
8. A computer program product comprising one or more hardware
storage devices having stored thereon computer-executable
instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a
computing system, cause the computing system to build a data
template for display at a mobile computing device, including at
least the following: access an aggregate usage profile for a user
identifier that is associated with a user, the aggregate usage
profile correlating past usage of one or more services by a mobile
computing device that is associated with the user identifier with
past usage of the one or more services by one or more computing
devices other than the mobile computing device that are also
associated with the user identifier; access presence information
concerning a current presence of the mobile computing device, the
presence information including one or both of a physical location
of the mobile computing device or a temporal state of the mobile
computing device; identify one or more portions of information that
are relevant to the current presence of the mobile computing
device, the one or more portions of information including data from
the one or more services that is identified as being data that the
user will want to access given the current presence of the mobile
computing device, the one or more portions of information being
identified based on the aggregate usage profile; build one or more
data templates for the mobile computing device, the one or more
data templates being configured to present the one or more portions
of information at the mobile computing device; and push the one or
more data templates to the mobile computing device.
9. The computer program product as recited in claim 8, wherein the
one or more data templates are automatically presented at the
mobile computing device.
10. The computer program product as recited in claim 8, wherein the
aggregate usage profile includes information concerning a plurality
of users.
11. The computer program product as recited in claim 8, wherein the
aggregate usage profile includes demographic information.
12. The computer program product as recited in claim 8, wherein
when the temporal state of the mobile computing device indicates a
first time of day, the one or more portions of information include
a first type of data, and when the temporal state of the mobile
computing device indicates a second time of day, the one or more
portions of information include a second type of data.
13. The computer program product as recited in claim 8, wherein the
one or more data templates include a user-chosen template type.
14. The computer program product as recited in claim 8, wherein the
one or more data templates include an automatically chosen template
type.
15. A computing system, comprising: one or more processors; and one
or more computer-readable media having stored thereon
computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or
more processors, cause the computing system to build a data
template for display at a mobile computing device, including at
least the following: accessing an aggregate usage profile for a
user identifier that is associated with a user, the aggregate usage
profile correlating past usage of one or more services by a mobile
computing device that is associated with the user identifier with
past usage of the one or more services by one or more computing
devices other than the mobile computing device that are also
associated with the user identifier; accessing presence information
concerning a current presence of the mobile computing device, the
presence information including one or both of a physical location
of the mobile computing device or a temporal state of the mobile
computing device; identifying one or more portions of information
that are relevant to the current presence of the mobile computing
device, the one or more portions of information including data from
the one or more services that is identified as being data that the
user will want to access given the current presence of the mobile
computing device, the one or more portions of information being
identified based on the aggregate usage profile; building one or
more data templates for the mobile computing device, the one or
more data templates being configured to present the one or more
portions of information at the mobile computing device; and pushing
the one or more data templates to the mobile computing device.
16. The computer system as recited in claim 15, wherein the one or
more data templates include an automatically chosen template type
based on the aggregate usage profile.
17. The computer system as recited in claim 15, wherein the one or
more data templates include an automatically chosen template type
based on the physical location of the mobile computing device.
18. The computer system as recited in claim 15, wherein the one or
more data templates include an automatically chosen template type
based on the temporal state of the mobile computing device.
19. The computer system as recited in claim 15, wherein the past
usage of one or more services by the mobile computing device
comprises past usage of one or more websites and one or more
servers at the mobile computing device.
20. The computer system as recited in claim 15, wherein the past
usage of one or more services by the mobile computing device
comprises mobile information services utilized by the mobile
computing device, including type of information accessed, time of
information access, and usage pattern in information access.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 12/839,006, which was filed Jul. 19, 2010,
entitled "MOBILE INFORMATION SERVICES," which is a continuation of
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/227,249, which was filed Sep.
15, 2005, entitled "MOBILE INFORMATION SERVICES", and which issued
as U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,799 on Jul. 20, 2010, and which is a
divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/715,944, which
was filed Nov. 18, 2003, entitled "MOBILE INFORMATION SERVICES",
and which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,356,332 on Apr. 8, 2008, and
which claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Patent
No. 60/477,410, which was filed Jun. 9, 2003, entitled
"MobileLens." Each of the foregoing are incorporated herein by
reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. The Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to the field of information
services available via mobile communications links and, more
particularly, to improvements in delivering and presenting
information to mobile communications devices.
