Telecommunication and multimedia management method and apparatus

• US 8,718,244 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2008
• Issued: 05/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2007
• 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): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US12/051,225
• Publication Number:
  US 20090003560A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,239 Days
• Field of Search: 379/93.01, 379/90.01, 379/93.05, 379/67.1, 379/69, 379/85, 379/88.04, 379/88.07, 379/88.08, 379/88.11, 379/88.12, 379/88.13, 379/88.17, 709204-206, 715/758
• US Class Current: 379/93.01
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 3/126 Foldable, retractable or tiltable tribunes E04H3/123 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2503 Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4015 where at least one of the additional parallel sessions is real time or time sensitive, e.g. white board sharing, collaboration or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/64 Automatic arrangements for answering calls; Automatic arrangements for recording messages for absent subscribers; Arrangements for recording conversations centralised dictation systems H04M11/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/00 Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53 Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages , i.e. mailbox systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5307 for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 : Conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method for rendering one or more conversations on a first communication device. The method includes receiving over a network and storing at the first communication device media associated with the one or more conversations. The method further includes selecting on the first communication device one of the one or more conversations as current and rendering the media associated with the selected current conversation. The rendering of the media of the currently selected conversation may be performed in either a near real-time mode where the media is progressively rendered as it is received or in a time shifted mode where the media is rendered at a time after it was received. The method also includes creating media on the first communication device associated with the selected current conversation and transmitting the created media over the network to one or more remote communication devices associated with the selected current conversation. The selected current conversation may be optionally shifted among the one or more conversations.

Claims

1. A method for rendering one or more conversations on a communication device, comprising:

progressively receiving at the communication device media associated with the one or more conversations over a network;

progressively storing on the communication device the received media associated with the one or more conversations as the media is progressively received over the network;

selecting on the communication device one of the one or more conversations as current; and

(i) rendering for the first time the received media associated with the selected current conversation on the communication device in both;

(a) a near real-time mode where the media associated with the selected current conversation is progressively rendered as it is progressively received; and

(b) a time shifted mode where the media associated with the selected current conversion is progressively rendered out of storage at a select time after it was received;

(ii) creating media on the communication device associated with the selected current conversation;

(iii) progressively transmitting the created media over the network as the media is created, the transmission including one or more identifier(s) identifying one or more recipient(s) associated with the selected current conversation, the one or more identifier(s) used to locate the one or more recipient(s) on the network so that the created media is progressively delivered to one or more remote communication devices associated with the one or more recipients respectively; and

(iv) progressively storing on the communication device the media as it is created and progressively transmitted.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

optionally shifting the selected current conversation among the one or more conversations; and

performing steps (i) through (iv) for each optionally selected current conversation respectively.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected current conversation further comprises an exchange of the received and created media among the participants.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted and received media is segmented into messages.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more identifier(s) are non-IP address identifier(s) respectively.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the ability to transition the rendering of the received media of the selected current conversation between the near real-time and the time-shifted modes on the communication device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in the time-shifted mode, providing the ability to select on the communication device a start rendering position for defining a starting point to start the rendering of the media of the selected current conversation, wherein the starting point may be at any point within the prior history of the selected current conversation.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a plurality of rendering options for rendering the media of the selected current conversation, the rendering options including one or more of the following:

pause, replay, play faster, play slower, jump backward, jump forward, catch up to the most recently received media, or jump to the most recently received media.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the ability to review in the time-shifted mode the received and created media of the selected current conversation on the communication device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein providing the ability to review the received and the created media of the selected current conversation in the time-shifted mode further comprises:

selecting one participant of the selected current conversation;

retrieving the media associated with the selected participant from storage or memory; and

separately rendering the media associated with the selected participant.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein providing the ability to review the received and the created media of the selected current conversation time-shifted mode further comprises:

selecting two or more participants of the selected current conversation;

retrieving the media associated with the selected two or more participants from storage or memory; and

