Sharing content on mobile devices

• US 7,849,135 B2
• Filed: 04/09/2004
• Issued: 12/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: RCS IP LLC
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Yee, Jeff, Agrawal, Anuraag
• Primary Examiner(s): Follansbee; John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tiv; Backhean
• Application Number:
  US10/821,608
• Publication Number:
  US 20050266835A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,433 Days
• Field of Search: 709/231, 709/232, 709/204
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Sharing content among users of mobile devices is facilitated by a system and method that employs a content sharing application to receive requests to share content with one or more users of mobile devices. Content providers provide some of the information in such requests to share content by including, in addition to the content, links or other user-selectable options to share the content. A provided application program interface makes it easy for content providers to participate. Users of devices such as personal computers or mobile devices browse content and select content to share with friends or other users of mobile devices using an intuitive interface. Recipients of shared content receive messages from the content sharing application indicating that they have been selected to receive shared content. Such messages may provide direct or indirect access to the shared content via the recipient mobile device.

Claims

1. In a telecommunications system having at least one network gateway coupled among multiple mobile devices and a network, and wherein a content sharing system and a content provider are also coupled to the network, a method of sharing content between a user and a recipient, both of whom have a mobile device having access to the network, the method comprising:

receiving a request message, wherein the request message is generated, at least in part, by the content provider, the request message comprising;

information identifying the content sharing system, and information identifying content provided by the content provider, wherein the user selected the identified content as content that the user wishes to share with the recipient;

providing a user input form for display to the user, wherein the user input form includes a request for the user to identify the recipient;

receiving user input information comprising a recipient telephone number submitted by the user via the user input form;

determining, at the content sharing system, that a recipient device is not capable of rendering the content, and responsive thereto selecting an alternate content link;

determining, at the content sharing system, whether the recipient is a subscriber to a service associated with the content sharing system based on the recipient telephone number; and

generating a content share message comprising the alternate content link for transmittal to the mobile device of the recipient, wherein the content share message includes an indication of the identified content that the user wishes to share with the recipient, wherein,

if the recipient is the subscriber to the service associated with the content sharing system, generating the content share message in a first protocol, and

if the recipient is not the subscriber to the service associated with the content sharing system, generating the content share message in a second protocol.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the user selected the identified content from the mobile device of the user.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the user selected the identified content from a device other than a mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the content sharing system is associated with a wireless carrier and wherein the wireless carrier provides mobile service for the mobile device of the recipient.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the content sharing system is associated with a wireless carrier and wherein the wireless carrier does not provide mobile service for the mobile device of the recipient.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing access to an address book application coupled to the content sharing system, wherein the address book application facilitates the user'"'"'s identification of the recipient.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising authenticating the user.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising authenticating the recipient.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining whether the user has exceeded a predetermined threshold for sharing content.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the user input form provided for display to the user includes a listing of a predetermined number of recipients with whom the user recently shared content.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the received request message is in the form of an HTTP GET request.

12. A mobile device registered with a mobile service provider, the mobile device comprising:

means for receiving user input;

means for providing output;

memory means;

radio transceiver and processing means coupled to the memory means; and

wherein the mobile device is smaller than a laptop or tablet computer, and further comprises;

means for presenting content via an output component of the mobile device, wherein the content is provided by a content provider and includes a user-selectable option to facilitate sharing the content with other mobile device users;

means for sending a request message to a content sharing system, wherein the request message is based on information associated with the user-selectable option, the request message comprising information identifying the content sharing system and information identifying content provided by the content provider;

means for receiving a user input form from the content sharing system, wherein the user input form is configured to obtain user input identifying recipients for the shared content; and

means for sending information associated with a completed user input form comprising recipient telephone numbers to the content sharing system;

wherein the content sharing system determines based on the recipient telephone numbers that recipient devices are not capable of rendering the content and responsive thereto selects an alternate content link, and whether each of the identified recipients is a subscriber to a service associated with the content sharing system, wherein

if an identified recipient is the subscriber to the service associated with the content sharing system, generating a content share message comprising the alternate content link for the identified recipient in a first protocol, and

if the identified recipient is not the subscriber to the service associated with the content sharing system, generating the content share message comprising the alternate content link for the identified recipient in a second protocol.

