Digital content reconstruction and distribution

• US 8,655,858 B1
• Filed: 11/13/2008
• Issued: 02/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nidamarthi, Lakshmi S., Chidambaram, Palanidaran, Porwal, Priyank, Muthiah, Ramesh, Kabbani, Nader M., Langdon, Danielle Cuff, Mowli, Biren
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Wilson
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le, Jessica N
• Application Number:
  US12/270,741
• Time in Patent Office: 1,923 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/695
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

An item providing system may receive digital content that is to be provided to user devices. The digital content may include electronic periodicals (e.g., electronic newspapers, electronic magazines, etc.). The digital content may not be complete. To address this issue, the item providing system may include a content reconstruction tool that is able to identify and download needed portions of digital content. Also, the digital content may not be in a desired format. The item providing system may include a collator tool that is able to organize, arrange and/or format the digital content.

Claims

1. A method for performing content reconstruction on digital content, the method comprising:

obtaining a reference source that provides a version of the digital content;

accessing stored digital content, wherein the stored digital content is a first edition of an electronic newspaper distributed at a first time and the version of the digital content provided by the reference source is a second edition of the electronic newspaper distributed at a second time after the first time;

comparing the stored digital content to the reference source to identify differences between the stored digital content and the reference source, the identified differences indicating additional content provided by the reference source that is missing from the stored digital content;

determining, by one or more processors, that the stored digital content is to be modified based at least in part on one or more of the identified differences that indicate the additional content;

obtaining at least a portion of the additional content using a computer network;

adding the at least a portion of the additional content to the stored digital content to create updated digital content;

rearranging the updated digital content; and

sending the updated digital content to a user device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising managing subscriptions to the electronic newspaper for a plurality of user devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the stored digital content is to be modified comprises determining that the stored digital content is not complete.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the stored digital content is to be modified comprises determining that a layout of the stored digital content needs to be changed.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a time available to perform content reconstruction on the stored digital content using the at least a portion of the additional content, wherein the updated digital content is sent to the user device within the time available.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional content is one or more articles added to the electronic newspaper in between the first time and the second time.

7. A method comprising:

accessing existing digital content that includes a plurality of articles, each article having a title;

receiving a list of article titles to be included in a complete version of digital content;

comparing the list of article titles with the titles of the plurality of articles in the existing digital content;

identifying, based at least in part on the comparing, one or more articles from the list of article titles that are not included in the existing digital content;

obtaining the identified one or more articles using a computer network; and

adding, by one or more processors, the identified one or more articles to the existing digital content to provide updated digital content.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining a time available to prepare the updated digital content, and wherein the adding of the identified one or more articles to the existing digital content occurs prior to expiration of the time available to prepare the updated digital content.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising sending the updated digital content to a user device.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining a time available to prepare the updated digital content; and

sending the updated digital content to a user device within the time available.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the updated digital content comprises an electronic newspaper.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising managing subscriptions to the electronic newspaper for a plurality of user devices.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising obtaining the existing digital content from a provider using the computer network.

14. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

identifying extra content to be removed from the existing digital content based at least in part on comparing the list of article titles with the titles of the plurality of articles; and

removing the extra content from the existing digital content.

15. The method of claim 7, further comprising formatting the updated digital content into a different format.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising sending the updated digital content to a user device in the different format.

17. The method of claim 7, further comprising modifying a layout of the updated digital content.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein modifying the layout is performed by a collator.

19. The method of claim 7, further comprising rearranging the updated digital content.

20. The method of claim 7, further comprising rearranging the plurality of articles in the updated digital content.

21. The method of claim 7, wherein the comparing is performed manually.

22. The method of claim 7, wherein the identifying is performed manually.

23. The method of claim 7, wherein the accessing, receiving, comparing, identifying, obtaining and adding are performed manually by an operator using a computer.

24. The method of claim 7, wherein the existing digital content is a first edition of an electronic newspaper associated with a first time and the complete version of the digital content is a second edition of the electronic newspaper associated with a second time after the first time.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the one or more articles are added to the electronic newspaper in between the first time and the second time.

26. A system for updating an electronic periodical that is not complete, the system comprising:

a processor;

memory in electronic communication with the processor;

instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable to;

obtain content for the electronic periodical from a provider, the obtained content for the electronic periodical including multiple articles, each article having a title;

subsequent to obtaining the content for the electronic periodical, receive a list of article titles to be included in a complete electronic periodical;

determine that the obtained content for the electronic periodical is not complete based at least in part on comparing the list of article titles with the titles of the articles in the obtained content for the electronic periodical;

identify one or more articles to be added to the obtained content for the electronic periodical based at least in part on the comparing;

obtain the one or more articles; and

add the one or more articles to the obtained content for the electronic periodical to provide an updated electronic periodical.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further executable to determine a time available to update the obtained content for the electronic periodical, and wherein the adding of the one or more articles to the obtained content for the electronic periodical occurs prior to expiration of the time available to update the obtained content for the electronic periodical.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further executable to send the updated electronic periodical to a user device.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further executable to manage subscriptions to the electronic periodical for a plurality of user devices.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the instructions are also executable to determine that a layout of the obtained content for the electronic periodical is to be changed.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further executable to:

identify extra content to be removed from the obtained content for the electronic periodical based at least in part on comparing the list of article titles to be included in the complete electronic periodical with the titles of the articles in the obtained content for the electronic periodical; and

remove the extra content from the obtained content for the electronic periodical.

32. The system of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further executable to format the updated electronic periodical into a different format.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the instructions are further executable to send the updated electronic periodical to a user device in the different format.

34. The system of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further executable to modify a layout of the updated electronic periodical.

35. The system of claim 26, further comprising a collator to modify a layout of the updated electronic periodical.

36. The system of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further executable to rearrange the updated electronic periodical.

37. The system of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further executable to rearrange the multiple articles and the one or more articles in the updated electronic periodical.

38. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising executable instructions for:

obtaining a reference source that provides a complete version of an electronic periodical;

accessing a currently stored version of the electronic periodical that includes a plurality of articles;

comparing a layout of the currently stored version of the electronic periodical to a layout of the complete version of the electronic periodical provided by the reference source;

determining that the layout of the currently stored version of the electronic periodical is to be changed based at least in part on the comparing;

changing the layout of the currently stored version of the electronic periodical to provide an updated version of the electronic periodical; and

sending the updated version of the electronic periodical to a plurality of subscribing user devices.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 38, further comprising executable instructions for:

determining that the currently stored version of the electronic periodical is not complete;

identifying additional content to be added to the currently stored version of the electronic periodical;

obtaining the additional content using a computer network; and

adding the additional content to the currently stored version of the electronic periodical.