Method and system for detection of peripheral devices and communication of related devices

• US 7,873,765 B1
• Filed: 03/31/2005
• Issued: 01/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Herf, Michael Bryan
• Primary Examiner(s): TSENG, CHENG YUAN
• Application Number:
  US11/096,858
• Time in Patent Office: 2,119 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220, 709/221, 709/222, 709/200, 709/206, 709/207, 709/224, 710/8, 705/14, 705/26, 705/80, 707/3, 707/7, 707/104
• US Class Current: 710/72
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Detecting of peripheral devices and communication of related information are described herein. One or more devices are detected. The one or more devices may include a peripheral device coupled to a client. Data regarding the detected devices is obtained. Such data may include information about the devices and their accessories. One or more offerings related to the one or more peripheral device are obtained based on the data. The one or more offerings may include advertisements regarding the devices. The one or more offerings relating to the devices are received at the client. Then, the one or more offerings are presented at the client.

Claims

1. A machine-implemented method, comprising:

obtaining data at a server coupled to a network, the data relating to a peripheral device coupled to a client in communication with the server over the network, wherein the data comprises information describing characteristics of the peripheral device and any attached accessories of the peripheral device, and metadata to further describe the information, wherein the data is automatically gathered from the client over the network without user intervention;

processing the data at the server to facilitate surveying a plurality of merchant websites over the network based on the data automatically gathered from the client without user intervention, the surveying including matching the data obtained from the client and relating to the peripheral device with information displayed on each of the plurality of merchant websites over the network to select offerings relating to the peripheral device;

obtaining the offerings relating to the peripheral device from the merchant websites based on the matching; and

processing the offerings to be presented on a display device at the client via a web browser, wherein the offerings include advertisement information relating to at least one of the peripheral device, accessories of the peripheral device, products relating to the peripheral device, or services relating to the peripheral device, and search results including non-advertisement information obtained using at least a portion of the data as query information.

2. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining the data by the client using one or more of the following:

the peripheral device, a client-based driver, a client-based basic input output system (BIOS), and a client-based application.

3. The machine-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting the data from the client to the server to facilitate the obtaining of the offerings, wherein the transmitting of the data is performed via the network including one or more of the following:

a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), an intranet, or the Internet, wherein the network is a wired network, a wireless network, or a combination thereof.

4. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the data by the server comprises using one or more of the following:

the peripheral device, a server-based driver, a server-based BIOS, or a server-based application.

5. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the non-advertisement information comprises one or more of the following:

information derived from one or more merchant websites or information linking to the merchant websites.

6. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the non-advertisement information comprises one or more of the following:

rating information relating to the peripheral device or review information relating to the peripheral device.

7. The machine-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the non-advertisement information further comprises one or more of the following:

rating information relating to the products or the services relating to the peripheral device or review information relating to the products or the services relating to the peripheral device.

8. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the offerings are presented using a document, wherein the document comprises a file including one or more of the following:

a word processor file, a data file, a spreadsheet, a workbook, an image file, a drawing, an audio file, a video file, an audio/video file, a multimedia file, an archive file, a batch file, a source file, an object file, or an executable program.

9. The machine-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the document comprises a web page having a file coded in one or more of the following:

markup language, extensible markup language, or scripting language, or a file viewed using a web browser.

10. The machine-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the presenting of the offerings is further performed using one or more of the following:

an email, a web browser, a toolbar, a blog, a desktop icon, or a photo processing application.

11. A system, comprising:

means for obtaining data, at a server coupled to a network, the data relating to a peripheral device coupled to a client in communication with the server over the network, wherein the data comprises information describing characteristics of the peripheral device and any attached accessories of the peripheral device, and metadata to further describe the information, wherein the data is automatically gathered from the client over the network without user intervention;

means for processing the data at the server to facilitate surveying a plurality of merchant websites over the network based on the data automatically gathered from the client without user intervention, the surveying including matching the data obtained from the peripheral device coupled to the client with information displayed on each of the plurality of merchant websites to select offerings relating to the peripheral device;

means for obtaining the offerings relating to the peripheral device from the merchant websites based on the matching; and

means for processing the offerings to be presented on a display device at the client via a web browser, wherein the offerings include advertisement information relating to at least one of the peripheral device, accessories of the peripheral device, products relating to the peripheral device, or services relating to the peripheral device, and search results including non-advertisement information obtained using at least a portion of the data as query information.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising means for accessing the plurality of merchant websites to obtain the offerings relating to the peripheral device, wherein the offerings include the advertisement information and non-advertisement information.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the means for processing the offerings to be presented on the display device comprises means for communicating the offerings to the client via one or more of the following:

an email, a web browser, a toolbar, a blog, a desktop icon, or a photo processing application.

14. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon sets of instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

obtaining data at a server coupled to a network, the data relating to a peripheral device coupled to a client in communication with the server over the network, wherein the data comprises information describing characteristics of the peripheral device and any attached accessories of the peripheral device, and metadata to further describe the information, wherein the data is automatically gathered from the client over the network without user intervention;

processing the data at the server to facilitate surveying a plurality of merchant websites over the network based on the data automatically gathered from the client without user intervention, the surveying including matching the data relating to the peripheral device coupled to the client with information displayed on each of the plurality of merchant websites to select offerings relating to the peripheral device;

obtaining the offerings relating to the peripheral device from the merchant websites, based on the matching; and

processing the offerings to be presented at the client via a web browser, wherein the offerings include advertisement information relating to at least one of the peripheral device, accessories of the peripheral device, products relating to the peripheral device, or services relating to the peripheral device, and search results including non-advertisement information obtained using at least a portion of the data as query information.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the data is obtained by the server using one or more of the following:

the peripheral device, a server-based driver, a server-based BIOS, or a server-based application.