13. The mobile device of claim 12 further comprising means for, after sending the information associated with the completed user input form, receiving a message indicating the status of the request sent to the content sharing system and a return address that links directly to the content.

14. The mobile device of claim 12 further comprising means for, after sending the information associated with the completed user input form, representing the content via the output component.

15. The mobile device of claim 12 further comprising means for presenting information from an address book application, wherein the address book application facilitates the identifying of recipients for the shared content in combination with the user input form.

16. The mobile device of claim 12 wherein the largest dimension of the mobile device is smaller than twelve inches or wherein the mobile device does not have a full size keyboard that can accommodate both hands of a user.

17. At a content provider system, a method of sharing content among users of mobile devices interconnected within one or more mobile telecommunication networks, wherein at least some of the users subscribe to a mobile service provided by a mobile service provider, the method comprising:

generating a user-selectable share content option as part of content available for access by users of mobile devices, wherein the user-selectable share content option facilitates sharing the content with other users of mobile devices, and wherein the user-selectable share content option is based on an application program interface provided in association with a content sharing application of the first mobile service provider;

providing the content, including the user-selectable share content option, to a device of a user, wherein the content can then be shared with a recipient device via the content sharing application of the first mobile service provider;

receiving a request to share the content with the recipient device, the request comprising information identifying the content sharing application, and information identifying the content, wherein the user selected the content as content that the user wishes to share with the recipient;

providing a user input form for display to the user, wherein the user input form includes a request for the user to identify the recipient;

receiving user input information comprising a recipient telephone number submitted by the user via the user input form;

determining, based on the recipient telephone number, that the recipient device is not capable of rendering the content, and responsive thereto selecting an alternate content link;

determining, based on the recipient telephone number, whether the recipient device is a subscriber to the content sharing application of the first mobile service provider; and

based on the determination of whether the recipient device is the subscriber to the content sharing application of the first mobile service provider, generating a content share message comprising the alternate content link for transmittal to the recipient device, wherein

if the recipient device is the subscriber to the content sharing application of the first mobile service provider, generating the content share message in a first protocol, and

if the recipient device is not the subscriber to the content sharing application of the first mobile service provider, generating the content share message in a second protocol.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the user-selectable share content option is implemented as a link that, when selected, results in the request being sent to the content sharing application of the first mobile service provider.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the content available for access by users of mobile devices is an executable application.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein the content available for access by users of mobile devices is an executable MIDP application.

21. A wireless service provider system for facilitating the sharing of content among mobile devices via one or more networks, the system comprising:

a server computer;

a database coupled to the server computer;

a content sharing application running on the server computer and having access to the database, wherein the content sharing application receives and processes requests to share content among the mobile devices, and wherein the requests are received from customers of the wireless service provider system and comprise information identifying the content sharing application and information identifying the content, wherein the customers selected the identified content as content that the customers wish to share with the recipient;

wherein the content sharing application provides a user input form for display to the customers of the wireless service provider system, the user input form comprising a request for the customers to identify the recipient, and receives user input information comprising a recipient telephone number submitted via the user input form; and

multiple network gateways for facilitating the communication between the content sharing application and the mobile devices,

wherein at least one of the multiple gateways is configured for facilitating communication between the content sharing application and the mobile devices via a mobile device telecommunication network,

wherein at least one of the multiple gateways is configured for facilitating communication between the content sharing application and computing devices connected via a public communication network,

wherein at least one of the multiple gateways is configured for determining that each of the mobile devices is not capable of rendering the content, and responsive thereto selecting an alternate content link for transmission to each of the mobile devices, and

wherein at least one of the multiple gateways is configured for determining whether each of the mobile devices is a subscriber to a service associated with the content sharing application based on the recipient telephone number,

wherein if each of the mobile devices is the subscriber to the service associated with the content sharing application, generating a content share message comprising the alternate content link in a first protocol, and

wherein if each of the mobile devices is not the subscriber to the service associated with the content sharing application, generating the content share message comprising the alternate content link in a second protocol.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the multiple network gateways include a mobile access gateway.

