Finding and Consuming Web Subscriptions in a Web Browser

• US 20090013266A1
• Filed: 09/19/2008
• Published: 01/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Gould, William, Stevens, Warren G., Choi, Wayne WY., Gandhi, Amar S., Lyndersay, Sean O., Kim, Jane T., Morgan, Bruce A., Lueders, John H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,751,936 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/760
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

A content syndication platform, such as a web content syndication platform, manages, organizes and makes available for consumption content that is acquired from the Internet. In at least some embodiments, the platform can acquire and organize web content, and make such content available for consumption by many different types of applications. These applications may or may not necessarily understand the particular syndication format. An application program interface (API) exposes an object model which allows applications and users to easily accomplish many different tasks such as creating, reading, updating, deleting feeds and the like. Further, in at least some embodiments, a user can subscribe to a particular web feed, be provided with a user interface that contains distinct indicia to identify new feeds, and can efficiently consume or read RSS feeds using both an RSS reader and a web browser.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a user selection in a reader to launch a web browser to view an item in a feed;

launching a web browser;

making the item available for viewing using the web browser; and

using the web browser to make other feed-associated items available for viewing, without requiring the user to return to the reader to make subsequent item selections.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of making and using are performed using a web content syndication platform.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of making and using are performed using a web content syndication platform, and wherein the act of using is performed by:

providing the platform with a link associated with the feed; and

checking a platform feed store for any matching links.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of making and using are performed using an RSS platform.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reader comprises an RSS reader.

6. One or more computer-readable storage media embodying computer-readable instructions which, when executed, implement a method comprising:

receiving a user selection in a reader to launch a web browser to view an item in a feed;

launching a web browser;

making the item available for viewing using the web browser; and

using the web browser to make other feed-associated items available for viewing, without requiring the user to return to the reader to make subsequent item selections.

7. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 6, wherein the acts of making and using are performed using a web content syndication platform.

8. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 6, wherein the acts of making and using are performed using a web content syndication platform, and wherein the act of using is performed by:

providing the platform with a link associated with the feed; and

checking a platform feed store for any matching links.

9. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 6, wherein the acts of making and using are performed using an RSS platform.

10. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 6, wherein the reader comprises an RSS reader.