mixing the rendering of the media associated with the selected two or more participants.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein progressively transmitting the media created on the communication device further comprises progressively transmitting the created media as fast as the network permits.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising;

ascertaining the bandwidth rate on a connection between the network and the communication device when the media is created; and

progressively transmitting the created media within the ascertained bandwidth rate.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein progressively transmitting the media created on the communication device further comprises:

ascertaining if the communication device is disconnected from the network when the media is created;

detecting when the communication device reconnects to the network; and

progressively transmitting the created media from storage or memory after the communication device reconnects to the network.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein progressively transmitting the media created on the communication device further comprises:

ascertaining if network conditions are sufficiently poor to prevent the transmission when the media is created;

detecting when network conditions sufficiently improve to enable the transmission; and

progressively transmitting the created media from storage or memory after detecting when the network conditions sufficiently improve.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the media further comprises one or more of the following types of media that changes with respect to time:

voice, video, sensor data, position or GPS information, radio signals, or a combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the selected current conversation further includes, in addition to the media that changes over time, one or more of the following:

(i) text messages;

(ii) photos;

or

(iii) both text and photos.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises one of the following:

a, land-line phone, a wireless or cellular phone, a computer or a radio, a satellite phone or radio, or a tactical radio or phone.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a packet-based network, a circuit-based network, a cellular network, a wireless network, a radio based network, a telephone network, a satellite network, a wired network, a fiber optic network, or a combination thereof.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the media received at and transmitted by the communication device further comprise time indexed media payloads, each of the time indexed media payloads having timing data associated therewith.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the time indexed media payloads are streamed over the network.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein rendering the media of the selected current conversation in the time-shifted mode further comprises:

selecting a rendering point to begin the rendering of the media of the selected current conversation, wherein the rendering point corresponds to a previous point in time of the selected current conversation; and

rendering the media of the selected current conversation starting with the selected rendering point.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein rendering on the communication device the received media of the selected current conversation further comprises:

receiving multiple media streams at the communication device from multiple participants associated with the selected current conversation; and

rendering the multiple media streams.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising transitioning the rendering of the received media of the selected current conversation from the time-shifted mode to the near real-time mode by:

retrieving the stored media from storage or memory;

progressively rendering the retrieved media from storage or memory at an increased rendering rate;

ascertaining a catch-up point when the rendering of the retrieved media at the increased rate has caught up to and is substantially concurrent with the media of the selected current conversation as it is progressively received over the network; and

progressively rendering the media of the selected current conversation in the near real-time mode as it is progressively received over the network after the catch-up point.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein optionally shifting the selected current conversation further comprises:

selecting a second selected current conversation among the one or more conversations;

selecting a rendering point to begin the rendering of the media associated the second selected current conversation, wherein the rendering point corresponds to a point in time of the selected second current conversation; and

rendering the media of the selected second current conversation starting at the selected rendering point.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein optionally shifting the selected current conversation further comprises:

selecting a second conversation among the one or more conversations as current;

creating media on the communication device associated with the second conversation; and

progressively transmitting the created media associated with the second conversation to the one or more recipient(s) associated with the second conversation as the media is created.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving urgent media at the communication device; and

rendering the urgent media before rendering the media associated with the selected current conversation.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected conversation comprises segmented messages, each of the segmented messages containing media.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising sequentially threading the segmented messages together to form the selected current conversation.

30. The method of claim 1, further comprising discovering one or more delivery path(s) to the one or more remote communication devices from one or more lookup results of the one or more identifier(s) respectively.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein progressively transmitting the created media further comprises progressively transmitting the created media using a transmission protocol that:

(i) supports near real-time communication so that the created media can be rendered in near real-time by the one or more recipient(s) associated with the selected conversation; and

(ii) guarantees delivery of the created media to the one or more remote communication devices associated with the one or more recipient(s) respectively.

