Component for accessing and displaying internet content

• US 8,510,406 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Issued: 08/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: DoDots Licensing Solutions LLC (Strategic Intellectual Solutions, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Mainstream Scientific, LLC (Innovation Management Sciences, LLC)
• Inventors: Kembel, George Andrew, Kembel, John Albert, Gabbay, Lynn D., Kembel, Jeremy L., Kembel, Geoffrey S., Wobbrock, Jake, Russell, John, Kim, Daniel S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nooristany, Sulaiman
• Application Number:
  US11/932,286
• Publication Number:
  US 20080229217A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,113 Days
• Field of Search: 715/700, 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/221 Parsing markup language streams streaming G06F40/149
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• 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

A software component for accessing and displaying Internet content includes a definition for rendering a graphical user interface within which Internet content may be presented outside of and without utilization of a web browser application. The component also includes a network reference, such as a URL, pointing to the Internet content such that the Internet Content may be downloaded and presented within said user interface. A component provider may thus create customized displays within which intended web-content may be rendered. An application component may be used in association with the software component to manage the collection, organization, sharing, and rendering of a plurality of such software components.

Claims

1. A server in operative communication with a client computing device over a network, the server comprising:

electronic memory having stored thereon a networked information monitor template, the networked information monitor template comprising;

a definition of a viewer graphical user interface within which content in a web browser-readable language may be presented;

a network reference to said content, the network reference including a uniform resource locator from which content for the networked information monitor is served over the network via the TCP/IP protocol;

an element configured to cause said viewer graphical user interface to be displayed by the client computing device separately from any graphical user interface of any other application;

an element configured to cause the client computing device to request the content from the network reference over the network; and

an element configured to cause the client computing device to present said content received from the network reference in said viewer graphical user interface;

wherein the definition of the viewer graphical user interface and/or the content define all controls for enabling a user to specify the uniform resource locator through the viewer graphical user interface, and

one or more processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, the one or more computer program modules being configured to receive a request for the networked information monitor template from the client computing device over the network, and responsive to the received request, to transmit the networked information monitor template to the client computing device over the network.

2. The server of claim 1, wherein said definition comprises the definition of at least one control for controlling an aspect of said viewer graphical user interface.

3. The server of claim 2, wherein said aspect is the location at which said viewer graphical user interface is presented on a display associated with the client computing device.

4. The server of claim 2, wherein said aspect is the size of said viewer graphical user interface when presented on a display associated with the client computing device.

5. The server of claim 1, wherein said networked information monitor template including information in extensible markup language (XML) format.

6. The server of claim 1, wherein said definition specifies the appearance of said viewer graphical user interface.

7. The server of claim 6, wherein said definition specifies an image to be rendered in said viewer graphical user interface.

8. The server of claim 7, wherein said definition causes said content to be presented in association with said image.

9. The server of claim 7, wherein said definition causes said content to be rendered at least in part within said image.

10. The server of claim 7, wherein said definition further includes the definition of at least one control permitting the control over the image.

11. The server of claim 1, wherein said definition further includes the definition of at least one control permitting the user to specify a uniform resource locator in order to effectuate a change in the content for presentation within said viewer graphical user interface.

12. The server of claim 1, wherein said content is in a format selected from the group consisting of:

audio data, video data, graphics data, and still image data.

13. The server of claim 1, wherein the uniform resource locator points to a second, separate server configured to serve the content over the network at the uniform resource locator.

14. The server of claim 1, wherein said networked information monitor template includes an element configured to cause requests for content to be periodically sent to the network reference.

15. The server of claim 1, wherein said networked information monitor template further comprises an identifier uniquely identifying the definition.

16. The server of claim 15, wherein said identifier may be shared between users of a plurality of client computing devices such that requests for the networked information monitor template are receivable by the server from individual ones of the client computing devices over the network.

17. The server of claim 1, wherein said networked information monitor further comprises a category label which permits the networked information monitor template to be sorted on the server with other such networked information monitor templates by category.

18. A server in operative communication with a client computing device over a network, the server comprising:

electronic storage having stored thereon;

a first networked information monitor template comprising a first XML file, the networked information monitor template further comprising a definition of;

a first viewer graphical user interface for presentation on a client computing device;

a first image to be presented within said first viewer graphical user interface;

an element configured to cause said first viewer graphical user interface to be presented on a display associated with the client computing device separately from any graphical user interface of any other application;

a first network reference to a first set of content for presentation within said first viewer graphical user interface, the first network reference including a uniform resource locator from which the first set of content is served over the network via the TCP/IP protocol; and

an element configured to cause the client computing device to present the first set of content in the first graphical user interface;

wherein the definition of the first viewer graphical user interface and/or the first set of content define all controls for enabling a user to specify the uniform resource locator through the first viewer graphical user interface, and

a second application media package template comprising a second XML file; and

one or more processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, the one or more computer program modules being configured to receive a single request for the both of the first networked information monitor template and the second networked information monitor template from the client computing device over the network, and responsive to the received single request, to transmit both of the first networked information monitor template and the second networked information monitor template to the client computing device over the network.

19. The server of claim 18, wherein the second networked information monitor comprises a definition of:

a second viewer graphical user interface for presentation on the client computing device;

a second image to be presented within said second viewer graphical user interface;

an element configured to cause said second viewer graphical user interface to be presented on the display associated with the client computing device separately from any graphical user interface of any other application;

a second network reference to a second set of content for presentation within said second viewer graphical user interface, the second network reference including a uniform resource locator from which the second set of content is served over the network via the TCP/IP protocol,

wherein the definition of the second viewer graphical user interface and/or the second set of content define all controls for enabling a user to specify the uniform resource locator through the second viewer graphical user interface.

20. The server of claim 19, wherein the first viewer graphical user interface, the first image, and the first set of content are different than the second viewer graphical user interface, the second image, and the second set of content, respectively.

21. The server of claim 19, wherein the uniform resource locator of the first network reference points to a different server than the uniform resource locator of the second network reference.

22. A computer-implemented method of serving a networked information monitor template to one or more client computing devices over a network, the method being implemented in a server comprising electronic storage and one or more physical processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, the method comprising:

storing the networked information monitor template to the electronic storage, the networked information monitor template comprising;

a definition of a viewer graphical user interface within which content in a web browser-readable language may be presented;

a network reference to said content, the network reference including a uniform resource locator from which content for the networked information monitor is served over the network via the TCP/IP protocol;

an element configured to cause said user interface to be displayed by the client computing device separately from any graphical user interface of any other application;

an element configured to cause the client computing device to request the content from the network reference over the network; and

an element configured to cause the client computing device to present said content received from the network reference in said viewer graphical user interface;

receiving, over the network from a first client computing device, a request for the application media package template;

wherein the definition of the viewer graphical user interface and/or the content define all controls for enabling a user to specify the uniform resource locator through the viewer graphical user interface, and

responsive to the received request, transmitting the networked information monitor template to the first client computing device over the network.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving, over the network from a second client computing device, a request for the networked information monitor template; and

responsive to the received request, transmitting the networked information monitor template to the second client computing device over the network.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein said definition further comprises the definition of at least one control for controlling an aspect of said viewer graphical user interface.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said aspect is the location at which said viewer graphical user interface is presented on a display associated with the first client computing device.