Methods and apparatus for widget sharing between content aggregation points

• US 8,209,378 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2008
• Issued: 06/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: AddThis, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Allen, Stewart O., Cosby, Scott F., Labarca, Richard S., Reverte, Carlos F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chea, Philip
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nash, Lashanya
• Application Number:
  US12/244,606
• Publication Number:
  US 20090094339A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,363 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-203, 715762-765, 717177-178
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a request from a processing device to send a widget to a handheld mobile device. The request can be defined after at least a portion of an instance of the widget has been processed at the processing device. The request can be associated with a widget identifier. The method can also include defining a widget precursor at a widget-sharing server in response to the request from the processing device. The widget precursor can be associated with the widget identifier and a placement identifier.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a request from a processing device to send a widget to a handheld mobile device, the request being defined after at least a portion of a first instance of the widget has been processed at the processing device, the request being associated with a widget identifier;

defining a first widget precursor at a widget-sharing server in response to the request from the processing device, the first widget precursor including the widget identifier and a placement identifier, the placement identifier being associated with placement of the widget at the handheld mobile device;

sending, from the widget-sharing server, the first widget precursor to the handheld mobile device;

receiving, at the widget-sharing server, a response to the first widget precursor from the handheld mobile device, the response including an indicator associated with at least one of a processing capability of a component at the handheld mobile device, a user preference, or metadata;

defining, at the widget-sharing server and based on the response, a second widget precursor including a reference to the widget, the reference is configured such that a second instance of the widget is sent to the handheld mobile device in response to the reference being accessed at the handheld mobile device, the first instance of the widget having a different format than the second instance of the widget; and

sending the second widget precursor from the widget-sharing server, to the handheld mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference to the widget is a reference to the second instance of the widget,

the second widget precursor being a placement request including a the reference to the second instance of the widget, the widget identifier, and the placement identifier.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein

the first widget precursor is defined based on a protocol associated with the handheld mobile device, the response being

a placement response.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference to the widget is a reference to the second instance of the widget, the first instance of the widget and the second instance of the widget being associated with the widget identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing device is a first processing device, the placement identifier is a first placement identifier,

the method further comprising:

receiving a request from the handheld mobile device to place the widget at a second processing device after at least a portion of the second instance of the widget has executed at the handheld mobile device, the request being associated with the widget identifier and a second placement identifier different from the first placement identifier.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the defining includes defining based on information representing a geographic location of the handheld mobile device.

7. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a widget-sharing server and from a first device, a request to place a first widget at a second device after at least a portion of an instance of the first widget has been received at the first device, the first widget being from a set of widgets, the request including a widget identifier associated with the set of widgets;

defining, at the widget-sharing server and based on the request, a first widget precursor including the widget identifier and a placement identifier, the placement identifier being associated with placement of the first widget at the second device

sending, from the widget-sharing server, the first widget precursor to the second device;

receiving, at the widget-sharing server and in response to the first widget precursor, an indicator associated with a processing capability of a component at the second device; and

defining, at the widget-sharing server and based on the indicator and the widget identifier, a signal configured to trigger sending of a second widget precursor associated with a reference to a second widget, the second widget being from the set of widgets.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the component is an application at the second device.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first widget has a format different than a format of the second widget.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

defining the placement identifier in response to the request.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the second widget precursor is a mobile content vehicle.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

sending an instance of a widget container to the first device, the widget container being a procedural software framework containing the first widget, the first widget being at least one of a static data object, a media object, or a software object, the request to place the first widget is defined using a share module associated with the widget container.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

sending an instance of a widget container to the first device in response to a reference to the widget container being accessed from a content aggregation point, the widget container being a procedural software framework containing the first widget, the request to place the first widget being defined using a share module associated with the widget container.

14. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a widget-sharing host, from a first processing device a first request to send a widget to a second processing device, the first request being defined by the widget based on an application programming interface (API) associated with the widget-sharing host, the first request including a widget identifier associated with the widget;

defining, at the widget-sharing host and based on the first request, a first widget precursor including the widget identifier and a placement identifier, the placement identifier being associated with placement of the widget at the second processing device;

sending, from the widget-sharing host, the first widget precursor to the second processing device;

receiving, at the widget-sharing host and in response to the first widget precursor, an indication associated with the second processing device; and

defining, at the widget-sharing host and based on the indication, a signal configured to trigger sending a second widget precursor including the widget identifier to the second processing device, an instance of the widget being configured to be served to the second processing device from an entity separate from the widget-sharing host in response to a second request from the second processing device.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving from the first processing device a tracking indicator defined by the widget based on the application programming interface.

16. The method of claim 14, the method further comprising;

defining the placement identifier in response to the first request; and

sending the second widget precursor to the second processing device in response to the signal.

17. The method of claim 14,

the method further comprising:

sending the second widget precursor to the second processing device in response to the signal, the second widget precursor including a reference to the instance of the widget.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code representing instructions to cause a processor to:

receive, at a widget-sharing server, a sharing signal in response to at least a portion of a virally spread widget being processed;

define, at the widget-sharing server and based on the sharing signal, a first widget precursor including a widget identifier associated with the virally spread widget;

send the first widget precursor to a handheld mobile device that is a target of the sharing signal;

receive, at the widget-sharing server and in response to the first widget precursor, information representing a geographic location of the handheld mobile device;

define a second widget precursor at the widget-sharing server based on the geographic location of the handheld mobile device such that the second widget precursor can be used at the handheld mobile device to request an instance of the widget that has at least one of content or a service module associated with the geographic location; and

send the second widget precursor to the handheld mobile device.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the sharing signal includes a widget identifier associated with the virally spread widget, the code to cause the processor to define includes code to cause the processor to define the second widget precursor based on the widget identifier.