32. The method of claim 1, further comprising participating in the selected current conversation in one of the following:

(i) full-duplex communication;

(ii) half-duplex communication;

(iii) near live communication;

(iv) asynchronous communication;

(v) time-shifted communication;

or

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

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more identifier(s) is/are a human-readable identifier(s) associated with the one or more recipient(s) respectively.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the one or more identifier(s) is/are a non-IP address identifiers that is/are resolved into one or more IP-addresses that correspond to the one or more remote communication devices associated with one or more recipient of the selected current conversation respectively.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the one or more IP-addresses is/are resolved into one or more physical addresses on the network for the one or more remote communication devices respectively.

36. Computer code embedded in a non-transient computer readable medium and intended to run on a communication device configured to be connected to a network, the code configured to:

progressively receive at the communication device media associated with one or more conversations over the network;

progressively store on the communication device the received media associated with the one or more conversations as the media is progressively received over the network;

select on the communication device one of the one or more conversations as current; and

(i) render for the first time the received media associated with the selected current conversation on the communication device in both;

(a) a near real-time mode where the media associated with the selected current conversation is progressively rendered as it is progressively received; and

(b) a time shifted mode where the media associated with the selected current conversion is progressively rendered out of storage at a select time after it was received;

(ii) create media on the communication device associated with the selected current conversation;

(iii) progressively transmitting the created media over the network as the media is created, the transmission including one or more identifier(s) identifying one or more recipient(s) associated with the selected current conversation, the one or more identifier(s) used to locate the one or more recipient(s) on the network so that the created media is progressively delivered to one or more remote communication devices associated with the one or more recipients respectively; and

(iv) progressively store on the communication device the media as it is created and progressively transmitted.

37. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to:

optionally shift the selected current conversation among the one or more conversations; and

perform (i) through (iv) for each optionally selected current conversation respectively.

38. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to selectively render the media associated with the selected current conversation out of storage when the communication device is disconnected from the network.

39. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to construct the selected current conversation from the received and created media exchanged among the participants of the selected conversation.

40. The code of claim 36, wherein the transmitted media and the received media are segmented into messages.

41. The code of claim 36, wherein the one or more identifier(s) are non-IP address identifier(s) respectively.

42. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to transition the rendering of the received media of the selected current conversation between the near real-time and the time-shifted modes on the communication device.

43. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configure to, in the time-shifted mode, provide the ability to select on the communication device a start rendering position for defining a starting point to start the rendering of the media of the selected current conversation, wherein the starting point may be at any point within the prior history of the selected current conversation.

44. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to provide a plurality of rendering options for rendering the media of the selected current conversation, the rendering options including one or more of the following:

pause, replay, play faster, play slower, jump backward, jump forward, catch up to the most recently received media, or jump to the most recently received media.

45. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to provide the ability to review in the time-shifted mode the received and created media of the selected current conversation on the communication device.

46. The code of claim 45, wherein the code is further configure to provide the ability to review the received and the created media of the selected current conversation in the time-shifted mode by:

selecting one participant of the selected current conversation;

retrieving the media associated with the selected participant from storage or memory; and

separately rendering the media associated with the selected participant.

47. The code of claim 45, wherein the code is further configure to provide the ability to review the received and the created media of the selected current conversation in the time-shifted mode by:

selecting two or more participants of the selected current conversation;

retrieving the media associated with the selected two or more participants from storage or memory; and

mixing the rendering of the media associated with the selected two or more participants.

48. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to progressively transmit the created media as fast as the network permits.

49. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configure to:

ascertain the bandwidth rate on a connection between the network and the communication device when the media is being created; and

progressively transmit the created media within the ascertained bandwidth rate.

50. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to:

ascertain if the communication device is disconnected from the network when the media is created;

detect when the communication device reconnects to the network; and

progressively transmit the created media from storage or memory after the communication device reconnects to the network.

51. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to:

ascertain if network conditions are sufficiently poor to prevent the transmission when the media is created;

detect when network conditions sufficiently improve to enable the transmission; and

progressively transmit the created media from storage or memory after detecting when the network conditions sufficiently improve.

52. The code of claim 36, wherein the media further comprises one or more of the following types of media that changes with respect to time:

voice, video, sensor data, position or GPS information, radio signals, or a combination thereof.

53. The code of claim 52, wherein the code is further configured to include in the selected current conversation, in addition to the media that changes over time, one or more of the following:

(i) text messages;

(ii) photos;

or

(iii) both text and photos.

54. The code of claim 36, wherein the communication device configured to run the code comprises one of the following:

a, land-line phone, a wireless or cellular phone, a computer or a radio, a satellite phone or radio, or a tactical radio or phone.

55. The code of claim 36, wherein the network comprises a packet-based network, a circuit-based network, a cellular network, a wireless network, a radio based network, a telephone network, a satellite network, a wired network, a fiber optic network, or a combination thereof.

56. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to transmit and receive the media of the selected current conversation in the form of time indexed media payloads, each of the time indexed media payloads having timing data associated therewith.

57. The code of claim 45, wherein the code is further configured to transmit and receive the time indexed media payloads over the network as streams of media.

58. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to render the media of the selected current conversation in the time-shifted mode by:

selecting a rendering point to begin the rendering of the media of the selected current conversation, wherein the rendering point corresponds to a previous point in time of the selected current conversation; and

rendering the media of the selected current conversation starting with the selected rendering point.

59. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to render the media of the selected current conversation by:

progressively receiving multiple media streams at the communication device from multiple participants associated with the selected current conversation; and

progressively rendering the multiple media streams.

60. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to render the media of the selected current conversation by:

retrieving the stored media from storage or memory;

progressively rendering the retrieved media from storage or memory at an increased rendering rate;

ascertaining a catch-up point when the rendering of the retrieved media at the increased rate has caught up to and is substantially concurrent with the media of the selected current conversation as it is progressively received over the network; and

progressively rendering the media of the selected current conversation in the near real-time mode as it is progressively received over the network after the catch-up point.

61. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to optionally shift the selected current conversation by:

selecting a second conversation among the one or more conversations as current;

selecting a rendering point to begin the rendering of the media associated the second conversation, wherein the rendering point corresponds to a point in time of the selected second conversation; and

rendering the media of the selected second conversation starting at the selected rendering point.

62. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to optionally shift the selected current conversation by:

selecting a second selected current conversation among the one or more conversations;

creating media on the communication device associated with the second selected current conversation; and

progressively transmitting the created media associated with the second selected current conversation to the one or more recipient(s) associated with the second selected current conversation as the media is created.

63. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to:

receive urgent media at the communication device; and

render the urgent media before rendering the media associated with the selected current conversation.

64. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to sequentially thread together messages containing the created and received media to form the selected current conversation.

65. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to progressively transmit the created media with the one or more identifier(s) so that a delivery route to the one or more remote communication devices associated with the one or more recipients can be discovered over the network respectively.

66. The code of claim 65, wherein the one or more identifiers are non-IP address identifiers.

67. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to progressively transmit the created media using a transmission protocol that:

(i) supports near real-time communication so that the created media can be rendered in near real-time by the one or more recipient(s) associated with the selected conversation; and

(ii) guarantees delivery of the created media to the one or more remote communication devices associated with the one or more recipient(s) respectively.

68. The code of claim 36, wherein the code is further configured to enable participation in the selected current conversation in one of the following:

(i) full-duplex communication;

(ii) half-duplex communication;

(iii) near live communication;

(iv) asynchronous communication;

(v) time-shifted communication;

or

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

69. The code of claim 36, wherein the one or more identifier(s) is/are a human-readable identifier(s) associated with the one or more recipient(s) respectively.

