Browser enabled communication device for conducting conversations in either a real-time mode, a time-shifted mode, and with the ability to seamlessly shift the conversation between the two modes

• US 8,533,611 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2009
• Issued: 09/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Voxer IP LLC (Voxer, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Voxer IP LLC (Voxer, Inc.)
• Inventors: Katis, Thomas E., Panttaja, James T., Panttaja, Mary G., Ranney, Matthew J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tan, Alvin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yi, Rinna
• Application Number:
  US12/561,089
• Publication Number:
  US 20110035687A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 715/758, 715/751, 715/753, 715/756, 379/88.13, 379/88.22, 379/93.01, 379/93.15, 455/413, 455/452.2
• US Class Current: 715/758
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1059 End-user terminal functionalities specially adapted for real-time communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1089 by adding media; by removing media
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1093 by adding participants; by removing participants
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1096 Supplementary features, e.g. call forwarding or call holding systems providing special services or facilities to telephony subscribers H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A browser enabled communication device capable of conducting conversations, including multiple media types, in either a real-time or a time-shifted mode, with the ability to seamlessly transition between the two modes.

Claims

1. A client communication device, comprising:

a processor;

a display;

a network connection configured to connect the client communication device with a communication network;

a browser; and

code configured to enable communication with a remote communication device over the communication network,

the code and the browser cooperating to create a user interface which enables a user of the client communication device to actively participate in a conversation with the remote communication device over the communication network, the user interface enabling the user to selectively and actively participate in the conversation in;

(i) a real-time mode by progressively rendering voice media of incoming voice messages received over the communication network from the remote communication device as the voice media is received;

(ii) a time-shifted mode by progressively rendering the received voice media of the incoming voice messages from storage some time after the voice media was transmitted by the remote communication device and stored; and

(iii) to selectively transition participation in the conversation between the two modes (i) and (ii),

the code further configured to enable the user to actively participate in the conversation, via user interaction with the user interface, by progressively transmitting outgoing voice messages pertaining to the conversation created using the client communication device as the voice media of the outgoing messages is created,

the code further configured to cooperate with the browser to present, via the user interface, a message history of the conversation, the message history including a conversation thread of the incoming and outgoing voice messages in a time order in which the voice messages were added to the conversation.

2. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code is further capable of supporting one or more media types, in addition to the voice media, so that the voice media and the one or more media types can be exchanged during the conversation between the client communication device and the remote communication device.

3. The client communication device of claim 2, wherein the one or more media types, in addition to the voice media, comprises:

(i) position data;

(ii) video;

(iii) text;

(iv) GPS data;

(v) pictures;

(vi) sensor data;

or

(vii) any combination of (i) through (vi).

4. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code and the browser further cooperate to present, via the user interface, a list of active conversations.

5. The client communication device of claim 4, wherein the code and the browser further cooperate to enable the user of the client communication device to select, via the user interface, the conversation among the list of active conversations for participation.

6. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the conversation thread comprises one or more media bubbles each representative of the incoming and outgoing voice messages respectively.

7. The client communication device of claim 6, wherein the one or more media bubbles are presented in the time order in which the incoming and outgoing voice messages were added to the conversation respectively.

8. The client communication device of claim 6, wherein a selected one of the media bubbles includes one of the following:

(i) a voice media type indicator which indicates that voice media is associated with the selected media bubble;

(ii) a date and time indicator indicative of the date and the time when the voice media associated with the selected media bubble was created;

(iii) a name indicator indicative of the name of the participant of the conversation that created the voice media associated with the selected media bubble;

or

(iv) any combination of (i) through (iii).

9. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the user interface provides one or more of the following rendering options for rendering the voice media of the messages of the conversation:

(i) play;

(ii) pause;

(iii) jump forward;

(iv) jump backward; and

(v) Catch-up-To-Live (CTL).

10. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the user interface provides an end function to end participation in the conversation.

11. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the user interface provides a mute function.

12. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the user interface provides a text function which enables the user of the client communication device to contribute text messages to the conversation and to receive text messages from the remote communication device, the code and the browser further configured to insert the text messages in the message history of the conversation by including the text messages in the conversation thread in the time order in which the text messages were added to the conversation.

13. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the user interface provides a render control function which enables the user of the client communication device to render a selected voice message of the conversation.