[0004] 2. Background and Relevant Art
[0005] In the telecommunications industry, several advances have
been made to facilitate the convergence of computing and telephone
capabilities. For example, it is now common for mobile telephones
and other mobile communications devices to be equipped with
displays and browsers to enable access to the Internet and other
network repositories.
[0006] The utility of such a communications device is well
appreciated. For example, such devices can enable a user to access
their email or other messages, even while they are traveling. Other
information, such as, but not limited to, financial reports,
weather, sporting reports and news can also be accessed on a mobile
communications device while a person is traveling, such as, for
example, by using the mobile communications device to connect to
the Internet or other available networks.
[0007] Although the ability to access information remotely and on
the move can be advantageous, for at least the reasons mentioned
above, the portability of some mobile communications devices
inherently limits the display and navigation capabilities for
presenting the information that is obtained. In particular, the
size constraints of some mobile telephones and PDAs can restrict
the amount of information that can be properly displayed at any
given time. For example, existing mobile communications devices can
typically only display a relatively limited amount of information
as compared to, for example, a desktop computer monitor.
Accordingly the amount of information and the type of information
that is displayed on a mobile communications device is restricted
to the browser and display capabilities of the mobile
communications device, rather than on the preferences of the user
or the relevance of the information that is be displayed at any
particular time.
[0008] To help overcome some of these limitations, a user can
utilize an Internet service, such as Microsoft's MSN Mobile, to
customize a PC-based webpage to help focus and control the
presentation of information that is accessed and displayed by the
mobile communications device when the mobile webpage is accessed.
For example, a PC-based personalized webpage can enable a user to
select various types of news reports, financial reports, sporting
reports, weather reports, and other information that they want to
be presented when they access their personalized mobile webpage. By
doing this, a user can have some control over the information that
is presented on their mobile communications device. However,
because of the restrictive display and browse capabilities of the
mobile communications devices, as described above, the presentation
of the desired information can still be presented in some
unsatisfying or undesired way.
[0009] Furthermore, because people traditionally use telephones
differently than they use their computers, users may not want to
access the same information on their telephones as they do on their
computer. Accordingly, a customized webpage that is intended for
computer web access can include more information than a person
wishes to access or navigate through on their telephone. This is
particularly true when considering that accessing Internet
information over a telephone can sometimes cost a user more than
the same access on a computer, depending on the user's phone
plan.
[0010] Yet another reason why a user may wish to access different
information with their telephone than they do with their computer
is because most telephone devices do not have the advanced
navigation affordances that are provided by most computers, such
as, for example, full size keyboards, and so forth.
[0011] Accordingly, although the ability to access information
through a mobile communications device can be useful, it is not
always practical or desirable to access information on a mobile
device in the same way as on a traditional computer. Instead, it is
typically more desirable to access more focused and relevant
information so that a user does not have to waste valuable time and
resources (e.g., power resources) trying to find desired
information. This is even more true when a user is traveling
between cities, states, or even countries, because the information
they are seeking may be contextually relevant only to the location
or time in which they are seeking the information. Therefore, what
is needed in the industry are improved methods and systems for
presenting information for mobile communications devices in
desirable and contextually relevant ways.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] The present invention relates to methods, systems and
computer-program products for presenting information to mobile
communications devices in a desirable manner.
[0013] According to one embodiment, the information that is
presented at a user's mobile communication device is contextually
based upon the location of the mobile communications device, the
identity of the user, the time of day the information is accessed,
suggestions based upon aggregated information-based web portal
usage statistics, personal and other related status and presence
information.
[0014] To facilitate the manner in which information is presented,
various different template-like lenses are utilized that control
the presentation of information displayed on the mobile
communications devices. For example, different lenses for different
geographic and demographic applications can be provided that
present contextually relevant information based upon user status,
presence, and preference. A user can even build and utilize
different customized lenses to accommodate their particular needs
and desires.