23. The system of claim 21 wherein the multiple network gateways include a push proxy gateway.

24. The system of claim 21 wherein the multiple network gateways include a short message peer-to-peer gateway.

25. The system of claim 21 wherein the multiple network gateways include a wireless service broker.

26. The system of claim 21 further comprising a cross-carrier application accessible by the content sharing application, wherein the cross-carrier application facilitates the sharing of content with recipients not registered with the content sharing application.

27. The system of claim 21 further comprising an address book application accessible by the content sharing application.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing a data structure for facilitating sharing of content among users of mobile devices, the data structure comprising:

an indication of content to be shared, wherein the indication of the content to be shared is provided as a parameter associated with a user-selectable option on a display description provided by a content provider,

wherein the indication of the content to be shared is received in a request message generated, at least in part, by the content provider, the request message comprising information identifying the content sharing application and information identifying content provided by the content provider, wherein a user selected the identified content as content that the user wishes to share with the recipient, and wherein an identity of a recipient device comprising a recipient telephone number is received in user input information generated by a user input form, wherein the user input form comprises a request for a user to identify a recipient; and

a link associated with a server hosting the content sharing application, wherein the content sharing application receives information associated with the data structure as a result of a user selecting the user-selectable option on the provided display description,

wherein the content sharing application determines that the recipient device is not capable of rendering the content and responsive thereto selects an alternate content link for transmission to the recipient device, and

wherein the content sharing application determines whether the recipient device is a subscriber to a service associated with the content sharing system based on the recipient telephone number,

wherein the content sharing application generates a content share message comprising the alternate content link for transmittal to the recipient device, wherein the content share message includes an indication of the identified content that the user wishes to share with the recipient, wherein,

if the recipient device is the subscriber to the service associated with the content sharing application, generating the content share message in a first protocol, and

if the recipient device is not the subscriber to the service associated with the content sharing application, generating the content share message in a second protocol.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the display description is implemented, at least in part, in HTML.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the display description is implemented, at least in part, in XML.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the display description is implemented, at least in part, in XHTML.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the display description is implemented, at least in part, in WML.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 28 further comprising an indication of uniform resource locator associated with the content to be shared.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 28 further comprising an indication of a specific uniform resource locator identifying an address for specific content to be shared.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 28 further comprising an indication of whether the content provider consents to providing access to the shared content to a cross-carrier user.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 28 further comprising an indication of a return uniform resource locator identifying the address of the display description to which the user will be returned after performing a process associated with identifying recipients with whom to share content.

37. A method for facilitating the sharing of content among users of mobile devices, the method comprising:

providing an application program interface for content providers, wherein the application program interface provides a framework for content providers to offer an option for customers of a wireless service provider to share information with mobile devices; and

providing a content sharing application,

wherein the content sharing application receives and processes requests comprising information identifying the content sharing application, and information identifying content provided by the content providers, wherein customers selected the identified content as content that the customers wish to share with the recipient,

wherein the content sharing application provides a user input form for display to the customers, wherein the user input form includes a request for the customers to identify a recipient,

wherein the content sharing application receives user input information comprising recipient telephone numbers associated with the mobile devices from the customers of the wireless service provider via the user input form,

wherein the content sharing application determines that each of the mobile devices is not capable of rendering the content, and responsive thereto selects an alternate content link for transmission to each of the mobile devices, wherein the content sharing application determines whether each of the mobile devices is a subscriber to a service associated with the content sharing system based on a recipient telephone number associated with each of the mobile devices, and

wherein the content sharing application generates a content share message comprising the alternate content link for transmittal to the mobile devices, wherein the content share message includes an indication of the identified content that the customers wish to share with the mobile devices, wherein,

if each of the mobile devices is the subscriber to the service associated with the content sharing application, generating the content share message in a first protocol, and

if each of the mobile devices is not the subscriber to the service associated with the content sharing application, generating the content share message in a second protocol.

38. The method of claim 37 further comprising charging a fee to the content providers for providing the option for the customers of the wireless service provider to share information with the mobile device users.

39. The method of claim 37 further comprising tracking attempts of the customers of the wireless service provider to share content with the mobile device users and charging a fee in association with the attempts.

40. The method of claim 37 further comprising providing incentives to customers of the wireless service provider to share content with the mobile device users.