SELECTIVE MEDIA CAPTURE VIA A COMMUNICATION DEVICE

• US 20050021494A1
• Filed: 09/27/2004
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Wilkinson, Jeffrey Miles
• Granted Patent: US 7,103,315 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor

Abstract

Methods and systems for selectively capturing content and delivering the captured content to mobile communications devices via wireless communications are disclosed. In some embodiments, a mobile unit sends a request for content to a nearby content server, to which the content server may respond with a list of available content items. The mobile unit may send a second, refined request for a specific content item. The content server may send the requested content item to the mobile unit, or the content server may send a pointer to the mobile unit, which indicates a network location from which a user may later retrieve the actual content item. In another embodiment, a mobile unit sends a request to a content server for presently displayed content. The content server may capture a screen image and send the captured image to the mobile unit. Alternatively, the content server may send the file in a native file format of the file from which the displayed content was generated.

Claims

1. A content distribution method, comprising steps of:

a content server receiving a first request for available content items from a mobile unit over a wireless medium, wherein the mobile unit is located within a short-range wireless operational area served by a transceiver of the content server;

the content server transmitting a first response to the mobile unit via the transceiver, wherein the first response comprises information associated with available content items;

the content server receiving a second request for a specific content item from the mobile unit via the transceiver; and

transmitting a second response from the content server to the mobile unit via the transceiver, wherein the second response comprises accessibility data corresponding to the specific content item, wherein the mobile unit accesses the content item using said accessibility data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessibility data comprises a pointer to the specific content item.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessibility data comprises the specific content item.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless medium comprises low power radio.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the wireless medium comprises Bluetooth protocols.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless medium comprises infrared light.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of authenticating the mobile unit prior to transmitting the first response by the content server via the transceiver.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of authenticating the mobile unit prior to transmitting the second response by the content server via the transceiver.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile unit comprises a mobile telephone.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile unit comprises a personal digital assistant.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile unit comprises a laptop computer.

12. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

opening a data channel between the mobile unit and a remote storage device; and

sending the specific content item to the remote storage device via the data channel.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein a first specific content item is available according to a first set of predetermined conditions and a second specific content item is available according to a second set of predetermined conditions.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first set of predetermined conditions comprises a time-based condition.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the first set of predetermined conditions comprises a date-based condition.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the first set of predetermined conditions comprises a user-based condition.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the first set of predetermined conditions comprises a password-based condition.

18. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

downloading the pointer from the mobile unit to a destination computer; and

the destination computer retrieving the specific content item from a network location defined by the pointer.

19. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of downloading the specific content item from the mobile unit to a destination computer.

20. A content server, comprising:

a processor;

a transceiver for receiving requests from and transmitting responses to a mobile unit within a short-range wireless operational area served by the content server;

memory for storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the content server to perform the steps of;

receiving a first request from the mobile unit for available content items via the transceiver;

transmitting a first response to the mobile unit via the transceiver, wherein the first response comprises information associated with available content items;

receiving a second request for a specific content item from the mobile unit via the transceiver; and

transmitting a second response to the mobile unit via the transceiver, wherein the second response comprises accessibility data corresponding to the specific content item, wherein the mobile unit accesses the content item using said accessibility data.

21. The content server of claim 20, wherein the accessibility data comprises a pointer to the specific content item.

22. The content server of claim 20, wherein the accessibility data comprises the specific content item.

23. The content server of claim 20, wherein the transceiver receives requests and sends responses using low power radio.

24. The content server of claim 23, wherein the transceiver receives requests and sends responses using Bluetooth protocols.

25. The content server of claim 20, wherein the transceiver receives requests and sends responses using infrared light.

26. The content server of claim 20, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the content server to perform the step of authenticating the mobile unit prior to transmitting the first response via the transceiver.

27. The content server of claim 20, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the content server to perform the step of authenticating the mobile unit prior to transmitting the second response via the transceiver.

28. The content server of claim 20, wherein the mobile unit comprises a mobile telephone.

29. The content server of claim 20, wherein the mobile unit comprises a personal digital assistant.

30. The content server of claim 20, wherein the mobile unit comprises a laptop computer.

31. A computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a content server to perform the steps of:

receiving a first request for available content items from a mobile unit within a short-range wireless operational area served by a transceiver of the content server;

transmitting a first response to the mobile unit via the transceiver, wherein the first response comprises information associated with available content items;

receiving a second request for a specific content item from the mobile unit via the transceiver; and

transmitting a second response to the mobile unit via the transceiver, wherein the second response comprises accessibility data corresponding to the specific content item, wherein the mobile unit accesses the content item using said accessibility data.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the accessibility data comprises a pointer to the specific content item.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the accessibility data comprises the specific content item.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the content server to perform the step of authenticating the mobile unit prior to transmitting the first response via the transceiver.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the content server to perform the step of authenticating the mobile unit prior to transmitting the second response via the transceiver.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the mobile unit comprises a mobile telephone.

