IMAGE-BASED AND PREDICTIVE BROWSING

• US 20110202847A1
• Filed: 02/26/2010
• Published: 08/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: DIMITROV, Stefan
• Granted Patent: US 8,826,141 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/738
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1396 specially adapted for monitoring users' activity

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for image-based browsing of resources, such as webpages, on a communication device, providing for image-based navigation of recently accessed resources and image-based selection of resources matching partial or complete address strings entered in an input field. Also provided are systems and methods for predictive loading of resources, by detecting browsing actions such as zooming in and hovering over thumbnail images of previously accessed resources, and initiating HTTP requests for those resources over a network before receipt of an express command to retrieve the resource. To improve the user-perceived responsiveness of the device to commands to download and display resources such as webpages comprising embedded objects, the order of requesting updated versions of the embedded objects is determined by analysis of the portion of the webpage of interest to the user. Prioritizing of various browser-related tasks is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method implemented at a communication device, the method comprising:

in response to a query comprising an input string,

retrieving, from a data store at the communication device, image data representative of a plurality of resources as rendered for display at the communication device, each said resource being associated with an address corresponding to the input string; and

displaying, in a single view at the communication device, a set of a plurality of interface elements, wherein the set comprises, for each said resource, an interface element comprising an image generated from the image data representative of said resource, said interface element being actuatable to initiate a request over a network for the resource at its associated address.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a modification to the input string;

retrieving, from the data store, image data representative of at least one resource as rendered for display at the communication device, each said resource being associated with an address corresponding to the modified input string; and

displaying, in the single view, a further set of at least one interface element in place of a previously displayed set of at least one interface element, wherein the further set comprises, for each said resource associated with an address corresponding to the modified input string, an interface element comprising an image generated from the image data representative of the said resource, said interface element being actuatable to initiate a request over the network for the resource at its associated address.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining, for each of a plurality of resources accessed over the network, image data representative of said resource, wherein the image data represents a rendering of the resource as displayed at the communication device; and

storing, in the data store, said image data thus obtained in association with an address at which said resource was accessed,

prior to retrieving image data from the data store.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to a browsing action operating on one or more of the set of at least one interface element,

identifying one of the set of at least one interface element as an object of the browsing action; and

initiating a request over the network for the resource associated with said one of the set of at least one interface element,

prior to receipt of an instruction to retrieve said resource over the network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is an HTTP request.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one resource comprises a webpage.

7. A communication device, comprising:

a display;

at least one input subsystem for receiving an input string; and

a data store for storing image data representative of a plurality of resources as rendered for display in said display, each of the at least one resource being associated with an address;

a processor adapted to, in response a query comprising the input string,

retrieve from the data store image data representative of a plurality of resources, each said resource being associated with an address corresponding to the input string; and

display, in a single view on the display, the set of a plurality of interface elements, wherein the set comprises, for each said resource, an interface element comprising an image generated from the image data representative of said resource, said interface element being actuatable to initiate a request over a network for the resource at its associated address.

8. The communication device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further adapted to:

detect a modification to the input string;

retrieve, from the data store, image data representative of at least one resource as rendered for display at the communication device, each said resource being associated with an address corresponding to the modified input string; and

display, in the single view, a further set of at least one interface element in place of a previously displayed set of at least one interface element, wherein the further set comprises, for each said resource associated with an address corresponding to the modified input string, an interface element comprising an image generated from the image data representative of the said resource, said interface element being actuatable to initiate a request over the network for the resource at its associated address.

9. The communication device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further adapted to:

obtain, for each of a plurality of resources accessed over the network, image data representative of said resource, wherein the image data represents a rendering of the resource as displayed at the communication device; and

store, in the data store, said image data thus obtained in association with an address at which said resource was accessed,

prior to retrieving image data from the data store.

10. The communication device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further adapted to:

detect browsing action operating on one or more of the set of at least one interface element;

identify one of the set of at least one interface element as an object of the browsing action; and

initiate a request over the network for the resource associated with said one of the set of at least one interface element,

prior to receipt of an instruction to retrieve said resource over the network.

