Unified tracking of time dependent events

• US 20070101284A1
• Filed: 10/28/2005
• Published: 05/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Shaw, Han-yi, Richey, Kyle
• Application Number:
  US11/262,409
• Publication Number:
  US 20070101284A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/772
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

A notification system with a unified notification panel provides time dependent and other user data in a single page user interface. The data may include reminders and other information associated with user electronic mail, calendar data, and other data. The data in the panel is updated with new data as changes are detected. New or changed data may be accessed from a remote storage device, local memory or some other storage location.

Claims

1. A method for tracking notification events for user data, comprising:

accessing user data including electronic mail data and calendar data;

providing the user data in a single page of a user interface; and

displaying an alert in the single page of the user interface, the alert generated in response to detecting a change in the user data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of accessing user data includes:

sending a data request to a personal information management application.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of accessing user data includes:

receiving user data from a remote server.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the user data includes time stamp data associated with a data request received by the remote server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of displaying an alert includes:

transmitting a user data request in response to receiving a new data message initiated by a remote server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of displaying an alert includes:

generating a data request for user data stored at a remote server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of displaying an alert includes:

displaying an alert associated with each of mail data and calendar data in the single page.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of displaying an alert includes:

providing updated user data in the single page user interface.

9. One or more processor readable storage devices having processor readable code embodied on said processor readable storage devices, said processor readable code for programming one or more processors to perform a method comprising:

displaying user data in a single page of an interface, the user data including user electronic mail data and user calendar data;

receiving a new data message; and

providing an indicator in the single page of the interface in response to the new data message.

10. The one or more processor readable storage devices according to claim 9, wherein the new data message includes data identification information.

11. The one or more processor readable storage devices according to claim 9, wherein providing an indicator includes:

providing an indicator which indicates there is no longer enough free time to complete a scheduled task.

12. The one or more processor readable storage devices according to claim 9, wherein the new data message is initiated by a remote server.

13. The one or more processor readable storage devices according to claim 9, wherein the new data message is received from a personal information management application.

14. The one or more processor readable storage devices according to claim 9, wherein said step of providing an indicator includes:

retrieving new user data associated with the new data message; and

providing the new user data in the single page interface.

15. The one or more processor readable storage devices according to claim 9, wherein said step of retrieving new user data includes:

retrieving the new user data from local memory.

16. The one or more processor readable storage devices according to claim 9, wherein said step of retrieving new user data includes:

retrieving the new user data from a remote server.

17. An apparatus for processing data, comprising:

a communication interface;

a storage device; and

one or more processors in communication with said storage device and said communication interface, said one or more processors perform a method comprising;

providing electronic mail data and calendar data in a single page user interface, the electronic mail data and calendar data retrieved from a personal information management application; and

displaying a notification in the single page user interface in response to detecting a changed state in the personal information management application.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, the method further comprising:

provide a notification for each of the electronic mail data and calendar data simultaneously.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, the method further comprising:

receiving input in the single page user interface; and

sending a message to the personal information management application to perform an action in response to the user input.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, the method further comprising:

receiving confirmation data in response to the initial data, the confirmation data indicating the personal information management application has established a connection with a remote server.