PROVIDING A LOCAL DEVICE WITH COMPUTING SERVICES FROM A REMOTE HOST

• US 20100299187A1
• Filed: 05/18/2010
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fiver LLC
• Original Assignee: SMX iNet Global Services SA
• Inventors: Duggal, Sachin Dev
• Granted Patent: US 8,185,581 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/10 Services

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a local device with computing services are disclosed. One embodiment includes, identifying one or more file types of files stored on the local device which is not associated with a local application that is installed on the local device and detecting a request to access a file stored on the local device having one of the one or more file types. The remote host can generate an offer to provide access to a remote application which is able to open the file for a fee such that the file is accessible via the local device. A selected service model can determine the fee and whether the remote application is provided for use by the local device when offline.

Claims

1. A method of providing a local device with computing services from a remote host, the method, comprising:

detecting a request generated from a local device to access data;

in response to determining that the data is not accessible by applications installed on the local device;

providing, from the remote host, a remote application which is able to access the data for a fee to enable the data to be accessed from the local device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a predetermined number of advertisements displayed on the local device has been accessed;

waiving the fee for access of the remote application.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, the fee enables access to the remote application for a predetermined amount of time.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising,

streaming at least a portion of the remote application to the local device to for execution on the local device to access the data stored on the local device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, the remote application is downloaded by the local device in whole for offline usage and stored in cache on the local device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, the remote application is executed on the remote host to access the data.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, the data is stored on remote storage of the remote host.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising,

transmitting the data from the local device to the remote host for access using the remote application executable on the remote host;

transmitting images of the remote application to the local device for display on the local device depicting results of accessing the data.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising, identifying a portion of the data to be transmitted to the remote host needed by the remote application for access.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising, transmitting data modified by the remote application on the remote host to the local device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising,

storing data generated at the local device in the remote storage on the remote host;

wherein, the remote storage is accessible using a vanity URL that is unique to the user.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein, the data generated at the local device includes changes to content or files stored at the local device.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising, performing file extension mapping to determine whether the data is accessible by the applications that are installed on the local device.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising,

synchronizing content stored on local device on remote storage of the remote device;

wherein, the content is associated with a user.

15. The method of claim 14,

wherein, the content is associated with a local directory and the content is synchronized in a remote directory on the remote storage;

wherein, the content stored in the remote directory has associated privacy settings;

wherein, the remote directory is accessible using uniform resource locator (URL) that is associated with the user.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

synchronizing additional content stored on additional local devices associated with the user with the remote directory.

17. The method of claim 15,

wherein, the content is synchronized between the local and remote directories in response to a drag and drop action;

wherein, the content is converted to HTML upon transmission from the local device to the remote storage associated with the remote host.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the drag and drop action is performed from a local file to a virtual drive representing the remote storage associated with the remote host.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the drag and drop action is performed from a virtual folder representing the remote storage associated with the remote host.

20. A method of providing a local device with computing services from a remote host, the method, comprising:

identifying one or more file types of files stored on the local device which is not associated with a local application that is installed on the local device;

detecting a request to access a file stored on the local device having one of the one or more file types;

generating, from the remote host, an offer to provide access to a remote application which is able to open the file for a fee such that the file is accessible via the local device;

wherein, a selected service model determines the fee and whether the remote application is provided for use by the local device when offline.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising, transmitting the remote application in whole to the local device for execution on the local device when the selected service model provides for offline usage by the local device.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein, the fee determines the amount of time the remote application is available on the local device for offline usage.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising, streaming portions of the remote application to the local device used for execution to open the file when the selected service model does not provide for offline usage by the local device .

24. The method of claim 20, wherein, the one or more file types are identified by performing file extension mapping.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein, the offer includes multiple services models selectable by a user of the local device.

26. A method of targeting advertising to a user using a virtual machine hosted by a remote server, the method, comprising:

providing the user with access to the virtual machine hosted by the remote server, the virtual machine monitoring use of the virtual machine to gather user data;

identifying an advertisement for the user related to the information gathered from the use of the virtual machine; and

transmitting the advertisement to the user for display to the user on a local device while the user launches an application on the virtual machine,

the advertisement being displayed over a splash screen of the application on the user device.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the information gathered includes information selected from sex, age, profession, city, and time of use.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein a robot gathers the information and stores it within storage associated with a virtual computing system.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the advertising targets the functionality of the applications executed by the user in the virtual machine.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising, providing free access to the virtual machine in response to determining that the user has viewed a predetermined number of advertisements.

31. A system for targeting advertising to a user using a virtual machine hosted by remote server, the system, comprising:

means for, providing the user with access to the virtual machine hosted by the remote server, the virtual machine monitoring use of the virtual machine to gather user data;

means for, identifying an advertisement for the user related to the information gathered from the use of the virtual machine; and

means for, transmitting the advertisement to the user for display to the user on a local device while the user launches an application on the virtual machine, the advertisement being displayed over a splash screen of the application on the user device;

means for, providing free access to the virtual machine in response to determining that the user has viewed a predetermined number of advertisements.

32. A system for providing a user device with computing services from a remote host, the method, comprising:

a file type identifier agent that identifies one or more file types of files stored on the local device which are not associated with a local application that is installed on the local device;

a file manager that detects a request to access a file stored on the local device having one of the one or more file types;

an application management engine that generates, an offer to provide access to a remote application stored on the remote most which is able to open the file such that the file is accessible via the local device;

wherein, the remote application is provided for access of the file via a fee-based arrangement or and advertisement-based arrangement.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein, in the fee-based arrangement, the remote application is available for purchase or rental over a period of time.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein, in the advertisement-based arrangement, the remote application is available when a predetermined number of advertisements displayed on the user device has been accessed.