14. The client communication device of claim 1, further comprising a multimedia platform configured to cooperate with the browser to generate content for the user interface appearing in a display associated with the client communication device.

15. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code is down loaded over the communication network to the client communication device.

16. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the communication network comprises one of the following:

(i) the Internet;

(ii) the PSTN;

(iii) a circuit-based network;

(iv) a mobile communication network;

(v) a cellular network;

(vi) a wired network;

(vii) a wireless network;

(viii) a satellite network;

(ix) a tactical network;

or

(x) any combination of (i) through] (ix).

17. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the incoming and the outgoing voice messages of the conversation share a common attribute, the attribute selected from one of the following:

(i) a name of a participant of the conversation;

(ii) a topic of the conversation;

(iii) a subject defining the conversation;

or

(iv) a group identifier identifying group of participants in the conversation.

18. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the client communication device is one of the following:

(i) a land-line phone;

(ii) a wireless phone;

(iii) a cellular phone;

(iv) a mobile phone;

(v) a satellite phone;

(vi) a computer;

(vii) a radio;

(viii) a server;

(ix) a tactical radio;

(x) a satellite radio;

or

(xi) a tactical radio.

19. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code further enables the contribution of a text message to the conversation.

20. The client communication device of claim 1, further comprising one or more input devices, the one or more input devices capable of contributing one or more media types to the conversation.

21. The client communication device of claim 1, further comprising one or more output devices, the one or more output devices capable of rendering one or more media types contributed to the conversation.

22. The client communication device of claim 1, further comprising one or more input/output devices, the one or more input/output devices comprises:

(i) a speaker;

(ii) a mouse;

(iii) a microphone;

(iv) keyboard;

(v) a display;

(vi) a touch sensitive display;

(vii) camera;

or

(viii) any combination of (i) through (vii).

23. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code further defines a storage location for storing media associated with the conversation on the client communication device at least while the user of the client communication device is actively participating in the conversation.

24. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code further comprises a network transmission protocol capable of progressively transmitting voice media as the voice media is created using the client communication device.

25. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code and the browser cooperate to embed at least a portion of the user interface in a Web page appearing on the display of the client communication device.

26. The client communication device of claim 1, further configured to connect to the remote communication device through one or more communication servers located on the communication network.

27. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the outgoing voice messages of the conversation is addressed using a unique identifier associated with an intended recipient of the outgoing voice messages and the voice media associated with the outgoing voice messages is routed over the communication network using a route discovered by a lookup result of the unique identifier.

28. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code is further configured to provide presence status of the user of the client communication device to the remote communication device.

29. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the user interface provides a photo option which enables a user of the client communication device to contribute a photograph to the conversation.

30. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code further supports synchronous communication between the client communication device and the remote communication device.

31. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code further supports asynchronous communication between the client communication device and the remote communication device.

32. The client communication device of claim 1, wherein the code is further configured to store on the client communication device at least a portion of the voice media of the conversation while the user of the client communication device is actively participating in the conversation.

33. Computer code embedded in a non-transitory computer readable medium and intended to run on a client communication device connected to a network, the computer code comprising:

code for cooperating with a browser on the client communication device, the code configured to create, within the browser, a user interface which enables a user of the communication device to actively participate in a conversation with a remote communication device over a communication network, the user interface enabling the user to selectively, and actively participate in the conversation in;

(i) a real-time mode where voice media of incoming voice messages from the remote communication device is rendered as it is received at the client communication device over the network;

(ii) a time-shifted mode where voice media of the incoming voice messages from the remote communication device is rendered out of storage some time after the voice media was transmitted by the remote communication device; and

(iii) to selectively transition participation in the conversation between the two modes (i) and (ii),

the code further configured to enable the user to actively participate in the conversation, via user interaction with the user interface, by progressively transmitting outgoing voice messages pertaining to the conversation created using the client communication device as the voice media of the outgoing messages is created,

the code further configured to cooperate with the browser to present, via the user interface, a message history of the conversation, the message history including a conversation thread of the incoming and outgoing voice messages in a time order in which the voice messages were added to the conversation.

34. The code of claim 33, wherein the code is further capable of supporting one or more media types, in addition to the voice media, so that the voice media and the one or more media types can be exchanged during the conversation between the client communication device and the remote communication device.

