Establishing communication between a messaging client and a remote device

• US 20070033255A1
• Filed: 08/03/2005
• Published: 02/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Henderson, Irvin, Ramakrishnan, Thyagarajapuram, Sanjeeva, Naveen
• Granted Patent: US 7,506,029 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages

Abstract

A first device running a messaging application, such as an instant messaging (IM) application, engages in messaging communication with a remote device running a browsing application. The remote device user is not associated with the messaging network of the first device. The first device sends an instant message directed to the remote device. The remote device is addressed using a means other than the addressing means used in the IM community associated with the first device, such as the MSISDN number of the remote device. The message is processed so that it may be displayed on the remote device by way of the browsing application. The user of the remote device may reply to the message using the browsing application, in which case the reply message is processed and forwarded to the first device, where it is converted into the IM format for display within the IM application.

Claims

1. A method for messaging between a first computing device and a second computing device over a network, comprising:

sending a message addressed to the second device by way of a messaging application executing on the first device;

processing the message so that it can be accessed by the second device by way of a browsing application executing on the second device; and

transmitting a notification to the second device, the notification including a selectable link to a page containing the message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the messaging application is an instant messaging client.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the message addressed to the second device further comprises employing an MSISDN number associated with the second device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the message is performed at a server linked to the first device and the second device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second device is a WAP-capable device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein transmitting the notification to the second device further comprises sending one of a WAP push and a WAP alert.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising associating the message with a reply identifier.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the server is an SMS transport server.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising validating an address associated with the message.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the link to view the message.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

entering a reply to the message within the browsing application executing on the second device;

processing the reply so that it can be displayed by the messaging application on the first device; and

forwarding the reply to the first device for display by the messaging application.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting to the second device an option to block at least one sender of a message.

13. A computer-readable medium having executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

14. A server for messaging between a first device and a second device, comprising:

a network interface;

a processor in communication with the network interface; and

a memory in communication with the processor and storing machine instructions for performing actions, including;

receiving, from the first device, a message addressed to the second device by way of a messaging application executing on the first device;

processing the message so that it can be accessed by the second device by way of a browsing application executing on the second device; and

transmitting a notification to the second device, the notification including a selectable link to a page containing the message.

15. The server of claim 14, wherein the message is addressed to the second device by way of an MSISDN number associated with the second device.

16. The server of claim 14, wherein the second device is a WAP-capable device.

17. The server of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a reply to the message from the second device;

processing the reply so that it can be displayed by the messaging application on the first device; and

forwarding the reply to the first device for display by the messaging application.

18. A client for messaging between a first device and a second device, comprising:

a network interface;

a processor in communication with the network interface; and

a memory in communication with the processor and storing machine instructions for performing actions, including;

sending a message addressed to the second device by way of a messaging application executing on the first device;

enabling the processing of the message so that it can be accessed by the second device by way of a browsing application executing on the second device; and

transmitting a notification to the second device, the notification including a selectable link to a page containing the message.

19. The client of claim 18, wherein the message is addressed to the second device by way of an MSISDN number associated with the second device.

20. The client of claim 18, wherein the second device is a WAP-capable device.

21. The client of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving a reply to the message from the second device, wherein the reply is created within the browsing application executing on the second device; and

processing the reply so that it can be displayed by the messaging application on the first device.

23. The mobile device of claim 18, further comprising entering a reply to the message within the browsing application.

22. A mobile device comprising:

a network interface;

a processor in communication with the network interface; and

a memory in communication with the processor and storing machine instructions for performing actions, including;

receiving, by way of a browsing application, a notification of a message from a remote device, the notification including a selectable link to a page containing the message, wherein the message was generated by a messaging application running on the remote device; and

displaying, by way of the browsing application, an option to reply to the message.