PRESENTING MESSAGES ASSOCIATED WITH LOCATIONS

• US 20140298440A1
• Filed: 06/16/2014
• Published: 10/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Park, Seung-Hae, Kim, Hisun
• Granted Patent: US 9,413,704 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/60 Protecting data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6272 by registering files or documents with a third party
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A user may express an interest in a set of individuals represented in a set of individual stores (e.g., friends in a social network and colleagues in an academic directory). Such individuals may send to the individual stores messages that are associated with a location, and the user may request, from respective individual stores, a presentation of the locations. According to the techniques presented herein, the messages from the individual stores may be aggregated, and the locations associated with the aggregated messages may be presented in a map, thereby presenting to the user the locations of the messages of the individuals irrespective of from which individual store each message was received. Additionally, the map may present the messages to the user, and upon receiving form the user a reply to a message, may send the message to the individual store from which the message was received.

Claims

1. A method of presenting, on a device having a processor and operated by a user, messages associated with locations and written by individuals represented in at least two individual stores, the method comprising:

executing on the processor instructions configured to;

receive from the at least two individual stores messages associated with a location and written by at least one individual; and

upon receiving from the user a request to present the messages;

generate a map indicating the locations associated with the messages; and

present the map to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, receiving the messages from the at least two individual stores comprising:

from respective individual stores, requesting from the individual store the messages accessible to the user.

3. The method of claim 2:

at least one individual store configured to, before sending messages to a user, authenticate the user according to at least one credential; and

the instructions configured to, upon receiving at least one credential authenticating the user, store the at least one credential; and

requesting the messages from an individual store comprising;

authenticating the user with the individual store according to at least one credential.

4. The method of claim 2:

the user having a user location; and

requesting the messages from an individual store comprising;

requesting the messages having a location that is within a range of the user location.

5. The method of claim 2:

the device configured to request messages from at least one individual store at a message query frequency for presenting to the user; and

requesting the messages from an individual store comprising;

from respective individual stores, request from the individual store the messages accessible to the user and having a location at a location message query frequency that is higher than the message query frequency.

6. The method of claim 2:

at least one individual store comprising an individual store interface configured to send messages to a user; and

requesting the messages from an individual store comprising;

for at least one individual store, invoking the individual store interface to request the messages.

7. The method of claim 1:

the device comprising a message store configured to store messages;

the instructions configured to, upon receiving a message at a first time point, store the message with the first time point in the message store; and

generating the map comprising;

upon receiving from the user a request to present the messages, the request received at a second time point after the first time point, retrieve the messages from the message store.

8. The method of claim 7:

the request specifying a selected time point; and

retrieving the messages from the message store comprising;

receiving from the message store the messages having a time point within a range of the selected time point.

9. The method of claim 1:

the user having a user location; and

generating the map comprising;

generating a map, localized within a range of the user location, indicating the locations associated with messages.

10. The method of claim 1:

the instructions configured to identify, for respective locations, a message count of messages associated with the location; and

generating the map comprising;

identifying on the map the locations having a high message count of messages associated with the location.

11. The method of claim 1:

respective individual stores associated with a visual identifier distinguishing the individual store from other individual stores; and

generating the map comprising;

generate a map indicating, for respective messages, the location associated with the message and using the visual identifier of the individual store from which the message was received.

12. The method of claim 1:

respective messages having a least one message property;

the request specifying at least one selected message property; and

generating the map comprising;

generating a map indicating the locations associated with messages having the at least one selected message property.

13. The method of claim 1, the instructions configured to, upon receiving from an individual store a new message having a location while presenting the map to the user, update the map with the new message.

14. The method of claim 1, the instructions configured to, upon receiving a reply from the user referencing a message from an individual, send the reply to an individual store.

15. The method of claim 14, sending the reply comprising:

sending the reply to the individual store from which the message referenced by the reply was received.

16. The method of claim 1:

the request specifying a selected location; and

the instructions configured to present to the user the messages associated with the selected location.

17. The method of claim 1:

the user having a user location;

the instructions comprising;

receiving at least one offer having a location from at least one business; and

generating the map comprising;

generating a map indicating the locations associated with the messages and the offers having locations that are within a range of the user location.

18. The method of claim 1:

the request from the user received through a device having at least one capability;

the instructions configured to identify at least one message option associated with messages and the at least one capability of the device; and

generating the map comprising;

generating a map indicating the locations associated with the messages and, for respective messages, the at least one message option.

19. A method of presenting, on a device having a processor and a message store and operated by a user, messages associated with locations and written by individuals represented in at least two individual stores, the method comprising:

sending to the device instructions that, when executed on the processor, cause the device to;

from the at least two individual stores, receive at least one message sent by an individual and associated with a location;

aggregate the messages from the at least two individual stores in the message store; and

upon receiving from the user a request to present the messages, present to the user a map indicating the locations associated with the messages.

20. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a processor of a device having a message store and operated by a user having a user location, cause the device to present messages having a least one message property, the messages associated with locations and written by individuals represented in at least two individual stores respectively comprising an individual store interface configured to send messages to a user, respective individual stores associated with a visual identifier distinguishing the individual store from other individual stores, by:

upon receiving at least one credential authenticating the user, storing the at least one credential;

from respective individual stores;

requesting messages from at least one individual store at a message query frequency for presenting to the user;

authenticating the user with the individual store according to at least one credential; and

requesting from the individual store the messages accessible to the user and having a location that is within a range of the user location by invoking the individual store interface to request the messages at a location message query frequency that is higher than the message query frequency;

receiving at least one offer having a location from at least one business;

upon receiving from an individual store a message associated with a location and written by at least one individual;

storing the message with the first time point in the message store, and

identify, for respective locations, a message count of messages associated with the location; and

upon receiving from the user through a device having at least one capability, at a second time point after the first time point, a request to present the messages and specifying a selected time point and at least one selected message property;

retrieving from the message store the messages having a time point within a range of the selected time point and having the at least one selected message property;

identify at least one message option associated with messages and the at least one capability of the device;

generating a map localized within a range of the user location and indicating the locations associated with the messages and, for respective messages, the at least one message option;

identifying on the map;

the locations having a high message count of messages associated with the location, and

the offers having locations that are within a range of the user location;

presenting the map to the user;

upon receiving from an individual store a new message having a location while presenting the map to the user, update the map with the new message;

upon receiving a reply from the user referencing a message from an individual, send the reply to the individual store from which the message referenced by the reply was received.