Telescreen operating method

• US 7,348,961 B1
• Filed: 02/26/1999
• Issued: 03/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Jonathan Shneidman
• Original Assignee: Jonathan Shneidman
• Inventors: Shneidman, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, NITIN
• Application Number:
  US09/258,601
• Time in Patent Office: 3,315 Days
• Field of Search: 709/200, 709/202, 709/206, 709/217, 345/336, 345/338, 345/340, 345/347, 345341-346, 345/1.1, 345156-184, 345/2.1, 375/226, 375/50, 379/88.17, 370/352, 370/353, 370/354, 370/355, 370/356, 370/357, 370/358, 707/501.1
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1656 Details related to functional adaptations of the enclosure, e.g. to provide protection against EMI, shock, water, or to host detachable peripherals like a mouse or removable expansions units like PCMCIA cards, or to provide access to internal components for maintenance or to removable storage supports like CDs or DVDs, or to mechanically mount accessories mounting of accessories to a computer display G06F1/1607; display hoods G06F1/1603; cooling arrangements for portable computers G06F1/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/166 related to integrated arrangements for adjusting the position of the main body with respect to the supporting surface, e.g. legs for adjusting the tilt angle
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/142 Constructional details of the terminal equipment, e.g. arrangements of the camera and the display

Abstract

The present invention relates to a communications system for distributing information to and from local and regional distribution centers as well as individual dial-up servers. The communications system contains an interactive, configurable interface. The first aspect of the invention employs a method and device for communicating information between computers, where a first computer unit, comprising a touch sensitive screen for displaying images, a processing unit and a communications port, connects to a telephone line. The second computer unit pushes data and images to be displayed on the first computer unit'"'"'s touch sensitive screen with identifying codes associated with a definition of active areas. When an active area is selected, the first computer unit returns the code associated with the active area. In this way pushed data and interactive communications between the points are achieved. The first computer is a specially designed device that facilitates the multifaceted communication between the two computers and presents a highly functional interface using a number of input and output devices.

Claims

1. A method for communicating information between computers, comprising:

entering into a first computer an input indicating a telephone number for an information source using an input device having a plurality of input elements arranged in a telephone keypad arrangement but without full alphabetic input elements;

the first computer obtaining from a database a network identification of the information source based on the telephone number;

the first computer establishing a network connection with a second computer of the information source using the network identification; and

the first computer displaying information obtained from the second computer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of the first computer establishing a voice telephone connection with the information source.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of the information source establishing a voice telephone connection with the first computer after the first computer establishes the network connection.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of the second computer pushing information to the first computer via the network connection.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first computer displays the information obtained from the second computer on a display screen of the first computer, and wherein the information pushed by the second computer includes identifying codes associated with one or more active areas of the first computer'"'"'s screen, the method further comprising a step of the first computer communicating to the second computer identifying codes associated with active areas selected by the user.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the pushed information includes video information.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the pushed video information is interactive video information or smart video streaming information.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the pushed video information is full screen broadcast quality video information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the database is pre-stored in the first computer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the pre-stored database is dynamically updated.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephone and network connections are established via wired or wireless communication channels.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephone and network connections are established via twisted-pair, broadband cable, fiber-optic, cellular, or satellite communication channels.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the network connection is via the Internet and the network identification is a Universal Resource Locator (URL) or an IP address.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the database is a database that links telephone numbers to network address information in a cross directory.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the database further includes name or street address information associated with the telephone number.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the input indicating a telephone number is the name associated with the telephone number.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first computer establishes a network connection with the second computer using the telephone number entered by the user as the only input from the user.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the first computer transmitting voice information from its user to the second computer after establishing the network connection; and

the second computer recording the voice information.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the first computer transmitting voice information from its user to the second computer after establishing the network connection; and

the second computer recording the voice information.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the first computer visually displaying a plurality of menu items each associated with a number between 0 and 9 or a special symbol; and

the first computer transmitting a signal to the second computer indicating a user input in response to the visual display.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

the user controlling the first computer using a telephone handset, a remote control device, a touch sensitive screen, or voice recognition.

22. A method of interfacing between a user and an information system including a plurality of networked computers, comprising:

the user entering into a first computer an input indicating a telephone number for an information source using an input device having a plurality of input elements arranged in a telephone keypad arrangement but without full alphabetic input elements;

the first computer obtaining from a database a network identification of the information source based on the telephone number;

the first computer establishing a network connection with a second computer of the information source using the network identification;

the second computer pushing information to the first computer via the network connection, the pushed information including identifying codes associated with one or more active areas defined for a display screen of the first computer;

the first computer displaying information received from the second computer to the user;

the user selecting one or more of the active areas using the input device; and

the first computer communicating to the second computer identifying code associated with the selected active areas.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising a step of the first computer establishing a voice telephone connection with the information source.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising a step of the information source establishing a voice telephone connection with the first computer after the first computer establishes the network connection.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the input device is a art of the first computer or a handset unit in wireless communication with the first computer.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the input device is a handset unit in wireless communication with the first computer, the handset unit having a touch sensitive screen, at least a portion of the touch sensitive screen being mapped to a portion of the display screen of the first computer.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the the input device is a handset unit in wireless communication with the first computer, the handset unit having numeric keys corresponding to active areas defined on the display screen of the first computer.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the database is a database that links telephone numbers to network address information in a cross directory.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the database further includes name or street address information associated with the telephone number.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the input indicating a telephone number is the name associated with the telephone number.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein the first computer establishes a network connection with the second computer using the telephone number entered by the user as the only input from the user.

32. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

the first computer visually displaying a plurality of menu items each associated with a number between 0 and 9 or a special symbol;

the user proving the first computer an input in response to the visual display using the input device; and

the first computer transmitting a signal to the second computer indicating the user input.

33. The method of claim 32, where the input device is a telephone unit.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the visual display is displayed on a touch sensitive screen, and the user input is provided using the touch sensitive screen on the input device.