METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR WIDGET SHARING BETWEEN CONTENT AGGREGATION POINTS

• US 20090094339A1
• Filed: 10/02/2008
• Published: 04/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: AddThis, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Labarca, Richard S., Reverte, Carlos F., Cosby, Scott F., Allen, Stewart O.
• Granted Patent: US 8,209,378 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a request from a processing device to send a widget to a handheld mobile device. The request can be defined after at least a portion of an instance of the widget has been processed at the processing device. The request can be associated with a widget identifier. The method can also include defining a widget precursor at a widget-sharing server in response to the request from the processing device. The widget precursor can be associated with the widget identifier and a placement identifier.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a request from a processing device to send a widget to a handheld mobile device, the request being defined after at least a portion of an instance of the widget has been processed at the processing device, the request being associated with a widget identifier; and

defining a widget precursor at a widget-sharing server in response to the request from the processing device, the widget precursor being associated with the widget identifier and a placement identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the instance is a first instance, the widget precursor includes a reference to the widget, the reference is configured so that a second instance of the widget is sent to the handheld mobile device in response to the reference being accessed at the handheld mobile device, the first instance of the widget has a different format than the second instance of the widget.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the instance is a first instance, the widget precursor is a first widget precursor that includes a reference to a second widget precursor, the second widget precursor includes a reference to the widget, the second widget precursor is served to the handheld mobile device from an entity separate from the widget-sharing server when the reference to the second widget precursor is accessed from the first widget precursor.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the widget is a first widget from a set of widgets, the set of widgets is associated with the widget identifier,

the method further comprising:

sending the widget precursor to the handheld mobile device, the widget precursor being a placement request including a reference to a second widget from the set of widgets, the widget identifier, and the placement identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, the widget precursor is a first widget precursor,

the method further comprising:

sending the widget precursor to the handheld mobile device, the widget precursor being defined based on a protocol associated with the handheld mobile device;

receiving from the handheld mobile device a placement response in response to the widget precursor;

sending a reference to a second widget precursor to the handheld mobile device in response to the placement response.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the widget is a first widget from a set of widgets, the set of widgets is associated with the widget identifier, the widget precursor is a first widget precursor,

the method further comprising:

sending the first widget precursor to the handheld mobile device,

receiving an indicator associated with at least one of a processing capability of a component at the handheld mobile device, a user preference, or metadata in response to the first widget precursor; and

sending to the handheld mobile device a reference to a second widget precursor including a reference to a second widget from the set of widgets, the reference to the second widget precursor being selected based on the indicator and based on the widget identifier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the widget precursor includes a reference to the widget, the processing device is a first processing device, the placement identifier is a first placement identifier,

the method further comprising:

sending the widget precursor to the handheld mobile device, a second instance of the widget is sent to the handheld mobile device in response to the reference being accessed at the handheld mobile device; and

receiving a request from the handheld mobile device to place the widget at a second processing device after at least a portion of the second instance of the widget has executed at the handheld mobile device, the request being associated with the widget identifier and a second placement identifier different from the first placement identifier.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the defining includes defining based on information representing a geographic location of the handheld mobile device.

9. A method, comprising:

receiving from a first device a request to place a first widget at a second device after at least a portion of an instance of the first widget has been received at the first device, the first widget being from a set of widgets, the request including a widget identifier associated with the set of widgets;

receiving an indicator associated with a processing capability of a component at the second device; and

defining, based on the indicator and based on the widget identifier, a signal configured to trigger sending of a widget precursor associated with a reference to a second widget, the second widget being from the set of widgets.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the component is an application at the second device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the first widget has a format different than a format of the second widget.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

defining a placement identifier in response to the request, the widget precursor including the widget identifier and the placement identifier.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the widget precursor is a mobile content vehicle.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sending an instance of a widget container to the first device, the widget container being a procedural software framework containing the first widget, the first widget being at least one of a static data object, a media object, or a software object, the request to place the first widget is defined using a share module associated with the widget container.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sending an instance of a widget container to the first device in response to a reference to the widget container being accessed from a content aggregation point, the widget container being a procedural software framework containing the first widget, the request to place the first widget being defined using a share module associated with the widget container.

16. A method, comprising:

receiving from a first processing device a request to send a widget to a second processing device, the request being defined by the widget based on an application programming interface (API), the request including a widget identifier associated with the widget; and

defining a signal configured to trigger sending of the widget identifier to the second processing device.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving from the first processing device a tracking indicator defined by the widget based on the application programming interface.

18. The method of claim 16, the method further comprising;

defining a placement identifier in response to the request; and

sending a widget precursor to the second processing device in response to the signal, the widget precursor including the widget identifier and the placement identifier.

19. The method of claim 16, the method further comprising;

sending a reference to a widget precursor to the second processing device in response to the signal, the widget precursor including the widget identifier.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the widget is a first widget from a set of widgets associated with the widget identifier,

the method further comprising:

sending a reference to a widget precursor to the second processing device in response to the signal, the widget precursor including a reference to a second widget from the set of widgets.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the receiving includes receiving at a widget-sharing host, the application programming interface is associated with the widget-sharing host, an instance of the widget is configured to be served to the second processing device from an entity separate from the widget-sharing host in response to a request from the second processing device.

22. A computer-readable medium comprising code representing instructions to cause a processor to:

receive a sharing signal in response to at least a portion of a virally spread widget being processed;

receive information representing a geographic location of a handheld mobile device that is a target of the sharing signal; and

define a widget precursor at a widget-sharing server based on the geographic location of the handheld mobile device.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the sharing signal includes a widget identifier associated with the virally spread widget, the defining is based on the widget identifier.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the defining includes defining the widget precursor such that the widget precursor can be used at the handheld mobile device to request an instance of the widget that has at least one of content or a service module associated with the geographic location.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the widget precursor is a first widget precursor,

the computer-readable medium further comprising code to:

receive from the handheld mobile device the information representing the geographic location in a second widget precursor different than the first widget precursor.