70. The code of claim 69, wherein the one or more identifier(s) is/are a non-IP address identifiers that is/are resolved into one or more IP-addresses that correspond to the one or more remote communication devices associated with one or more recipient of the selected current conversation respectively.

71. The code of claim 70, wherein the one or more IP-addresses is/are resolved into one or more physical addresses on the network for the one or more remote communication devices respectively.

72. A communication device configured to be connected to a network, the communication device configured to:

progressively receive at the communication device media associated with one or more conversations over the network;

progressively store on the communication device the received media associated with the one or more conversations as the media is progressively received over the network;

select on the communication device one of the one or more conversations as current; and

(i) render for the first time the received media associated with the selected current conversation on the communication device in both;

(a) a near real-time mode where the media associated with the selected current conversation is progressively rendered as it is progressively received; and

(b) a time shifted mode where the media associated with the selected current conversion is progressively rendered out of storage at a select time after it was received;

(ii) create media on the communication device associated with the selected current conversation;

(iii) progressively transmitting the created media over the network as the media is created, the transmission including one or more identifier(s) identifying one or more recipient(s) associated with the selected current conversation, the one or more identifier(s) used to locate the one ore more recipient(s) on the network so that the created media is progressively delivered to one or more remote communication devices associated with the one or more recipients respectively; and

(iv) progressively store on the communication device the media as it is created and progressively transmitted.

73. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to:

optionally shift the selected current conversation among the one or more conversations; and

perform (i) through (iv) for each optionally selected current conversation respectively.

74. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to selectively render the media associated with the selected current conversation out of storage when the communication device is disconnected from the network.

75. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to construct the selected current conversation from the received and created media exchanged among the participants of the selected conversation.

76. The communication device of claim 72, wherein the transmitted and the received media are segmented into messages.

77. The communication device of claim 72, wherein the one or more identifier(s) are non-IP address identifier(s) respectively.

78. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to transition the rendering of the received media of the selected current conversation between the near real-time and the time-shifted modes on the communication device.

79. The communication device of claim 72, further configure to, in the time-shifted mode, provide the ability to select on the communication device a start rendering position for defining a starting point to start the rendering of the media of the selected current conversation, wherein the starting point may be at any point within the prior history of the selected current conversation.

80. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to provide a plurality of rendering options for rendering the media of the selected current conversation, the rendering options including one or more of the following:

pause, replay, play faster, play slower, jump backward, jump forward, catch up to the most recently received media, or jump to the most recently received media.

81. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to provide the ability to review in the time-shifted mode the received and created media of the selected current conversation on the communication device.

82. The communication device of claim 81, further configure to provide the ability to review in the time-shifted mode the received and the created media of the selected current conversation by:

selecting one participant of the selected current conversation;

retrieving the media associated with the selected participant from storage or memory; and

separately rendering the media associated with the selected participant.

83. The communication device of claim 81, further configure to provide the ability to review in the time-shifted mode the received and the created media of the selected current conversation by:

selecting two or more participants of the selected current conversation;

retrieving the media associated with the selected two or more participants from storage or memory; and

mixing the rendering of the media associated with the selected two or more participants.

84. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to progressively transmit the created media as fast as the network permits.

85. The communication device of claim 72, further configure to:

ascertain the bandwidth rate on a connection between the network and the communication device when the media is being created; and

progressively transmit the created media within the ascertained bandwidth rate.

86. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to:

ascertain if the communication device is disconnected from the network when the media is created;

detect when the communication device reconnects to the network; and

progressively transmit the created media from storage or memory after the communication device reconnects to the network.

87. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to:

ascertain if network conditions are sufficiently poor to prevent the transmission when the media is created;

detect when network conditions sufficiently improve to enable the transmission; and

progressively transmit the created media from storage or memory after detecting when the network conditions sufficiently improve.

88. The communication device of claim 72, wherein the media further comprises one or more of the following types of media that changes with respect to time:

voice, video, sensor data, position or GPS information, radio signals, or a combination thereof.