[0015] The granularity of the lenses can vary to accommodate
various needs and preferences. For example, geographic lenses can
be based on communities, cities, states, nationalities, as well as
any other identifiable geography. Lenses can also be specialized
for different venues, such as sporting venues, recreational venues,
educational venues, work venues, national parks, amusement parks,
and so forth. Although the mobile communications service can
automatically update lenses based upon contextual status and
presence information, it will also be appreciated that a user can
also specify particular preferences or make special requests for
particular information in customizable lenses, as described
herein.
[0016] In one embodiment, the lenses are designed to accommodate
various profiles that are developed from aggregate computer and
telephone usage data. In particular, usage profiles can be
developed to identify the preferences for certain users to access
certain types of data based upon their classified profiles. The
profiles can be based on both how users utilize their computers as
well as how they utilize their telephones. Thereafter, the profiles
can be used to develop or customize lenses to provide the
information that is desired by a user at their mobile
communications device and in a desired manner.
[0017] It will be appreciated that in the foregoing manner, it is
possible to dynamically provide users with desired and updated
information at mobile communications devices and in a contextually
relevant manner, so that the information is time sensitive and
relevant to the user's identified preferences, locations and
activities. Providing information to mobile communications devices
in this manner can also improve the speed in which a user can
obtains information after it has been requested. In particular,
information can be automatically pushed to a user's mobile
communications device, based on the user's presence and status
data, and subsequently cached on the mobile communications device
until the user actually makes a request for the information,
substantially improving the usability and user experience of mobile
information service.
[0018] Alternatively, the information can be automatically
presented upon determining the appropriate lens to use for the
presentation of the information, based upon contextually relevant
or default settings.
[0019] Additional features and advantages of the invention will be
set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be
obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of
the invention. The features and advantages of the invention may be
realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations
particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other
features of the present invention will become more fully apparent
from the following description and appended claims, or may be
learned by the practice of the invention as set forth
hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited
and other advantages and features of the invention can be obtained,
a more particular description of the invention briefly described
above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof
which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that
these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and
are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the
invention will be described and explained with additional
specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings
in which:
[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a network in which a
mobile communications device can receive information from an
information source based on contextually relevant data, such as the
presence and status of the mobile communications device.
[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of various steps and acts
that can be executed during implementation of certain methods of
the invention for presenting information at mobile communications
devices.
[0023] FIGS. 3a-3e illustrates various embodiments of a mobile
communications device displaying different information in different
formats.
[0024] FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a computing system that
can be used to implement certain aspects of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0025] The present invention extends to methods, systems and
computer-program products for presenting information at mobile
communications devices and in a contextually relevant manner.
[0026] The contextual information that is used to control how
information is presented at mobile communications devices is
sometimes referred to herein as "status data". In this regard,
"status data" can refer to both the presence of a mobile
communications device, as well as the designation of a user that is
associated with the mobile communications device (e.g., an
identified user or an anonymous user).
[0027] It will be appreciated that the term "presence," can refer
to both a physical location as well as a temporal state (e.g., time
of use). It should also be appreciated that references that are
made to a user's presence should generally also be construed as
applying to the presence of the user's mobile communications
device.
[0028] The term "mobile communications device," as defined herein,
generally refers to mobile telephone devices, PDAs, and other
portable computing devices. In one embodiment, the mobile
communications device includes an IEEE 802.11 transceiver (i.e., a
WiFi transceiver) and a rich client application that can identify
itself to a mobile data center, or information source. In another
embodiment, the mobile communications device is a cellular
telephone device that can be identified by a telephone number or
MSISDN.
[0029] In various embodiments described herein, lenses (views) or
templates are used to control what information is presented and how
it is presented. These lenses generally comprise user interfaces
that can be created, modified and used through computer software
components, which are sometimes referred to herein as
computer-executable instructions and computing modules.
[0030] Accordingly, the embodiments of the invention can include
special purpose and general-purpose computing devices including
various computer software and hardware. The embodiments within the
scope of the present invention can also include computer-readable
media for carrying or having the computer-executable instructions
or data structures stored thereon.
[0031] It will be appreciated that the computer-readable media can
be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or
special purpose computer, including, but not limited to mobile
communications devices. By way of example, and not limitation, such
computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or
other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic
storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or
store desired program code means in the form of computer-executable
instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a
general purpose or special purpose computer. The
computer-executable instructions comprise, for example,
instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer,
special purpose computer, or special purpose processing device to
perform a certain function or group of functions, such as the acts
and steps described below.
