Method and apparatus for enhanced browsing

• US 20060070012A1
• Filed: 11/10/2004
• Published: 03/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cufer Asset Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: BT Web Solutions LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Brown, Wendell, Milener, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 7,840,911 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/822
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04804 Transparency, e.g. transparent or translucent windows
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A method and apparatus for enhanced browsing of electronic data (e.g., web pages, documents, electronic mail). When a first page is displayed in a browser, content identified by links to other pages is prefetched. If the page contains a list of links (e.g., search results), an enhanced browsing stripe is superimposed on the links. The stripe is transparent or semi-transparent, so that a user can identify individual links in the list. As long as a user interface cursor remains within the stripe, whenever the cursor is placed over or adjacent to a link, an enhanced browsing window containing the prefetched content for that link is displayed. The stripe extends at least the length of the list of links. If the cursor reaches the end of the browser window, the browser page is automatically scrolled as necessary to view additional links or page content, and the stripe is extended accordingly.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of facilitating enhanced browsing of electronic content, the method comprising:

when a first page of electronic content is browsed in a browser, identifying within the first page a set of links to other pages of electronic content, including a first link to a second page;

superimposing a stripe on the set of links within the browser;

detecting placement of a cursor within said stripe and in proximity to the first link; and

in response to said detecting, displaying an enhanced browsing window containing electronic content of the second page.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of links comprises a list of search results.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said superimposing comprises:

displaying a non-opaque graphical stripe extending over every link in the set of links.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically extending said stripe as the first page is scrolled within the browser, so that said stripe remains superimposed on the set of links.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting placement of the cursor within said stripe and near an end of said stripe; and

automatically scrolling the first page within the browser.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

automatically extending said stripe as the first page is scrolled.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to said detecting:

constructing, without displaying, the enhanced browsing window containing the electronic content.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to said detecting:

for each of the one or more links, including the first link, prefetching content from a page of electronic content identified by the link.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising, after said prefetching of content from the second page:

altering an appearance of the first link.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically closing the enhanced browsing window when the cursor is moved from a position inside the enhanced browsing window to a position outside the enhanced browsing window and outside said stripe.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to said displaying:

caching the enhanced browsing window in a cache distinct from a cache used by the browser.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic content of the second page is navigable content including one or more hyperlinks.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic content of the second page includes HTML (HyperText Markup Language).

14. A computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of facilitating enhanced browsing of electronic content, the method comprising:

when a first page of electronic content is browsed in a browser, identifying within the first page a set of links to other pages of electronic content, including a first link to a second page;

superimposing a stripe on the set of links within the browser;

detecting placement of a cursor within said stripe and in proximity to the first link; and

in response to said detecting, displaying an enhanced browsing window containing electronic content of the second page.

15. A graphical user interface for facilitating enhanced browsing of electronic data, comprising:

a browser window for displaying a first page of electronic data, wherein the first page comprises a plurality of links to other pages of electronic data; and

a non-opaque stripe superimposed on the plurality of links.

16. The graphical user interface of claim 15, further comprising:

an enhanced browsing window configured to display content identified by one of the links in the plurality of links.

17. The graphical user interface of claim 16, wherein:

the first page is larger than the browser window; and

said stripe is configured to extend as the first page is scrolled within the browser window.

18. The graphical user interface of claim 17, wherein said stripe extends to remain superimposed on the plurality of links.

19. The graphical user interface of claim 16, wherein said stripe is aligned adjacent to one edge of said enhanced browsing window.

20. The graphical user interface of claim 15, further comprising:

a cursor controlled by a user; and

when the cursor is placed within said stripe and in proximity to one of the plurality of links, an enhanced browsing window configured to display content from a page of electronic data identified by the one link.

21. The graphical user interface of claim 20, wherein the cursor is placed in proximity to the one link when the cursor is placed over the one link.

22. The graphical user interface of claim 20, wherein said enhanced browsing window is configured to disappear if the cursor is placed outside said stripe and outside said enhanced browsing window.

23. The graphical user interface of claim 20, wherein said enhanced browsing window is configured to disappear if the cursor is moved away from said proximity to the one link.

24. The graphical user interface of claim 20, wherein:

the first page is automatically scrolled within the browser window when the cursor is placed within said stripe and near an end of said stripe.

25. The graphical user interface of claim 24, wherein said stripe automatically extends as the first page is automatically scrolled within the browser window.

26. An enhanced browsing apparatus for facilitating enhanced browsing of electronic data, the apparatus comprising:

a prefetcher configured to prefetch content from a second page of electronic data while a browser displays a first page of electronic data containing multiple links, wherein the multiple links include a first link to the second page;

a user interface configured to;

display a stripe superimposed on the multiple links; and

when a cursor is placed within said stripe and in proximity to the first link, display an enhanced browsing window comprising said prefetched content.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

a cache configured to cache one or more of;

said prefetched content; and

said enhanced browsing window.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said cache is separate from a cache used by the browser.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said prefetcher is further configured to retrieve a set of ads for display with said prefetched content within said enhanced browsing window.

30. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said prefetcher is further configured to alter an appearance of the first link.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said prefetcher alters the appearance of the first link after said prefetched content is prefetched.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said prefetcher alters the appearance of the first link if the content from the second page cannot be prefetched.

33. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said prefetched content comprises markup language.

34. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said user interface is further configured to keep said enhanced browsing window invisible until the cursor is placed within said stripe and in proximity to the first link.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the cursor is in proximity to the first link when the cursor is on the first link.

36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the cursor is in proximity to the first link when the cursor is adjacent to the first link.

37. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein:

the browser is navigable to locations at which electronic data are stored; and

said enhanced browsing window is configured to preview the electronic data without navigating to the locations.