Dynamic Icons Associated with Remote Content

• US 20100329642A1
• Filed: 06/25/2010
• Published: 12/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: London, Eric, Ehrhart, Brian, Jordan, Larry, Caricaburu, Katherine, Kam, Gordon, Goran, Charles
• Granted Patent: US 8,812,988 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/280
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/488 Data services, e.g. news ticker systems specially adapted for using meteorological information in broadcast systems H04H60/71
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44504 Circuit details of the additional information generator, e.g. details of the character or graphics signal generator, overlay mixing circuits

Abstract

Dynamic icons associated with remote content provide one or more pieces of information to a user by changing the appearance of the icon based on changes to data of a data source associated with the icon. For example, when the icon represents data available from a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed, the icon may be represented as an image extracted from the RSS feed, which may change when the RSS feed is updated or includes new content. In some embodiments, the icon may by dynamically updated based on user information and/or device information, such as an icon for a weather forecast that is based at least in part on a location of a device and thus directs the icon to show imagery and/or information based at least in part on the respective location.

Claims

1. A method of creating a dynamic icon, the method comprising:

associating an icon with data available via a network, the icon enabling access to the data upon user-interaction with the icon, the data being periodically updated to modify content included in the data.

selecting an image from the data, the image being updated upon an update of the data,

extracting the image for use with the icon;

manipulating the image based at least in part on a size specified for the icon; and

rendering of the icon with the image.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data is provided from a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed of data.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising cropping the image by selecting an area of interest and then removing a portion of the image outside of the area of interest.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the icon includes text that is extracted from the data, the text being truncated to include a lesser quantity of text than an amount of text included in the data.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the image is a video.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising reformatting the video to reduce at least one of a frame rate or a resolution of the video.

7. A method, comprising:

selecting data from a data source associated with an icon, the data being updated such that the content of the data is different after an update, the icon enabling access to the data upon user-interaction with the icon;

locating an image that is available in the data;

storing the image that is located in the available data; and

rendering of the icon with the image.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising identifying local data prior to the selecting the data from a data source associated with an icon, the local data used to select the data from the data source.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the local data includes at least one of a location of a client device that displays the icon or personal information of a user associated with the client device.

10. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising modifying the image for presentation on the client device by performing at least one of resizing the image or reducing a resolution of the image.

11. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising locating text that is available in the data, at least a portion of the text to be rendered in the icon.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the image and the text rendered in the icon are separate in the data such that the text is disassociated from the image in the data.

13. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

analyzing data from a source linked to an icon to identify at least an image;

incorporating the image in the icon to enable a preview of the image via the icon prior to a selection of the icon that calls the source linked to the icon; and

updating the image to include a new image representative of the data from the source.

14. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

copying the image; and

resizing the image based on parameters associated with the icon.

15. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

identifying an area of interest in the image; and

cropping the image to preserve the area of interest prior to the resizing the image.

16. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 15, wherein the analyzing data from a source linked to an icon further identifies text for inclusion in the icon.

17. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

truncating the text to reduce an amount of the text to an amount less than or equal to a predetermined threshold amount of text; and

incorporating the text in the icon to enable a preview of the text via the icon prior to a selection of the icon that calls the source linked to the icon.

18. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 13, further comprising:

querying at least one of user data or device data to identify an attribute used to select the data, and wherein the analyzing the data from the source is based at least in part on the attribute.

19. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the analyzing the data and the incorporating the image are performed by a client device, and further comprising causing a display of the icon on a display of the client device.

20. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the source is a social networking site, and the data is a most recent post associated with a user that has access to the source.