RADIO-TYPE INTERFACE FOR TUNING INTO CONTENT ASSOCIATED WITH PROJECTS

• US 20090007230A1
• Filed: 06/28/2007
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Hough, Paul J., Ozzie, Raymond E., Curtis, Pavel, McAniff, Richard J., Johnson, Bruce, Gupta, Anoop
• Granted Patent: US 8,117,664 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

A user can receive content relating to a common topic, such as a project, through a radio-type interface. A frequency or other indicator associated with the project can be selected on a user device. The common topic can be presented to the user, based on the selected frequency and/or an authentication. Presented information can also be provided in a common format requested by the user or as a function of the rendering device. The common format can be facilitated by a conversion component that can change information from a first format to at least a second format. The information can also be presented in more than one format.

Claims

1. A system for providing information in a tunable format, comprising

an information repository that maintains information that is automatically categorized based on content;

a tuning component that receives an indication of a desired subset of the categorized information;

a search component that obtains the desired subset of information based on the received indication; and

an output component that presents the subset of information in response to the received indication.

2. The system of claim 1, the indication of the desired subset of the categorized information is a frequency associated with a project.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a categorization component that assigns a unique indicator to similar incoming data, the grouped data is the categorized information.

4. The system of claim 3, the output component presents the subset of information in a format that is a function of a user device.

5. The system of claim 3, the categorization component assigns a unique indicator that contains a prefix to groups of similar data.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an identifier module that receives user information; and

an authenticate module that selectively allows data to be accessed by a user based on the received user information.

7. The system of claim 6, the authenticate module denies access to the data if the user is not authorized to view the data.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprises a selector module that provides information relating to the indication.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a conversion component that presents the subset of information in a common format.

10. The system of claim 1, the output component provides a play list to allow a user to manipulate the data.

11. The system of claim 1, the output component comprises a radio-type interface.

12. The system of claim 1, an output component that presents the subset of information in multiple formats.

13. A method for selectively presenting information to a user based on a received request, comprising:

receiving a request for information based on a selected frequency;

determining whether a user is authorized to receive the information; and

selectively presenting the information to the user if the user is authorized to receive the information, the information is presented in a requested format or in a format that is a function of a user device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprises communicating an error message if the user is not authorized to receive the information.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprises:

receiving a second request for the information to be presented in a common format;

determining if the information is in the common format; and

selectively converting the information to the common format.

16. The method of claim 15, converting the information to the common format comprises changing a text document to an audio format.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving data associated with a project;

tagging the received data with a frequency; and

storing the tagged data in an information database.

18. The method of claim 13, determining whether a user is authorized to receive the information comprises:

receiving a user identification; and

comparing the user identification with individuals authorized to receive the data.

19. A computer-implemented system for selectively presenting data to a user, comprising:

means for associating content with a single project;

means for automatically assigning a frequency to the associated content;

means for receiving a request that includes the frequency to receive the associated content; and

means for selectively presenting the associated content to an authorized user.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for receiving a second request for the associated content to be presented in a single format; and

means for converting the associated content to the single format.