[0032] When information is transferred or provided over a network
or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless,
or a combination of hardwired or wireless) to a computer or mobile
communications device, the computer/device properly views the
connection as a computer-readable medium. Thus, any such connection
is properly termed a computer-readable medium. Combinations of the
above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable
media.
[0033] FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a network 100 in which
embodiments of the invention can be practiced. As shown, the
network 100 includes a mobile communications device 110, a
plurality of communication nodes 120, 122, 124, and an information
source 130.
[0034] The mobile communications device is presently illustrated as
having the form factor of a wireless telephone. It will be
appreciated, however, that the invention is not necessarily limited
to only embodiments in which the mobile communications device
comprises a wireless telephone device. For example, in other
embodiments, the mobile communications device can comprise a PDA or
portable computer.
[0035] As described herein, the mobile communications device
receives and displays contextually relevant information based on
such things as location, a user designation, and time. The location
can be determined, for example, through an Assisted GPS system,
E911 system or other positioning system. The location of the mobile
communications device can be determined by or published to the
information source 130 that is providing information to the mobile
communications device.
[0036] The server 130 is able to provide desired information to the
mobile communications device through one or more network
communication nodes, such as nodes 120, 122 and 124. Although the
nodes 120, 122 and 124 are presently shown as telephone towers, it
will be appreciated that the mobile communications device can be
communicably connected to the information source 130 through any
combination of wireless links, hardwired links, distributed
networks and intermediary devices.
[0037] According to one preferred embodiment, the network 100
includes at least enough communication nodes to enable
communication between the mobile communications device 110 and the
information source 130 even when the mobile communications device
110 is moved from one location to another, such as between
locations A, B and C.
[0038] The information source 130 is presently illustrated as a
single object having a single local repository 140. It will be
appreciated, however, that the information source 130 can actually
comprise a distributed network having multiple local or remote
repositories. Accordingly, the illustrated aggregate data 142 and
lens repository 144, which are shown to be located within
repository 140, can actually be distributed between and disposed in
any combination of local and remote storage locations.
[0039] It will also be appreciated that the information source 130
includes various modules, which are not illustrated, for enabling
communication with the mobile communications device 110, such as,
for example to identify the contextual relevant information that is
be used to determine the appropriate lenses for use in presenting
information to a user at a mobile communications device.
[0040] In particular, as described herein, the mobile
communications device 110 receives contextually relevant
information from an information source and displays the
information, as specified by one or more lenses that have been
specifically designed for displaying information at the mobile
communications device 110. Although the information displayed at
the mobile communications device can be visual, such as can be
displayed on display screen 150, it will also be appreciated that
the information can be audio information, in which case the
information can be presented though an appropriate speaker.
Likewise, brail readers can display information by modifying the
surface topography of a touch sensitive reader. Accordingly,
references that are made herein with regard to displaying
information should be broadly construed to include the presentation
of information through any suitable presentation device.
[0041] Attention will now be directed to FIG. 2, which illustrates
a flowchart 200 of one embodiment of a method for presenting
information to mobile communications devices. As shown, the method
includes various steps and corresponding acts that can be
implemented during practice of the invention.
[0042] The first illustrated step is to develop aggregate user
preference data (step 210) that can be used to develop profiles
that can in turn help to provide relevant and desired information
to users on mobile communications devices. Because people typically
use their telephones or other mobile communications devices in a
slightly different manner than they use their traditional
computers, it can be useful, although not necessary, to track both
standard computer usage (212) and telephone usage (act 214).
[0043] The tracked computer usage can include any type of tracked
computer usage, including the type of information that users access
from any combination of websites and servers, the ways in which
personalized webpages are customized, the patterns and types of
information that are accessed at different times and as determined
by any demographic grouping.
[0044] The tracked telephone usage can also apply to any type of
information that is accessed through any combination of mobile
communications devices by any demographic grouping. Although there
are various types of telephone usage that can be tracked, it is not
necessary to track the standard phone functions, such as call
histories. Rather, the tracked telephone usage is primarily focused
on mobile information services utilized by the phone, including,
but not limited to, the types of information that is accessed, and
the times in which the information is accessed, and the usage
patterns for accessing the information.