35. The code of claim 34, wherein the one or more media types, in addition to voice, comprises:

(i) position data;

(ii) video;

(iii) text;

(iv) GPS data;

(v) pictures;

(vi) sensor data;

or

(vii) any combination of (i) through (vi).

36. The code of claim 33, wherein the code is further configured to cooperate with the browser to present, via the user interface, a list of active conversations.

37. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to cooperate with the browser to enable the user of the client communication device to select, via the user interface, the conversation for participation among the list of active conversations.

38. The code of claim 33, wherein the conversation thread comprises one or more media bubbles each representative of the incoming and outgoing voice messages of the conversation respectively.

39. The code of claim 38, wherein the one or more media bubbles are presented in the time order in which the incoming and outgoing voice messages were added to the conversation respectively.

40. The code of claim 38, wherein a selected one of the media bubbles include one of the following:

(i) a voice media type indicator which indicates that voice media is associated with the selected media bubble;

(ii) a date and time indicator indicative of the date and the time when the voice media associated with the selected media bubble was created;

(iii) a name indicator indicative of the name of the participant of the conversation that created the voice media associated with the selected media bubble;

or

(iv) any combination of (i) through (iii).

41. The code of claim 38, wherein code further cooperates with the browser to provide within the user interface one or more of the following rendering options for rendering the voice media of the messages of the conversation:

(i) play;

(ii) pause;

(iii) jump forward;

(iv) jump backward; and

(v) Catch-up-To-Live (CTL).

42. The code of claim 33, wherein the code cooperates with the browser to provide within the user interface an end function for ending participation in the conversation.

43. The code of claim 33, wherein the code cooperates with the browser to provide within the user interface a mute function.

44. The code of claim 33, wherein the code cooperates with the browser to provide within the user interface a text function for contributing text messages to the conversation and to receive text messages from the remote communication device, the code and the browser further configured to insert the text messages in the message history of the conversation by including the text messages in the conversation thread in the time order in which the text messages were added to the conversation.

45. The code of claim 33, wherein the code is further configured to progressively add the voice media to the outgoing voice messages as the voice media is created using the client communication device.

46. The code of claim 45, wherein the code is further configured to progressively transmit the voice media of the voice message as the voice media is created and progressively added to the message.

47. The code of claim 45, wherein the code is further configured to progressively store the voice media of the voice message as the voice media is created.

48. The code of claim 33, wherein the code is further configured to cooperate with the browser to create in the user interface a render control function for rendering selected messages of the conversation on the client communication device.

49. The code of claim 33, wherein the code is further configured to cooperate with a multimedia platform for generating content for the user interface within the browser.

50. The code of claim 33, wherein the incoming and outgoing voice messages of the conversation is share a common attribute, the attribute selected from one of the following:

(i) a name of a participant of the conversation;

(ii) a topic of the conversation;

(iii) a subject defining the conversation;

or

(iv) a group identifier identifying group of participants in the conversation.

51. The code of claim 33, wherein the client communication device is one of the following:

(i) a land-line phone;

(ii) a wireless phone;

(iii) a cellular phone;

(iv) a mobile phone;

(v) a satellite phone;

(vi) a computer;

(vii) a radio;

(viii) a server;

(ix) a tactical radio;

(x) a satellite radio;

or

(xi) a tactical radio.

52. The code of claim 33, wherein the code relies on a network transmission protocol capable of progressively transmitting voice media as the voice media is created on the client communication device.

53. The code of claim 33, wherein the code is further configured to address the outgoing messages of the conversation using a unique identifier associated with an intended recipient of the outgoing messages and the media of the outgoing messages is routed over the communication network using a route discovered by a lookup result of the unique identifier.

54. The code of claim 33, wherein the code is further configured to store on the client communication device at least a portion of the media of the conversation while the user of the client communication device is actively participating in the conversation.

55. The communication method of claim 33, wherein the code further supports synchronous communication between the client communication device and the remote communication device.

56. The communication method of claim 33, wherein the code further supports asynchronous communication between the client communication device and the remote communication device.

