Method and apparatus for displaying a message intended for different recipients

• US 8,959,160 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2010
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Inventors: Patel, Virat G., Chang, Yu-Chia E., Klimczak, Wojciech, Nakoneczny, Matthew R.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRUONG, LAN DAI T
• Application Number:
  US12/850,303
• Publication Number:
  US 20120036196A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,658 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/201, 709/202, 709/231, 709/234
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

A method and apparatus for displaying a message destined for different recipients, wherein the apparatus programs a computer to perform the method, which includes: determining that a message is destined for a first recipient and a second recipient; determining a message size limit for the message based on capabilities of a first device used by the first recipient and a second device used by the second recipient; displaying a first portion of the message in a first format when a length of the message is less than the message size limit; displaying a next portion of the message in a second different format when the length of the message exceeds the message size limit.

Claims

1. A method for displaying a message destined for different recipients, the method comprising:

a messaging device performing;

determining that a message is destined for a first recipient and a second recipient;

determining a message size limit for the message based on capabilities of a first device used by the first recipient and a second device used by the second recipient;

during the composing of the message, displaying a first portion of the message in a first font, color, or size of the message characters when a length of the message is less than the message size limit;

when the length of the message exceeds the message size limit during the composing of the message, displaying a next portion of the message in a second different visible font, color, or size; and

wherein the first font, color, or size appears different than the second visible font, color or size.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a warning when the length of the message exceeds the message size limit.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein providing the warning comprises displaying a warning message.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the warning indicates that the next portion of the message having the second visible font, color, or size will not be sent to one of the two devices.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the warning indicates that the next portion of the message having the second visible font, color, or size will not be sent to the device having a smaller maximum message size.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending the message without the next portion having the second visible font, color, or size to the device having a smaller maximum message size;

sending the first and next portions of the message to the other device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the message size limit for the message comprises:

determining a maximum message size for the first device;

determining a maximum message size for the second device;

setting the message size limit as the smaller of the maximum message size limits of the first and second devices.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed in response to at least one of:

a user creating a new message with the messaging device;

a user opening an existing message with the messaging device;

a user inputting into the messaging device an address for the first recipient or an address for the second recipient;

a user creating a reply message using the messaging device.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining the capabilities of the first device and the second device based on an address for the first device and an address for the second device.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a first device type of the first device and a second device type of the second device;

determining the capabilities of the first device based on the first device type and the capabilities of the second device based on the second device type.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first device type is determined based on an address of the first recipient, and the second device type is determined based on an address for the second recipient.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage element having computer readable code stored thereon for programming a computer to perform a method for displaying a message destined for different recipients, the method comprising:

determining that a message is destined for at least two different recipients;

determining a message size limit for the message based on a device type of devices used by each of the recipients;

displaying a first portion of the message in a first font, color, or size when a length of the message is less than the message size limit;

when the length of the message exceeds the message size limit, displaying a next portion of the message in a second different font, color, or size;

wherein the first font, color, or size appears different than the second visible font, color or size.

13. The storage element of claim 12, wherein the method further comprising determining the device type of the devices used by each of the recipients based on an address for each recipient.

14. The storage element of claim 12, wherein the method further comprising providing a warning when the length of the message exceeds the message size limit.

15. The storage element of claim 14, wherein providing the warning comprises displaying a warning message.

16. The storage element of claim 14, wherein the warning indicates that the next portion of the message having the second visible font, color, or size will not be sent to at least one of the devices used by the recipients.

17. The storage element of claim 16, wherein the warning indicates that the next portion of the message having the second visible font, color, or size will not be sent to a set of the devices having a smallest maximum message size.

18. The storage element of claim 12, wherein the method further comprising:

sending the message without the next portion having the second visible font, color, or size to a set of the devices having a smallest maximum message size;

sending the first and next portions of the message to the remaining devices.

19. The storage element of claim 12, wherein determining the message size limit for the message comprises:

determining a maximum message size for each of the devices used by the recipients;

setting the message size limit as the smallest of the maximum message size limits of all the devices.