System for communicating information to a mobile device using portable code widgets

• US 8,954,834 B1
• Filed: 10/06/2008
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Everson, John M., Izdepski, Erich J., Koellner, Todd N., Lee, Wing K., Ng, Sei Y., Stone, M. Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shrewsbury, Nathan
• Application Number:
  US12/246,494
• Time in Patent Office: 2,318 Days
• Field of Search: 455/3.06, 709/248, 715/772, 715/201, 715/203
• US Class Current: 715/203
• 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: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45504 Abstract machines for programme code execution, e.g. Java virtual machine [JVM], interpreters, emulators
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces

Abstract

A system is provided for widget to widget communication. The system includes a first device, a second device, and a communication server. The first device and/or the second device are a mobile device. The communication server provides a first widget to the first device and provides a second widget to the second device, wherein the first widget and the second widget are portable code that is installed and executed in a corresponding runtime environment without additional compilation. The first widget, when executed by the first device, communicates information that identifies content associated with the first widget and a state of the content via the first device to the communication server. The communication server communicates the information and the state to the second device. The second widget, when executed by the second device, presents at least some of the content based on the information and the state in coordination with the first widget presenting the content.

Claims

1. A system for widget to widget communication, comprising:

a first device;

a second device, wherein at least one of the first device and the second device is a mobile device;

an information source to provide a first content to a first widget and a second content to a second widget;

the first widget, when executed by the first device, to present the first content on the first device, to pause the presentation of the first content on the first device, and to communicate, via the first device to a communication server, information that identifies the first content associated with the first widget, a state of the first content based on the pause of the presentation of the first content, and a geographic location of the first device that is determined using at least one of a radio frequency identification technology, a global positioning system technology, a forward link triangulation technology, or a hybrid technology;

a communication server to provide the first widget to the first device, to provide the second widget to the second device, and to communicate the information, the state, and the geographic location to the second device based on a subscription of the second device to the communication server for the information and the state, wherein each of the first widget and the second widget is portable code that is installed and executed in a corresponding runtime environment without additional compilation; and

the geographic location of the first device, and the state of the first content, wherein a media type of the second content and a media type of the first content are different media types.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first device is one of an appliance, a mobile computer, a portable computer, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a desktop computer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the second device is one of a digital picture frame, a doll, a mobile telecommunication device, a mobile handset, a personal digital assistant, a handheld gaming device, a handheld wireless mobile device, a pager, a digital camera, a digital music player, a global positioning system (GPS) mobile device, a satellite radio, a digital video player, or a digital calculator.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the media type of the first content comprises at least one of an audio recording, a visual image, a video recording, a multi-media recording, or a document file, and wherein the media type of the second content comprises at least one of an audio recording, a visual image, a video recording, a multi-media recording, or a document file.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the state comprises at least one of an activation status of the first widget, a time associated with an audio recording, a time associated with a video recording, a time associated with a multi-media recording, an image associated with a plurality of visual images, or a position within a document.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first widget communicates information that identifies the first content associated with the first widget and the state of the first content to the communication server based on at least one of an action or a time.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the second device requests the information and the state from the communication server.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface associated with the second device that comprises at least one of a display screen or a keyboard, wherein the user interface displays the information and the state based on user preferences.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication server is further configured to receive a third widget with user preferences from the second device, wherein the second device is configured to delete the third widget from a storage of the second device in response to the communication server receiving the third widget, and wherein the communication server is further configured to restore the third widget to the second device upon the conclusion of the presentation of the at least some of the content by the second widget.

9. A computer implemented method for widget to widget communication, comprising:

providing a first widget to a first device;

providing a second widget to a second device, wherein each of the first widget and the second widget is portable code that is installed and executed in a corresponding runtime environment without additional compilation;

presenting a first content provided by an information source by the first widget;

pausing the presentation of the first content by the first widget;

saving a state of the first content, wherein the state of the first content is associated with the first content that is paused;

communicating information that identifies the first content associated with the first widget and the saved state of the first content via the first device to the communication server;

communicating the information and the saved state from the communication server to the second device; and

presenting a second content provided by the information source based on the information and the saved state by the second widget, wherein a media type of the first content and a media type of the second content are different media types.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

saving a third widget with user preferences from the second device to the communication server; and

deleting the third widget from a storage of the second device.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 9, further comprising sending at least one of the first content and user input to the second device.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 9, further comprising providing a third widget, the information, and the saved state to a third device.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a publish message by the communication server from the first widget; and

receiving a subscribe message by the communication server from the second widget, wherein the subscribe message is associated with the publish message.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein the information and the saved state are communicated from the communication server to the second device based on a subscription of the second device to the communication server for the information and the saved state.

14. A computer implemented method for widget to widget communication, comprising:

providing a first widget from a communication server to a first device;

providing a second widget from the communication server to a second device, wherein each of the first widget and the second widget is portable code that is installed and executed in a corresponding runtime environment without additional compilation, wherein the first widget and the second widget are different types of widgets, and wherein the first widget and the second widget are configured to present different types of content;

presenting a first content provided by an information source by the first widget;

pausing the presentation of the first content by the first widget;

communicating information that identifies the first content associated with the first widget and a state of the first content via the first device to the communication server based on pausing the presentation of the first content by the first widget;

communicating the information and the state from the communication server to the second device; and

presenting a second content provided by the information source related to the first content based on the information and the state in coordination with the first widget presenting the first content, wherein a media type of the first content and a media type of the second content are different media types, wherein the media type of the first content comprises at least one of an audio recording, a visual image, a video recording, a multi-media recording, or a document file, and wherein the media type of the second content comprises at least one of an audio recording, a visual image, a video recording, a multi-media recording, or a document file.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 14, further comprising selecting the information and the state as a subset of data based on user preferences.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 14, wherein communicating the information and the state from the communication server to the second device is based on a level of access to the information and the state specified by user preferences.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 14, wherein the second content is based on user defined content.