89. The communication device of claim 88, further configured to include in the selected current conversation, in addition to the media that changes over time, one or more of the following:

(i) text messages;

(ii) photos;

or

(iii) both text and photos.

90. The communication device of claim 72, wherein the communication device configured comprises one of the following:

a, land-line phone, a wireless or cellular phone, a computer or a radio, a satellite phone or radio, or a tactical radio or phone.

91. The communication device of claim 72, wherein the network comprises a packet-based network, a circuit-based network, a cellular network, a wireless network, a radio based network, a telephone network, a satellite network, a wired network, a fiber optic network, or a combination thereof.

92. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to transmit and receive the media of the selected current conversation in the form of time indexed media payloads, each of the time indexed media payloads having timing data associated therewith.

93. The communication device of claim 92, further configured to transmit and receive the time indexed media payloads over the network as streams of media.

94. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to render the media of the selected current conversation in the time-shifted mode by:

selecting a rendering point to begin the rendering of the media of the selected current conversation, wherein the rendering point corresponds to a previous point in time of the selected current conversation; and

rendering the media of the selected current conversation starting with the selected rendering point.

95. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to render the media of the selected current conversation by:

receiving multiple media streams at the communication device from multiple participants associated with the selected current conversation; and

rendering the multiple media streams.

96. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to render the media of the selected current conversation by:

retrieving the stored media from storage or memory;

progressively rendering the retrieved media from storage or memory at an increased rendering rate;

ascertaining a catch-up point when the rendering of the retrieved media at the increased rate has caught up to and is substantially concurrent with the media of the selected current conversation as it is progressively received over the network; and

progressively rendering the media of the selected current conversation in the near real-time mode as it is progressively received over the network after the catch-up point.

97. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to optionally shift the selected current conversation by:

selecting a second selected current conversation among the one or more conversations;

selecting a rendering point to begin the rendering of the media associated the second selected current conversation, wherein the rendering point corresponds to a point in time of the selected second current conversation; and

rendering the media of the selected second current conversation starting at the selected rendering point.

98. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to optionally shift the selected current conversation by:

selecting a second conversation among the one or more conversations as current;

creating media on the communication device associated with the second conversation; and

progressively transmitting the created media associated with the second conversation to the one or more recipient(s) associated with the second conversation as the media is created.

99. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to:

receive urgent media at the communication device; and

render the urgent media before rendering the media associated with the selected current conversation.

100. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to sequentially thread together messages containing the created and received media to form the selected current conversation.

101. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to progressively transmit the created media with the one or more identifier(s) so that a delivery route to the one or more remote communication devices associated with the one or more recipients can be discovered over the network respectively.

102. The communication device of claim 101, wherein the one or more identifiers are non-IP address identifiers.

103. The communication device of claim 72, further configured to progressively transmit the created media using a transmission protocol that:

(i) supports near real-time communication so that the created media can be rendered in near real-time by the one or more recipient(s) associated with the selected conversation; and

(ii) guarantees delivery of the created media to the one or more remote communication devices associated with the one or more recipient(s) respectively.

104. The communication device of claim 72, wherein further configured to enable participation in the selected current conversation in one of the following:

(i) full-duplex communication;

(ii) half-duplex communication;

(iii) near live communication;

(iv) asynchronous communication;

(v) time-shifted communication;

or

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

105. The device of claim 72, wherein the one or more identifier(s) is/are a human-readable identifier(s) associated with the one or more recipient(s) respectively.

106. The device of claim 105, wherein the one or more identifier(s) is/are a non-IP address identifiers that is/are resolved into one or more IP-addresses that correspond to the one or more remote communication devices associated with one or more recipient of the selected current conversation respectively.

107. The device of claim 106, wherein the one or more IP-addresses is/are resolved into one or more physical addresses on the network for the one or more remote communication devices respectively.