[0045] In one example, a preference engine is used to monitor the
types of information people like to access with traditional
computers and the types of information the same groups or
individual like to access with their telephones or other mobile
communications devices.
[0046] Correlations can be drawn between the tracked computer and
telephone usage data by aggregating the usage data into one or more
usage profiles (act 216). The usage profiles can be based on any
type of individual or group, accounting for or ignoring any
relevant demographic information. The usage profiles can then be
associated with particular users, based on their usage profiles,
either automatically or by request, and in such a way as to
maintain and protect any desired level of the privacy for the
individual users.
[0047] According to one embodiment, the usage profiles are
specifically used to develop one or more corresponding lenses for
presenting information to users and in desired formats that
accommodate the identified usage profiles (act 220). For example,
if it is determined that a particular group uses mobile
communications devices to access only basketball scores, email and
weather reports from the Internet, then a lens can be developed
that will be customized to only present the relevant and desired
information that corresponds to that lens, namely, basketball
scores, email and weather reports, and in such a way that the group
members do not have to track the information down themselves from
multiple locations, and thereby preserving resources that would
otherwise be required to access and format the information with the
mobile communications devices.
[0048] The act of building a lens (act 220) can be performed with
various programming languages and tools. The lens essentially
comprises objects and information that can be presented to a user,
such as, for example, with XML a Search Query Lanaguage, or any
other appropriate format. Some of the objects and information
within the lens definition are static, such as window frames,
others are dynamic and can be accessed in response to scripts or
other computer-executable instructions that are embedded or
attached to the lens, such as HTML links or applets that are
executed when the lens is processed by the mobile communications
device for display. Because the lenses are configured to present
information that can be searched for, they can be thought of in a
general sense as a specialized type of search engine that obtains
and presents information in a desired and predefined format.
[0049] The next illustrated step is to select the appropriate one
or more lenses to use for presenting data to a user (step 230).
This step can include various corresponding acts, such as, for
example, identifying a user or a user designation (act 232),
identifying a user presence (act 234), and considering other input
(act 236) such as user input.
[0050] It can be useful to identify a user designation to determine
whether a user is associated with a particular usage profile or if
the user has specifically requested certain lenses. In order to
identify the user, the user may be prompted for a Passport User
Identifier (PUID), Personal Identification Number (PIN), or other
information to verify or authenticate a user. Alternatively, a
user's mobile communications device can identify a user associated
with the device through the telephone number or MSISDN of the
telephone. In such embodiments, however, the actual user of the
telephone may not be the user that is associated with the
telephone.
[0051] Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the designation of
the user can be either an identified designation or an anonymous
designation. Although an identified designation can allow for the
presentation of more appropriate lenses and information to a user,
the anonymous designation can still be used to select the
appropriate one or more lenses to present to the user. In
particular profiles can be developed for anonymous users, based on
the aggregate usage data gathered above, that correspond to lenses
that are designed to accommodate the desires and interests of
anonymous users. These lenses could be subsequently used as the
default lens for a new user, so they could benefit from seeing the
most popular information among service users.
[0052] The presence of the user can also be a relevant factor to
consider during the selection of the one or more appropriate
lenses. In particular, the time in which the user is using their
mobile communications device and the location of the user can
relate to the types of information they want to access. For
example, users may want to access the weather in the early morning
and evening, but may be more concerned with their stock reports and
email during the middle of the day. Likewise, if the user is
located at a national park or amusement park, they may be more
interested in the times/accessibility of certain activities and
venues. Yet another example, if someone is located on a highway,
they may be concerned with accessing the traffic report for traffic
in the direction they are heading. It will be appreciated that the
granularity in which the location and presence of a user can be
examined and determined can vary significantly to accommodate
various needs and preferences.
[0053] Likewise, user input and other extemporaneous input can also
be considered when selecting lenses. For example, a user can
explicitly identify lenses that they would like to use and have
applied to their mobile communications device. Users can also build
or modify lenses, on their mobile communications devices or through
traditional computers. For example, a user can access, build, and
or modify a lens from a central repository or a web service, such
as provided by MSN Mobile with any computing device. One benefit of
enabling a user to modify lenses in such a manner is that they can
customize the lenses to best suit their desires and lifestyles. For
example, if a businessperson knows they will be traveling to
London, Hong Kong and New York on a regular basis, they might want
to fine tune existing lenses that correspond to those locations to
more closely accommodate the manner in which they would like
information presented when they travel.
