Dynamic interactive skin

• US 8,447,361 B1
• Filed: 10/12/2006
• Issued: 05/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cingular Wireless II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Andrus, Scott M., Jones, Kevin W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): COSME, NATASHA W
• Application Number:
  US11/548,970
• Time in Patent Office: 2,413 Days
• Field of Search: 455/558
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/37 via a different channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/80 characterised by transmission among terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72406 by software upgrading or downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72448 with means for adapting the functionality of the device according to specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42653 for processing graphics
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 for providing answers, e.g. voting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4781 Games
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]

Abstract

A system and method is described for providing a dynamic interactive skin to at least one communications device. The dynamic interactive skin can be used to select one or more items. The items may be selected to send a message to at least one contact, send a vote for at least one contestant in a media program, send a vote for at least one ending of a media program, purchase an item in a store, preorder a product such as a meal or preorder a service such as a movie ticket, and perform various other wireless commerce functions.

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising:

a transceiver;

an input interface;

a display;

a processor; and

a memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving, via the transceiver, a plurality of selections;

storing the plurality of selections wherein each of the plurality of selections is represented as an image for presentation on the display, each of the plurality of selections is associated with one of a plurality of contestants appearing on a media program, each of the plurality of selections has a destination number and a message body associated therewith, and the message body of each of the plurality of selections is populated with a keyword used to establish a vote for one of the plurality of contestants;

presenting the images of the plurality of selections on the display;

receiving a selection via the input interface of one of the images, the selection being representative of a vote for a selected contestant of the plurality of contestants that is associated with the selected image;

generating, in response to receiving the selection of one of the images, a short message service message, the short message service message comprising the destination number and the message body corresponding to the selected contestant; and

transmitting the short message service message to a voting system via the transceiver to submit the vote for the selected contestant;

wherein;

the operation of receiving the plurality of selections comprises receiving the plurality of selections via a terminal selected from a group consisting of a television, a set-top box, and a kiosk that is in communication with the mobile device;

the plurality of selections is part of a base interactive voting application; and

the operations further comprise receiving an update, for the base interactive voting application, comprising at least one particular instruction selected from a group consisting of a delete instruction to delete one of the plurality of selections and an add instruction to add a new selection to the plurality of selections.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies one of the plurality of contestants to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected contestant.

3. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies the voting system and the message body identifies one of the plurality of contestants to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected contestant.

4. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving the plurality of selections via the transceiver prior to storing the plurality of selections.

5. A method for voting via a mobile device, comprising:

receiving, via a transceiver of the mobile device, a plurality of selections;

storing, in a memory of the mobile device, the plurality of selections, wherein each of the plurality of selections is represented as an image for presentation on a display of the mobile device, each of the plurality of selections is associated with one of a plurality of contestants appearing on a media program, each of the plurality of selections has a destination number and a message body associated therewith, and the message body of each of the plurality of selections is populated with a keyword used to establish a vote for one of the plurality of contestants;

presenting the images of the plurality of selections on the display;

receiving, via an input interface of the mobile device, a selection of one of the images, the selection being representative of a vote for a selected contestant of the plurality of contestants that is associated with the selected image;

generating, in response to receiving the selection of one of the images, by the mobile device, a short message service message, the short message service message comprising the destination number and the message body corresponding to the selected contestant; and

transmitting, via the transceiver of the mobile device, the short message service message to a voting system to submit the vote for the selected contestant;

wherein;

receiving the plurality of selections comprises receiving the plurality of selections via a terminal selected from a group consisting of a television, a set-top box, and a kiosk that is in communication with the mobile device;

the plurality of selections is part of a base interactive voting application; and

the method further comprises receiving an update, for the base interactive voting application, comprising at least one particular instruction selected from a group consisting of a delete instruction to delete one of the plurality of selections and an add instruction to add a new selection to the plurality of selections.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the generating comprises generating, by the mobile device, the short message service message comprising the destination number and the message body, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies one of the plurality of contestants to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected contestant.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the generating comprises generating, by the mobile device, the short message service message comprising the destination number and the message body, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies the voting system and the message body identifies one of the plurality of contestants to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected contestant.

8. A tangible computer-readable storage device comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, via a transceiver of a mobile device, a plurality of selections;

storing the plurality of selections in the computer-readable medium, wherein each of the plurality of selections is represented as an image for presentation on a display of the mobile device, each a plurality of selections is associated with one of a plurality of contestants appearing on a media program, each of the plurality of selections has a destination number and a message body associated therewith, and the message body of each of the plurality of selections is populated with a keyword used to establish a vote for one of the plurality of contestants;

presenting the images of the plurality of selections on the display;

receiving, via an input interface of the mobile device, a selection of one of the images, the selection being representative of a vote for a selected contestant of the plurality of contestants that is associated with the selected image;

generating, in response to receiving the selection of one of the images, a short message service message, the short message service message comprising the destination number and the message body corresponding to the selected contestant; and

transmitting, via the transceiver of the mobile device, the short message service message to a voting system to submit the vote for the selected contestant;

wherein;

the operation of receiving the plurality of selections comprises receiving the plurality of selections via a terminal selected from a group consisting of a television, a set-top box, and a kiosk that is in communication with the mobile device;

the plurality of selections is part of a base interactive voting application; and

the operations further comprise receiving an update, for the base interactive voting application, comprising at least one particular instruction selected from a group consisting of a delete instruction to delete one of the plurality of selections and an add instruction to add a new selection to the plurality of selections.

9. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 8, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies one of the plurality of contestants to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected contestant.

10. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 8, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies the voting system and the message body identifies one of the plurality of contestants to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected contestant.

11. A mobile device, comprising:

a transceiver;

an input interface;

a display;

a processor; and

a memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving, via the transceiver, a plurality of selections;

storing the plurality of selections, wherein each of the plurality of selections is represented as an image for presentation on the display, each of the plurality of selections is associated with one of a plurality of endings for a broadcast, each of the plurality of selections has a destination number and a message body associated therewith, and the message body of each of the plurality of selections is populated with a keyword used to establish a vote for one of the plurality of endings;

presenting the images of the plurality of selections on the display;

receiving a selection, via the input interface, of one of the images, the selection being representative of a vote for a selected ending of the plurality of endings that is associated with the selected image;

generating, in response to receiving the selection of one of the images, a short message service message, the short message service message comprising the destination number and the message body corresponding the selecting ending; and

transmitting the short message service message to a voting system via the transceiver to submit the vote for the selected ending;

wherein;

the operation of receiving the plurality of selections comprises receiving the plurality of selections via a terminal selected from a group consisting of a television, a set-top box, and a kiosk that is in communication with the mobile device;

the plurality of selections is part of a base interactive voting application; and

the operations further comprise receiving an update, for the base interactive voting application, comprising at least one particular instruction selected from a group consisting of a delete instruction to delete one of the plurality of selections and an add instruction to add a new selection to the plurality of selections.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies one of the plurality of endings to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected ending.

13. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies the voting system and the message body identifies one of the plurality of endings to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected ending.

14. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the broadcast is selected from a group consisting of a television show, a movie, a televised sporting event, a news show, and an interactive video game.

15. A method, for voting via a mobile device, comprising:

receiving, via transceiver of the mobile device, a plurality of selections;

storing, in a memory of the mobile device, the plurality of selections, wherein each of the plurality of selections is represented as an image for presentation on a display of the mobile device, each of the plurality of selections is associated with one of a plurality of endings for a broadcast, each of the plurality of selections has a destination number and a message body associated therewith, and the message body of each of the plurality of selections is populated with a keyword used to establish a vote for one of the plurality of endings;

presenting the images of the plurality of selections on the display;

receiving, via an input interface of the mobile device, a selection of one of the images, the selection being representative of a vote for a selected ending of the plurality of endings that is associated with the selected image;

generating, in response to receiving the selection of one of the images, by the mobile device, a short message service message, the short message service message comprising the destination number and the message body corresponding to the selected ending; and

transmitting, via the transceiver of the mobile device, the short message service message to a voting system to submit the vote for the selected ending;

wherein;

receiving the plurality of selections comprises receiving the plurality of selections via a terminal selected from a group consisting of a television, a set-top box, and a kiosk that is in communication with the mobile device;

the plurality of selections is part of a base interactive voting application; and

the method further comprises receiving an update, for the base interactive voting application, comprising at least one particular instruction selected from a group consisting of a delete instruction to delete one of the plurality of selections and an add instruction to add a new selection to the plurality of selections.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the generating comprises generating, by the mobile device, the short message service message comprising the destination number and the message body, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies one of the plurality of endings to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected ending.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the generating comprises generating, by mobile device, the short message service message comprising the destination number and the message body, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies the voting system and the message body identifies one of the plurality of endings to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected ending.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the broadcast is selected from a group consisting of a television show, a movie, a televised sporting event, a news show, and an interactive game.

19. A tangible computer-readable storage device comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, via a transceiver of a mobile device, a plurality of selections;

storing the plurality of selections in the computer-readable medium, wherein each of the plurality of selections is represented as an image for presentation on a display of the mobile device, each of the plurality of selections is associated with one of a plurality of endings for a broadcast, each of the plurality of selections has a destination number and a message body associated therewith, and the message body is populated with a keyword used to establish a vote for one of the plurality of endings;

presenting the images of the plurality of selections on the display;

receiving, via in input interface of the mobile device, a selection of one of the images, the selection being representative of a vote for a selected ending of the plurality of endings that is associated with the selected image;

generating, in response to receiving the selection of one of the images, a short message service message, the short message service message comprising the destination number and the message body corresponding to the selected ending; and

transmitting, via the transceiver of the mobile device, the short message service message to a voting system to submit the vote for the selected ending;

wherein;

the operation of receiving the plurality of selections comprises receiving the plurality of selections via a terminal selected from a group consisting of a television, a set-top box, and a kiosk that is in communication with the mobile device;

the plurality of selections is part of a base interactive voting application; and

the operations further comprise receiving an update, for the base interactive voting application, comprising at least one particular instruction selected from a group consisting of a delete instruction to delete one of the plurality of selections and an add instruction to add a new selection to the plurality of selections.

20. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 19, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies one of the plurality of endings to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected ending.

21. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 19, wherein the destination number for each of the plurality of selections identifies the voting system and the message body identifies one of the plurality of endings to the voting system to ensure the vote is submitted for the selected ending.

22. The tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 19, wherein the broadcast is selected from a group consisting of a television show, a movie, a televised sporting event, a news show, and an interactive video game.