INTERFACE FOR PDA AND COMPUTING DEVICE

• US 20110173437A1
• Filed: 01/14/2011
• Published: 07/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Appy Risk Technologies Limited (Trak Global Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Inc. (Trak Global Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hartwell, Eric, Miners, William Ben, Basir, Otman A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,525,567 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/150
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication

Abstract

A method of reviewing an email attachment receives at an email server an email message including at least one attachment. A preview portion of the email message is transmitted to a mobile communication device. The preview portion does not include the at least one attachment, and the preview portion is viewable on a computing device in communication with the mobile communications device. An attachment download instruction based on the preview portion is received from the computing device via the mobile communication device. The at least one attachment is transmitted to the computing device based on the attachment download instruction. The attachment is not transmitted to the computing device until the attachment download instruction is received.

Claims

1. A method of reviewing an email attachment, comprising:

receiving at an email server an email message including at least one attachment;

transmitting a preview portion of the email message to a mobile communication device, the preview portion not including the at least one attachment, the preview portion being viewable on a computing device in communication with the mobile communications device;

receiving an attachment download instruction from the computing device via the mobile communication device, the attachment download instruction being based on the preview portion; and

transmitting the at least one attachment to the computing device based on the attachment download instruction, wherein the attachment is not transmitted to the computing device until the attachment download instruction is received.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first preview portion of the email message is optimized for display on the mobile communication device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device receives the preview portion via a network connection of the mobile communication device, and wherein the attachment download instruction is received from the computing device via the network connection of the mobile communication device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of transmitting the at least one attachment to the computing device includes:

transmitting the email message including the at least one attachment to an attachment server;

compressing and encrypting the at least one attachment on the attachment server;

transmitting the compressed, encrypted attachment from the attachment server to the computing device via the mobile communication device; and

decompressing and decrypting the compressed, encrypted attachment on the computing device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said step of transmitting the email message including the at least one attachment to the attachment server is only performed once the attachment download instruction is received.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said step of transmitting the email message including the at least one attachment to the attachment server is initiated prior to receiving the attachment download instruction.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein said step of transmitting the at least one attachment to the computing device includes saving the attachment in an Internet-visible directory on the attachment server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of transmitting the at least one attachment to the computing device includes:

compressing and encrypting the at least one attachment on the email server;

transmitting the compressed, encrypted attachment from the email server to the computing device via the mobile communication device; and

decompressing and decrypting the compressed, encrypted attachment on the computing device.

9. The method of claim 1, including:

establishing a connection between the computing device and the mobile communication device;

controlling operation of the mobile communication device based on commands received from the computing device; and

accessing mobile communication device data on the computing device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of transmitting a preview portion of the email message to a mobile communication device includes:

transmitting a first preview portion of the email message to the mobile communication device, the first preview portion not including the at least one attachment;

transmitting a second preview portion of the an email attachment to the computing device in communication with the mobile communication device, wherein the second preview portion is the same as the first preview portion, or wherein the second preview portion includes part of the first preview portion and has a size that is less than a size of the first preview portion.

11. A method of reviewing an email attachment, comprising:

A) receiving an attachment download instruction from a computing device, the download instruction corresponding to at least one desired attachment of an email message, the instruction being received via a network connection of a mobile communication device;

B) transmitting an email message including the at least one desired attachment to an attachment server;

C) compressing and encrypting, using the attachment server, the at least one desired attachment;

D) transmitting the compressed, encrypted attachment to the computing device via the network connection of the mobile communication device; and

E) decompressing and decrypting the compressed, encrypted attachment on the computing device to restore the compressed, encrypted attachment into the at least one desired attachment.

12. The method of claim 11, including:

receiving at an email server the email message including the least one desired attachment;

transmitting a preview portion of the email message to the computing device, the preview portion not including the at least one desired attachment; and

receiving, via the mobile communication device, an attachment download instruction from the computing device, wherein said steps (A)-(E) are not performed until the attachment download instruction is received.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein said step (C) is performed via FTP, HTTP, or a TCP socket of the computing device.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein said step (D) includes:

saving the attachment in an Internet-visible directory on the attachment server.

15. The method of claim 11, including:

establishing a connection between the computing device and the mobile communication device;

controlling operation of the mobile communication device based on commands received from the computing device; and

accessing information mobile communication device data on the computing device.

16. A system for transferring email attachments, comprising:

a mobile communication device having a gateway;

a computing device having a download manager, the computing device being operable to establish a connection with the gateway of the mobile communication device to control operation of the mobile communication device and to request and store information from the mobile communication device; and

an attachment server operable to compress, encrypt, and transmit an email attachment of an email message to the computing device via the gateway of the mobile communication device in response to a download instruction received from the download manager of the computing device.

17. The system of claim 16, including:

a mail server operable to receive an email message including the email attachment, and operable to selectively transmit the email message including the attachment to the attachment server in response to one of a download request from the computing device or a new email request from the attachment server.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the mail server is also operable to transmit a preview portion of the email message to the computing device via the mobile communication device gateway, the preview portion enabling a user to determine whether to provide the download instruction.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the attachment server also acts as a mail server, and is operable to transmit a preview portion of the email message to the computing device via the mobile communication device gateway, the preview portion enabling a user to determine whether to provide the download instruction.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the computing device is an in-vehicle computer including at least one of a touch-screen display operable to receive user input, or a speaker or microphone operable to receive user voice commands.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the mobile communication device is a mobile email device that also includes cellular voice communication features.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the attachment server deletes at least one of the email message including the attachment, or the compressed, encrypted attachment, from its storage after a predefined time period elapses.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein the computing device lacks a direct network connection with the attachment server, and wherein the computing device relies on the mobile communication device to receive information from the attachment server.