[0054] Other input that may be relevant is the capabilities of the
mobile communications device to display the information related to
a lens. Accordingly, there may be several variations of a lens to
accommodate the various capabilities of different mobile
communications devices.
[0055] Although the various presence information and other input
can be gathered automatically via interaction between the mobile
communications device and an information source, it will be
appreciated that the manner in which the presence information is
collected can also vary to accommodate privacy concerns, logistical
constraints, and personal preferences. For example, the methods of
the invention can include automatically detecting the presence of a
user, based on GPS, E911, or other positioning systems.
Alternatively, or additionally, the presence of a user may be based
on explicit user input that has to be entered by a user with their
mobile communications device.
[0056] Upon selecting the appropriate lenses, step 230, the lenses
are provided to the user (act 240). According to one embodiment,
this occurs through a push paradigm, such that the lenses are
automatically provided to the user's device, and without requiring
the user to request them. Data can be pushed, for example, via SMS,
control channels, a GPRS data channel, MSP, and so forth. It will
be appreciated, however, that in some situations it may be
desirable to utilize a pull system so that the resources of the
user's device are only used in response to an explicit user
request.
[0057] In some embodiments, the act of providing lenses can be
performed objectively through some sort of clearing house and based
on the status data gathered regarding the user's identity and
presence, as described above. In other embodiments, the lenses are
only provided when a user has specifically requested them. In yet
other embodiments, third parties, such as friends, can send lenses
to users directly without having to involve the information source
or clearing house that typically provides the lenses.
[0058] Upon receiving a lens, the user may choose to store the lens
on their mobile communications device with one or more other lenses
for extended periods of time. Alternatively, the user may wish to
only temporarily store a lens during its use, after which it will
be erased from memory, and so as to preserve memory.
[0059] The final act illustrated in flowchart 200 is displaying the
appropriate data with the appropriate lenses (act 250). This act,
which is performed at the mobile communications device, occurs when
the mobile communications device loads and executes the
computer-executable instructions incorporated within the lens. It
will be appreciated that this can involve the use of various
presentation devices, including, but not limited to visual display
screens, speakers, and so forth. It should also be appreciated that
although the information is displayed at the mobile communications
device, the actual rendering processes required to display the
information can also occur at a remote device, such as a server.
For example, in one embodiment, the client software on the mobile
communications device acts as a browser that displays xHTML pages
that are processed for display at least in part by the server
providing the pages to the mobile communications device.
[0060] Although act 250 may include the display of only a single
lens, in certain embodiments, act 250 also includes the display of
multiple lenses, and even at the same time, as describe in more
detail below.
[0061] Because the presence of the user can be dynamically updated
and appropriate lenses can be continually sent to the user, it will
be appreciated that the time it takes to receive the lens can be
hidden from the user, inasmuch as the user is not necessarily
waiting for the lens if they have not explicitly requested it.
Accordingly, when the user does request a lens or for information
to be displayed, it can be displayed very quickly, particularly
when much or all of it is already cached on the mobile
communications device, as can occur in the push paradigm described
above.
[0062] Attention is now drawn to FIGS. 3A-3E, which illustrate
various embodiments of a mobile communications device that is
displaying information according to methods of the invention. It
will be appreciated that the specific embodiments and examples
provided below, with particular regard to the format of the
displayed information, the types and styles of the displayed
objects and icons, and the granularity of the information, should
be construed as merely illustrative, and should not, therefore, be
construed as limiting the scope of the invention.
[0063] As shown in FIG. 3A the mobile communications device 300 has
a display 310 that is being used to display information
corresponding to a user's personal home lens 320. It will be
appreciated that this personal home lens 320 can be created and
modified by a user directly or by a third party in response to a
user's profile, as described above. Likewise, the lens 320 can be
presented and displayed automatically in response to the detection
of particular presence information or in response to other factors,
as described above.