11. A method implemented at a communication device, the method comprising:

receiving a command to load a resource for display at the communication device, such that only a portion of the resource is displayed at the communication device in a magnified view, the resource comprising a structured document;

retrieving, from memory at the communication device, a cached copy of the resource;

determining, using the cached copy of the resource, whether the portion of the resource to be displayed comprises any embedded objects;

transmitting, over a network, a request for said embedded objects comprised in said portion prior to transmitting any request over the network for the resource or for further embedded objects comprised in the resource;

receiving, over the network, a response to the request for said embedded objects comprised in said portion; and

rendering and displaying said portion of the resource in the magnified view.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, after retrieving the cached copy of the resource from memory at the communication device, rendering and displaying said portion in the magnified view at the communication device using said cached copy of the resource and a cached copy of said embedded objects comprised in said portion, prior to receiving the response to the request for said embedded objects.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the response to the request for said embedded objects comprises a response indicating that said embedded objects are the same as a cached copy of the said embedded objects stored in memory at the communication device, and wherein rendering and displaying comprises rendering and displaying said portion of the resource in the magnified view using the cached copy of the resource and the cached copy of said embedded objects.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the response to the request for said embedded objects comprises an updated version of said embedded objects, and wherein rendering and displaying comprises rendering and displaying said portion of the resource in the magnified view using the updated version of said embedded objects.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the portion of the resource to be displayed comprises one embedded object.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising displaying an element comprising a screenshot representation of the resource prior to receiving the command, wherein the screenshot representation is retrieved from the memory.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the portion of the resource was previously displayed at the communication device in said magnified view, and the screenshot representation comprises a representation of said portion of the resource in said magnified view.

18. A communication device, comprising:

a memory;

a display;

means for transmitting and receiving data over a network; and

a processor adapted to;

receive a command to load a resource for display such that only a portion of the resource is displayed in the display in a magnified view, the resource comprising a structured document;

retrieve from the memory a cached copy of the resource;

determine using the cached copy of the resource, whether the portion of the resource to be displayed comprises any embedded objects;

transmit a request over the network for said embedded objects comprised in said portion prior to transmitting any request over the network for the resource or for further embedded objects comprised in the resource;

receive, over the network, a response to the request for said embedded objects comprised in said portion; and

render and display on the display said portion of the resource in the magnified view.

19. The communication device of claim 18, wherein the processor is further adapted to render and display said portion in the magnified view using said cached copy of the resource and a cached copy of said embedded objects comprised in said portion, after retrieving the cached copy of the resource from the memory and prior to receiving the response to the request for said embedded objects.

20. The communication device of claim 19, wherein the response to the request for said embedded objects comprises a response indicating that said embedded objects are the same as a cached copy of the said embedded objects stored in the memory, and wherein the processor is further adapted to render and display said portion of the resource in the magnified view using the cached copy of the resource and the cached copy of said embedded objects.

21. The communication device of claim 19, wherein the response to the request for said embedded objects comprises an updated version of said embedded objects, and wherein the processor is further adapted to render and display said portion of the resource in the magnified view using the updated version of said embedded objects.

22. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable code which, when executed by a communication device, causes the device to:

in response to a query comprising an input string,

retrieve, from a data store at the communication device, image data representative of a plurality of resources as rendered for display at the communication device, each said resource being associated with an address corresponding to the input string; and

display, in a single view at the communication device, a set of a plurality of interface elements, wherein the set comprises, for each said resource, an interface element comprising an image generated from the image data representative of said resource, said interface element being actuatable to initiate a request over a network for the resource at its associated address.

23. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable code which, when executed by a communication device, causes the device to:

receive a command to load a resource for display at the communication device, such that only a portion of the resource is displayed at the communication device in a magnified view, the resource comprising a structured document;

retrieve, from memory at the communication device, a cached copy of the resource;

determine, using the cached copy of the resource, whether the portion of the resource to be displayed comprises any embedded objects;

transmit, over a network, a request for said embedded objects comprised in said portion prior to transmitting any request over the network for the resource or for further embedded objects comprised in the resource;

receive, over the network, a response to the request for said embedded objects comprised in said portion; and

render and display said portion of the resource in the magnified view.