Sharing content

• US 9,363,639 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2012
• Issued: 06/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Eland, Andrew, Grol-Propkopczyk, Benjamin
• Primary Examiner(s): Avellino, Joseph E
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCLEOD, MARSHALL M
• Application Number:
  US13/658,164
• Publication Number:
  US 20150156610A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,323 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/217, 709/220, 709/223, 709/238
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

A system and method shares content with third parties based on the location of the third parties at the time the content was created. The third parties with which content is shared are selected by identifying those third parties which were within a zone of geographic proximity around the location at which the content was created at the time of its creation.

Claims

1. A computer Implemented method of sharing content comprising:

receiving by a computing device, an indication of the creation of content;

identifying, by the computing device, a geographical location and time at which the content was created;

identifying, by the computing device, any third party devices instantaneously located within a defined zone of proximity around said geographic location at the time the content was created;

dynamically adjusting, by the one or more computing devices, a size of the defined zone of proximity based on a number of the identified third party devices;

in response to the content being created, automatically sharing, by the computing device, the content only with third party users associated with the third party devices identified as being located within the defined zone of proximity at the time the content was created regardless of whether any additional third party devices are present within the defined zone of proximity at the time at which the content is being shared.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising identifying a current location of at least one third party device at the time the content was created.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein identifying any third party devices instantaneously located within the defined zone of proximity comprises determining whether the current location of the at least one third party device is within the defined zone of proximity.

4. A method according to claim 2, wherein a third party user is associated with the at least one third party device, further comprising sharing the content with at least one additional third party device associated with the at least one third party user, wherein the at least out additional third party device was located outside the defined zone of proximity at the time the content was created.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the content was created at a creator device, wherein automatically sharing the content comprises sharing the content with the identified third party devices directly from the creator device using a device-to-device communication method.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein automatically sharing the content comprises comprising sharing the content over a communication network.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the time at which the content was created corresponds to a time at which the content was first recorded in its entirety or a time contained within a time period along which the content was being created.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein automatically sharing the content comprises transmitting the content directly to the identified third party devices or transmitting a notification message to the third party devices with instructions associated with accessing the content.

7. A system for sharing content, the system comprising:

a computing device including one or more processors and associated memory, the memory storing instructions that, when implemented by the one or more processors, configure the computing device to;

receive an indication of the creation of content;

Identify a geographical location and time at which the content was created;

identify any third party devices instantaneously located within a defined zone of proximity around said geographic location at the time the content was created;

dynamically adjusting, by the one or more computing devices, a size of the defined zone of proximity based on a number of the identified third party devices;

in response to the content being created, automatically share the content only with third party users associated with the third party devices identified as being located within the defined zone of proximity at the time the content was created regardless of whether any additional third party devices are present within the defined zone of proximity at the time at which the content is being shared.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein the time at which the content was created corresponds to a time at which the content was first recorded in its entirety or a time contained within a time period along which the content was being created.

11. The system according to claim 7, wherein the computing device is configured to automatically share the content by transmitting the content directly to the identified third party devices or by transmitting a notification message to the third party devices with instructions associated with accessing the content.

12. The system according to claim 7, wherein the computing device is configured to identify a current location of at least one third party device at the time the content was created and determine whether the current location of the at least one third party device is within the defined zone of proximity.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein a third party user is associated with the at least one third party device, wherein the computing device is further configured to share the content with at least one additional third party device associated with the at least one third party user, wherein the at least one additional third party device was located outside the defined zone of proximity at the time the content was created.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions stored therein that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, comprising:

receiving an indication of the creation of content;

identifying a geographical location and time at which the content was created;

identifying any third party devices instantaneously located within a defined zone of proximity around said geographic location at the time the content was created;

dynamically adjusting, by the one or more computing devices, a size of the defined zone of proximity based on a number of the identified third party devices;

in response to the content being created, automatically sharing the content only with third party users associated with the third party devices identified as being located within the defined zone of proximity at the time the content was created regardless of whether any additional third party devices are present within the defined zone of proximity at the time at which the content is being shared.

15. The computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the time at which the content was created corresponds to a time at which the content was first recorded in its entirety or a time contained within a time period along which the content was being created.

16. The computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein automatically sharing the content comprises transmitting the content directly to the identified third party devices or transmitting a notification message to the third party devices with instructions associated with accessing the content.

17. The computer-readable medium according to claim 14, further comprising identifying a current location of at least one third party device at the time the content was created, wherein identifying any third party devices instantaneously located within the defined zone of proximity comprises determining whether the current location of the at least one third party device is within the defined zone of proximity.