[0064] In the illustrated embodiment, the personal lens 320
comprises an efficient display of basic information that is
contextually relevant for a user based on their presence. As shown,
the lens 320 includes an identifiable icon 312 that can visually
identify the type of lens 320 that is being displayed to the user.
The lens 320 also includes various other information, as described
below. For example, the lens 320 includes a designation or name of
the user (MyName) along with the status of the user (e.g., online
or offline). The location of the user, Redmond, is also reflected
along with the appropriate and relevant weather report for that
city. The date and time is also reflected along with various news,
sports and email links. According to the present embodiment, a user
can obtain a more detailed display and information corresponding to
a particular subject by selecting any of the corresponding links.
For example, by selecting the News link, the user will be presented
with a more complete and thorough listing of the news
headlines.
[0065] If the user were to then travel to a new location, such as
Newark, the change in presence is detected and used to obtain one
or more new relevant lenses, as described above. For example if
later in the week, say Sunday the user decides to fly to Newark,
then the user's home lens can be replaced or modified by a new lens
that is appropriate for Newark.
[0066] In particular, with reference to FIG. 3B, the user's home
lens 320 has updated data at the time they left Redmond. It will
also be noted that some of the information shown in FIG. 3A has
been updated to reflect the current state of certain information.
For example, the date, weather and time have been updated.
[0067] According to the present embodiment, upon arriving at the
Newark airport, and upon turning the mobile communications device
back on, assuming it was turned off during the flight, the new
presence at Newark is detected and used to identify and obtain a
new relevant travel lens for presentation to the user. FIG. 3B
illustrates the new travel lens 330 as it is being placed over the
existing home lens 320.
[0068] It will be appreciated that the travel lens 330 can display
information that is contextually relevant for Newark, thereby
replacing the information provided on the home lens 320. This is
useful for eliminating the need for the user to look up information
that has already been determined to be relevant or desired.
Although the travel lens 330 could be displayed by itself, the
embodiment in FIG. 3C illustrates how two lenses can be blended
together. In particular, the travel lens 330 is shown to be
displayed simultaneously with the home lens 320 in a blended
format. The user can easily determine the lenses that are being
utilized because of the icons that are displayed on the screen. In
particular, the home lens icon 312 and the travel lens icon 332
indicate to the user which lenses are being blended. It will be
appreciated that color patterns and other controllable features can
be modified to enhance the user experience and improve the quality
and distinguishing characteristics of different lenses.
[0069] It will also be appreciated that the presented information
and format of the lenses can be modified to reflect any combination
of merged lenses, which may, for example, include modifying of the
lens frames, as shown in the blended home/travel lens 340. In
particular, in the present embodiment, the city location and
weather information have been truncated and joined into a single
horizontal bar and in which the traffic report for the travel lens
330 has replaced the date and time bar of the home lens 320.
[0070] In certain embodiments, the manner in which the lenses are
displayed and blended can be determined automatically. In other
embodiments, menus or other tools can be used to enable a user to
customize the lenses and how they are displayed. For example, with
reference to FIG. 3D, a "more" menu 350 is expanded to reflect a
number of possible lenses to display. In the present embodiment,
only three lens options are available, a home or personal lens
(e.g., lens 320), a travel or current location lens (e.g., lens
330) and a sports scores lens, although in other embodiments
additional lenses can also be obtained and utilized.
[0071] If a user wants to display any particular number of lenses
then they can select the lenses that they want to display. In the
present example, a user has selected all three lenses. Accordingly,
when the lenses are displayed, they will be blended appropriately
into a single blended lens 360, as shown in FIG. 3E. To facilitate
the manner in which lenses are blended in a visually friendly
format, different shades or colors can be used to correlate or
correspond with the different lenses. For example, information
corresponding to a home lens can have a blue background,
information corresponding to a travel lens can have a beige
background, and information corresponding to a sports lens can have
a green background.
[0072] It will be appreciated, however, that the foregoing lens
illustrations in FIGS. 3A-3D are merely illustrative and should not
be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Rather, the
invention should more broadly be construed as applying to any types
of templates or formats for displaying information as being
contextually relevant to a user based on the user's presence,
identity, and other status information. In other embodiments, the
visual representation of the lenses can be modified by altering the
patterns, images and textures of the lenses.