37. A mobile unit, comprising:

a transceiver that communicates with a content server when the mobile unit is within a short-range wireless operational area served by the content server;

a processor;

memory for storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the mobile unit to perform the steps of;

sending a first request for available content items to the content server;

receiving a first response from the content server via the transceiver, wherein the first response comprises information associated with available content items;

sending a second request for a specific content item to the content server; and

receiving a second response from the content server via the transceiver, wherein the second response comprises accessibility data corresponding to the specific content item, wherein the mobile unit accesses the content item using said accessibility data.

38. The mobile unit of claim 37, wherein the accessibility data comprises a pointer to the specific content item.

39. The mobile unit of claim 37, wherein the accessibility data comprises the specific content item.

40. The mobile unit of claim 37, wherein the transceiver sends requests and receives responses using low power radio.

41. The mobile unit of claim 40, wherein the transceiver sends requests and receives responses using Bluetooth protocols.

42. The mobile unit of claim 37, comprising a mobile telephone.

43. The mobile unit of claim 37, comprising a personal digital assistant.

44. The mobile unit of claim 37, comprising a laptop computer.

45. The mobile unit of claim 37, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the mobile unit to perform the step of sending authentication information to the content server.

46. A content distribution method, comprising steps of:

a content server wirelessly receiving a request for content from a mobile unit via a transceiver of the content server, wherein the mobile unit is located within a short-range wireless operational area served by the transceiver of the content server;

the content server identifying data corresponding to a video display image displayed on a device other than the mobile unit at a time when the request is received; and

the content server sending a response to the mobile unit via the transceiver, wherein the response comprises a data file corresponding to the identified data.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the data file comprises a pointer to a storage location of the identified data.

48. The method of claim 46, wherein step (ii) is performed by capturing a screen image of the displayed video image, and wherein the data file comprises the captured screen image.

49. The method of claim 46, wherein the data file comprises data in a native file format of a file from which the displayed video image is generated.

50. The method of claim 47, further comprising steps of:

downloading the pointer from the mobile unit to a destination computer; and

the destination computer retrieving the identified data from the storage location.

51. A content server, comprising:

a processor;

a transceiver;

memory for storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the content server to perform the steps of;

receiving a request for content from a mobile unit within a short-range wireless operational area served by the transceiver of the content server;

identifying data corresponding to a video display image displayed on a device other than the mobile unit at a time when the request is received; and

sending a response to the mobile unit via the transceiver, wherein the response comprises a data file corresponding to the identified data.

52. The content server of claim 51, wherein step (ii) is performed by capturing a screen image of the displayed video image, based on the video display signal, and

wherein, in step (iii), the data file comprises the captured screen image.

53. The content server of claim 52, further comprising a video output port, wherein the received video display signal is retransmitted through the video output port.

54. The content server of claim 51, wherein the response data file comprises data in a native file format of a file from which the displayed video image is generated.

55. The content server of claim 51, wherein the response data file comprises a pointer to a network location at which a representation of the displayed video display image is stored.

56. A mobile unit, comprising:

a transceiver that communicates with a content server when the mobile unit is within the short-range wireless operational area served by the content server;

a processor;

memory for storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the mobile unit to perform the steps of;

sending a request for content to the content server; and

receiving data from the content server via the transceiver, said data corresponding to a video image displayed on a device other than the mobile unit at a time when the content server receives the request for video content.

57. The mobile unit of claim 56, wherein the received data comprises a captured screen image of the video image displayed at a time when the content server received the request for video content.

58. The mobile unit of claim 56, wherein the data corresponding to the video image comprises a pointer to a network location at which a representation of the video image is stored.

59. The mobile unit of claim 58, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the mobile unit to perform the step of downloading the pointer from the mobile unit to a destination computer so that the destination computer can retrieve the specific content item from a network location defined by the pointer.

60. The mobile unit of claim 56, further comprising the step of downloading the data from the mobile unit to a destination computer.

61. The mobile unit of claim 56, wherein the data corresponding to the video image comprises a data file in a native file format from which the video image is generated.