57. A communication method, comprising:

maintaining a server node on a network;

providing client code to a client communication device over the network in response to the client communication device accessing the server node, the provided computer comprising;

code for cooperating with a browser on the client communication device, the code configured to create, within the browser, a user interface which enables a user of the communication device to actively participate in a conversation with a remote communication device over a communication network, the user interface enabling the user to selectively and actively participate in the conversation in;

(i) a real-time mode where voice media of incoming voice messages from the remote communication device is rendered as it is received at the client communication device over the network;

(ii) a time-shifted mode where voice media of the incoming voice messages from the remote communication device is rendered out of storage some time after the voice media was transmitted by the remote communication device; and

(iii) to transition participation in the conversation between the two modes (i) and (ii),

the code further configured to enable the user to actively participate in the conversation, via user interaction with the user interface, by progressively transmitting outgoing voice messages pertaining to the conversation created using the client communication device as the voice media of the outgoing messages is created,

the code further configured to cooperate with the browser to present, via the user interface, a message history of the conversation,

the message history including a conversation thread of the incoming and outgoing voice messages in a time order in which the voice messages were added to the conversation; and

routing the incoming and outgoing voice messages between the client communication device and the remote communication device over the network.

58. The communication method of claim 57, wherein the provided code is further capable of supporting one or more media types, in addition to the voice media, so that the voice media and the one or more media types can be exchanged during the conversation between the client communication device and the remote communication device.

59. The communication method of claim 57, wherein the provided code is further configured to cooperate with the browser to present, through via the user interface, a list of active conversations.

60. The communication method of claim 59, wherein the provided code is further configured to cooperate with the browser to enable the user of the client communication device to select, via the user interface, the conversation for participation among the list of active conversations.

61. The communication method of claim 57, wherein the message history of the conversation comprises one or more media bubbles each representative of the incoming and outgoing voice messages of the conversation respectively.

62. The communication method of claim 61, wherein the one or more media bubbles are presented in the time order in which the incoming and outgoing voice messages were added to the conversation respectively.

63. The communication method of claim 57, wherein a selected one of the media bubbles include one of the following:

(i) a voice media type indicator which indicates that voice media is associated with the selected media bubble;

(ii) a date and time indicator indicative of the date and the time when the voice media associated with the selected media bubble was created;

(iii) a name indicator indicative of the name of the participant of the conversation that created the voice media associated with the selected media bubble;

or

(iv) any combination of (i) through (iii).

64. The communication method of claim 57, wherein the provided code further cooperates with the browser to provide, within the user interface, one or more of the following rendering options for rendering the voice media of the messages of the conversation:

(i) play;

(ii) pause;

(iii) jump forward;

(iv) jump backward; and

(v) Catch-up-To-Live (CTL).

65. The communication method of claim 57, wherein the user interface created by the code within the browser provides a text function which enables the user of the client communication device to contribute text messages to the conversation and to receive text messages from the remote communication device, the code and the browser further configured to insert the text messages in the message history of the conversation by including the text messages in the conversation thread in the time order in which the text messages were added to the conversation.

66. The communication method of claim 57, wherein the outgoing voice messages of the conversation are addressed using a unique identifier associated with an intended recipient of the outgoing voice message and the voice media associated with the outgoing voice messages is routed over the communication network using a route discovered by a lookup result of the unique identifier.

67. The communication method of claim 57, wherein the code is further configured to provide presence status of the user of the client communication device to the remote communication device over the network.

68. The communication method of claim 57, wherein the user interface provides a photo option which enables a user of the client communication device to contribute a photograph to the conversation.

69. The communication method of claim 57, wherein the code further supports synchronous communication between the client communication device and the remote communication device.

70. The communication method of claim 57, wherein the code further supports asynchronous communication between the client communication device and the remote communication device.

71. The communication method of claim 57, further comprising progressively storing the voice media of the outgoing voice messages and the incoming voice messages at the server node as the voice media is progressively received at the server node.

72. The communication method of claim 57, further comprising:

progressively storing the voice media of the incoming voice messages at the server node as the voice media is progressively received at the server node from the remote communication device; and

progressively forwarding the voice media of the incoming voice messages from the server node to the client communication device, as the media is progressively stored at the server node, when the user of the client communication device is actively participating in the conversation in the real-time mode.

73. The communication method of claim 57, further comprising:

progressively storing the voice media of the incoming voice messages at the server node as the voice media is progressively received at the server node from the remote communication device; and

progressively forwarding the voice media of the incoming voice message from storage at the server node to the client communication device when the user of the client communication device is participating in the conversation in the time-shifted mode.