[0073] It will be appreciated that the invention, as it has been
described, overcomes many of the problems known in the prior art
with displaying information on mobile communications devices. In
particular, the present invention enables a user to quickly and
easily obtain relevant information in a user-friendly manner, based
on predetermined usage profiles, and without requiring the user to
waste the resources of their device to filter through undesired
data.
Computing Environment
[0074] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the
invention may be practiced in computing systems and network
computing environments with various configurations, including
personal computers, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems,
microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network
PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The
invention may also be practiced in distributed computing
environments where tasks are performed by local and remote
processing devices that are linked (either by hardwired links,
wireless links, or by a combination of hardwired or wireless links)
through a communications network. In a distributed computing
environment, program modules may be located in both local and
remote memory storage devices.
[0075] With reference to FIG. 4, an exemplary system that can be
used, for example to develop aggregate user preference data and to
perform many of the other acts and steps of the invention is
provided. The illustrated system includes a general purpose
computing device in the form of a conventional computer 420,
including a processing unit 421, a system memory 422, and a system
bus 423 that couples various system components including the system
memory 422 to the processing unit 421. The system bus 423 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) 424 and random access memory (RAM) 425. A basic
input/output system (BIOS) 426, containing the basic routines that
help transfer information between elements within the computer 420,
such as during start-up, may be stored in ROM 424.
[0076] The computer 420 may also include a magnetic hard disk drive
427 for reading from and writing to a magnetic hard disk 439, a
magnetic disk drive 428 for reading from or writing to a removable
magnetic disk 429, and an optical disk drive 430 for reading from
or writing to removable optical disk 431 such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM
or other optical media. The magnetic hard disk drive 427, magnetic
disk drive 428, and optical disk drive 430 are connected to the
system bus 423 by a hard disk drive interface 432, a magnetic disk
drive-interface 433, and an optical drive interface 434,
respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable
media provide nonvolatile storage of computer-executable
instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for
the computer 420. Although the exemplary environment described
herein employs a magnetic hard disk 439, a removable magnetic disk
429 and a removable optical disk 431, other types of computer
readable media for storing data can be used, including magnetic
cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, Bernoulli
cartridges, RAMs, ROMs, and the like.
[0077] Program code means comprising one or more program modules
may be stored on the hard disk 439, magnetic disk 429, optical disk
431, ROM 424 or RAM 425, including an operating system 435, one or
more application programs 436, other program modules 437, and
program data 438. A user may enter commands and information into
the computer 420 through keyboard 440, pointing device 442, or
other input devices (not shown), such as a microphone, joy stick,
game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other
input devices are often connected to the processing unit 421
through a serial port interface 446 coupled to system bus 423.
Alternatively, the input devices may be connected by other
interfaces, such as a parallel port, a game port or a universal
serial bus (USB). A monitor 447 or another display device is also
connected to system bus 423 via an interface, such as video adapter
448. In addition to the monitor, personal computers typically
include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as
speakers and printers.
[0078] The computer 420 may operate in a networked environment
using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as
remote computers 449a and 449b. Remote computers 449a and 449b may
each be another personal computer, a server, a router, a network
PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically
include many or all of the elements described above relative to the
computer 420, although only memory storage devices 450a and 450b
and their associated application programs 436a and 436b have been
illustrated in FIG. 4. The logical connections depicted in FIG. 4
include a local area network (LAN) 451 and a wide area network
(WAN) 452 that are presented here by way of example and not
limitation. Such networking environments are commonplace in
office-wide or enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the
Internet.
[0079] When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 420
is connected to the local network 451 through a network interface
or adapter 453. When used in a WAN networking environment, the
computer 420 may include a modem 454, a wireless link, or other
means for establishing communications over the wide area network
452, such as the Internet. The modem 454, which may be internal or
external, is connected to the system bus 423 via the serial port
interface 446. In a networked environment, program modules depicted
relative to the computer 420, or portions thereof, may be stored in
the remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated that the
network connections shown are exemplary and other means of
establishing communications over wide area network 452 may be
used.
[0080] The present invention may be embodied in other specific
forms without departing from its spirit or essential
characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in
all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of
the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims
rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come
within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be
embraced within their scope.
* * * * *