METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASSOCIATING CONTEXT INFORMATION WITH CONTENT

• US 20140006490A1
• Filed: 06/27/2012
• Published: 01/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Setlur, Vidya Raghavan, Dearman, David Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 9,256,858 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/603 Digital right managament [DRM]

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided to facilitate sharing of content including, but not limited to, the sharing of content between people who are co-located. In the context of a method, an indication is received of the content to be shared with a recipient and context information indicative of an intended use of the content by the recipient is associated with the content. The method also causes a representation of the content and the associated context information to be shared with the recipient. The method may also generate the context information based on at least one of the location of the content, a recent action performed on the content or a change made to the content.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving an indication of content to be shared with a recipient;

associating, by a processor, context information with the content, wherein the context information is indicative of an intended use of the content by the recipient; and

causing a representation of the content and the associated context information to be shared with the recipient.

2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising generating the context information based on at least one of location of the content, a recent action performed on the content or a change made to the content.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the context information is provided by a sender of the content.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the context information is representative of the context of a sender relative to the content.

5. A method according to claim 1 further comprising generating an icon to be shared with the recipient, wherein the icon includes a representation of a substantive portion of the content or the associated context information.

6. A method according to claim 1 further comprising identifying a respective one of a plurality of devices of the recipient based upon the intended use of the content, wherein causing a representation of the content and the associated context information to be shared with the recipient comprises causing the content and the associated context information to be shared with the respective one of the devices of the recipient.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein causing a representation of the content and the associated context information to be shared with the recipient comprises causing an identification of the content that was previously shared with the recipient to be provided.

8. A method according to claim 7 wherein causing the associated context information to be shared with the recipient comprises causing one or more manipulations or directives directing the processing of the content that was previously shared with the recipient to be provided to the recipient.

9. A method comprising:

receiving a representation of content shared by a sender along with context information indicative of an intended use of the content;

determining, by a processor, the intended use of the content based upon the context information; and

processing the content based upon the intended use of the content.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein the context information is representative of the context of the sender relative to the content.

11. A method according to claim 9 further comprising receiving an icon that is shared by the sender, wherein the icon includes a representation of a substantive portion of the content or the associated context information.

12. A method according to claim 9 wherein processing the content comprises accessing the content utilizing an application selected based upon the intended use of the content.

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein accessing the content comprises loading the content utilizing the application selected based upon the intended use of the content.

14. A method according to claim 12 wherein the content comprises a document, and wherein accessing the content comprises opening the document utilizing the application selected based upon the intended use of the content.

15. A method according to claim 9 wherein receiving the representation of the content shared by the sender comprises receiving an identification of the content that was previously received from the sender.

16. A method according to claim 15 wherein receiving the context information comprises receiving one or more manipulations or directives directing the processing of the content that was previously received by the sender.

17. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

receive an indication of content to be shared with a recipient;

associate context information with the content, wherein the context information is indicative of an intended use of the content by the recipient; and

cause a representation of the content and the associated context information to be shared with the recipient.

18. An apparatus according to claim 17 wherein the memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to generate the context information based on at least one of location of the content, a recent action performed on the content or a change made to the content.

19. An apparatus according to claim 17 wherein the context information is provided by a sender of the content.

20. An apparatus according to claim 17 wherein the context information is representative of the context of the sender relative to the content.

21. An apparatus according to claim 17 wherein the memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to generate an icon to be shared with the recipient, wherein the icon includes a representation of a substantive portion of the content or the associated context information.

22. An apparatus according to claim 17 wherein the memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to identify a respective one of a plurality of devices of the recipient based upon the intended use of the content, wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to cause a representation of the content and the associated context information to be shared with the recipient by causing the content and the associated context information to be shared with the respective one of the devices of the recipient.

23. An apparatus according to claim 17 wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to cause a representation of the content and the associated context information to be shared with the recipient by causing an identification of the content that was previously shared with the recipient to be provided.

24. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

receive a representation of content shared by a sender along with context information indicative of an intended use of the content;

determine the intended use of the content based upon the context information; and

process the content based upon the intended use of the content.

25. An apparatus according to claim 24 wherein the context information is representative of the context of the sender relative to the content.

26. An apparatus according to claim 24 wherein the memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive an icon that is shared by the sender, wherein the icon includes a representation of a substantive portion of the content or the associated context information.

27. An apparatus according to claim 24 wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to process the content by accessing the content utilizing an application selected based upon the intended use of the content.

28. An apparatus according to claim 27 wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to access the content by loading the content utilizing the application selected based upon the intended use of the content.

29. An apparatus according to claim 27 wherein the content comprises a document, and wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to access the content by opening the document utilizing the application selected based upon the intended use of the content.

30. An apparatus according to claim 24 wherein the memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive the representation of the content shared by the sender by receiving an identification of the content that was previously received from the sender.