SIMULTANEOUS SHARING COMMUNICATION INTERFACE

• US 20140101568A1
• Filed: 10/07/2013
• Published: 04/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snap, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Skyrm, Matthew James, Jacobson, Joshua Robert Russell, Burke, Eric P.
• Granted Patent: US 9,608,949 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4053 without floor control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/75 Media network packet handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers

Abstract

A user can share (show) multimedia information while simultaneously communicating (telling) with one or more other users over a network. Multimedia information is received from at least one source. The multimedia information may be manually and/or automatically annotated and shared with other users. The multimedia information may be displayed in an integrated live view simultaneously with other modes of communication, such as video, voice, or text. A simultaneous sharing communication interface provides an immersive experience that lets a user communicate via text, voice, video, sounds, music, or the like, with one or more other users while also simultaneously sharing media such as photos, videos, movies, images, graphics, illustrations, animations, presentations, narratives, music, sounds, applications, files, and the like. The simultaneous sharing interface enables a user to experience a higher level of intimacy in their communication with others over a network.

Claims

1-20. -20. (canceled)

21. A method comprising:

enabling a communication between a user of the computing device and another user of another computing device;

receiving multimedia information by the computing device, wherein the multimedia information is also received by the other computing device;

inserting the multimedia information into a sequence of multimedia information; and

simultaneously sharing, independent of the communication by the user with the other user, the sequence of multimedia information with the user and with the other user, wherein the sequence is configured to be editable by the user and the other user with multimedia information and wherein the edited sequence is further configured to be shared with the user and the other user, the simultaneously sharing further comprises sending one or more portions of the multimedia information in a send order based on an order of one or more selected thumbnails, wherein each of the one or more portions of the multimedia information is associated with a different selected thumbnail.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more selected thumbnails comprise only one thumbnail and sending the multimedia information associated with one of:

short message service, multimedia message service, instant messaging, internet relay chat and voice over internet protocol.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the sharing strip is configured to enable the user and the other user to append multimedia information to the sharing strip and to further shared the other multimedia information in the appended sharing strip.

24. The method of claim 21, retrieving the multimedia information from the plurality of sources further comprises:

filtering the multimedia information based on at least one of a size or a timestamp of the multimedia information; and

ordering the multimedia information based on the timestamp of the multimedia information.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

detecting a drag-and-drop of the multimedia information into the sharing strip, before simultaneously sharing.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein after receiving the multimedia information, the method further comprises:

enabling the user to annotate the multimedia information and to provide the annotated information for simultaneous sharing.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein after receiving the multimedia information, the method further comprises:

providing a sharing strip for display on the computing device and another sharing strip for display on the other computing device, wherein multimedia information placed on either sharing strip is simultaneously displayed on the computing device and the other computing device.

28. The computing device of claim 21, wherein after receiving the multimedia information, the enabled actions further comprise:

providing a sharing strip for display on the computing device and another sharing strip for display on the other computing device, wherein multimedia information placed on either sharing strip is simultaneously displayed on the computing device and the other computing device.

29. The computing device of claim 21, wherein the one or more selected thumbnails are in a sharing strip inserted for display on the computing device.

30. The computing device of claim 21, wherein the one or more selected thumbnails comprise only one thumbnail detected as a drag-and-dropped into a sharing strip inserted for display on the computing device.

31. The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more selected thumbnails comprise only one thumbnail and sending the multimedia information associated with one of:

a short message service, a multimedia message service, instant messaging, an internet relay chat and a voice over internet protocol.

32. The method of claim 21, wherein the other computing device is a mobile device.

33. A computing device, comprising:

a processor; and

a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

receiving logic executed by the processor for receiving multimedia information by the computing device that is also received by the other computing device;

inserting logic executed by the processor for inserting the multimedia information into a sequence of multimedia information; and

sharing logic executed by the processor for simultaneously sharing, independent of the communication by the user with the other user, the sequence of multimedia information with the user and with the other user, wherein the sequence is configured to be editable by the user and the other user with multimedia information and wherein the edited sequence is further configured to be shared with-the user and the other user, the simultaneously sharing action further comprising sending one or more portions of the multimedia information in a send order based on an order of one or more selected thumbnails, wherein each of the one or more portions of the multimedia information is associated with a different selected thumbnail.

34. The computing device of claim 33, wherein the multimedia information includes at least one of text, voice, video, sound, music, image, movie, presentation, animation, illustration, narrative, or sound effect information.

35. The computing device of claim 33, wherein receiving the multimedia information further comprises receiving the multimedia information from a network device over a network, from a directory on the computing device, or from a plurality of applications of different types.

36. The computing device of claim 33, wherein the program logic further comprises:

enabling logic executed by the processor for enabling the user to annotate the multimedia information and to provide the annotated information for simultaneous sharing.

37. The computing device of claim 33, wherein the program logic further comprises:

providing logic executed by the processor for providing a sharing strip for display on the computing device and another sharing strip for display on the other computing device, wherein multimedia information placed on either sharing strip is simultaneously displayed on the computing device and the other computing device.

38. The computing device of claim 37, wherein the inserted multimedia information is placed on one of the sharing strips displayed on one of the computing devices, wherein the one of the sharing strips displays at least a portion of a thumbnail associated with the inserted multimedia information among a plurality of other thumbnails.

39. The computing device of claim 37, wherein the one or more selected thumbnails are in the sharing strip.

40. The computing device of claim 33, wherein the one or more selected thumbnails comprise only one thumbnail detected as a drag-and-dropped into a sharing strip inserted for display on the computing device.

41. The computing device of claim 33, wherein the one or more selected thumbnails comprise only one thumbnail and sending the multimedia information associated with one of:

short message service, multimedia message service, instant messaging, internet relay chat and voice over internet protocol.

42. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly storing computer program instructions capable of being executed by a computer processor, the computer program instructions defining code for:

enabling a communication between a user of the computing device and another user of another computing device;

receiving multimedia information by the computing device, wherein the multimedia information is also received by the other computing device; and

inserting the multimedia information into a sequence of multimedia information;

simultaneously sharing, independent of the communication by the user with the other user, the sequence of multimedia information with the user and with the other user, wherein the sequence is configured to be editable by the user and the other user with multimedia information and wherein the edited sequence is further configured to be shared with the user and the other user, the simultaneously sharing further comprises sending one or more portions of the multimedia information in a send order based on an order of one or more selected thumbnails, wherein each of the one or more portions of the multimedia information is associated with a different selected thumbnail.

43. A computing client device, comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

displaying logic executed by the processor for displaying a window on the display, the window comprising;

a sharing strip for sharing multimedia information; and

a conversation window for communicating between a plurality of users;

further displaying logic executed by the processor for displaying in the window, a plurality of first thumbnails from a first source and at least one second thumbnail from a second source;

receiving logic executed by the processor for receiving at least a selected one of the first and or-second thumbnails to be shared through the sharing strip, wherein the selected thumbnail is associated with a portion of multimedia information; and

sharing logic executed by the processor for simultaneously sharing, independent of a communication between users within the conversation window, the selected thumbnail over the network, wherein the selected thumbnail with associated portion of multimedia information is editable by the user and the other user, simultaneously sharing further comprises sending one or more portions of the multimedia information in a send order based on an order of one or more selected thumbnails, wherein each of the one or more portions of the multimedia information is associated with a different selected thumbnail.