Method and apparatus for abstracting internet content

• US 9,659,101 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2012
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pearson, Larry B., Walter, Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Thanh
• Application Number:
  US13/653,718
• Publication Number:
  US 20130042182A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,679 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9562 Bookmark management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A method and apparatus for abstracting Internet content is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a terminal device having a user interface element that links a graphical user interface element to each internet resource identifier of one or more subject matters of interest defined in a profile by an end user, and presents the one or more graphical user interface elements in a graphical user interface window without association to an Internet browser. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device comprising computer instructions which, responsive to being executed by a processor of a terminal device, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

presenting, in a setup graphical user interface window, a group of subject matters of interest that are each remotely sourced by a content provider without identifying the content provider, wherein the subject matters of interest include a subject identifier, and wherein the subject matters of interest are to obtain information concerning current and future events that are localized to a particular area;

generating a profile based on a selection of subject matters of interest from the group of subject matters of interest, the selection of the subject matters of interest being associated with a corresponding Internet resource identifier by the terminal device;

providing the profile with alert options triggered by event signals associated with the subject matters of interest, wherein the alert options include asserting a first alert signal at the terminal device and transmitting a second alert signal to a communication device; and

presenting a matrix of graphical user interface elements associated with Internet resource identifiers for the selected subject matters of interest in a graphical user interface window, wherein the presenting is made without association to an Internet browser.

2. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the alert options are prioritized and wherein one alert option from among the alert options is selected based on a determination of a severity associated with one of the event signals, and wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.

3. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the alert options include an option to transmit a third alert signal to a multimedia device for display of the third alert signal at an internet protocol television.

4. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 3, comprising computer instructions which, responsive to being executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

presenting, at a display of the terminal device, the group of subject matters of interest without identifying the content providers, wherein the subject matters of interest include a subject identifier.

5. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the first alert signal causes a modification of one of the graphical user interface elements, and wherein the event signals are generated by a third party.

6. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the first alert signal causes an audible alert and a visual alert.

7. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises a pager, and wherein the second alert signal corresponds to a page.

8. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises a wireless phone, and wherein the second alert signal corresponds to a voice message.

9. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises a wireless phone, and wherein the second alert signal corresponds to an email.

10. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises a wireline phone, and wherein the second alert signal corresponds to a voice message.

11. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises a mobile communication device, and wherein the second alert signal corresponds to a short message service message.

12. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the subject matters of interest correspond to at least one among sports, news, weather, finances, business, health, entertainment, education, politics, law, science, and technology, and wherein the Internet resource identifiers comprise at least one among a domain name, the domain name and a corresponding port number, an IP address, and the IP address and a corresponding port number.

13. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein each content provider is determined based on a pre-existing agreement to provide content for at least a portion of the subject matters of interest, and wherein the pre-existing agreement is between the content provider and a communication service provider of the terminal device.

14. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage device of claim 1, comprising computer instructions which, responsive to being executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

presenting a location field with the profile;

identifying location data supplied by user input in the location field; and

selecting at least one among the subject matters of interest and the alert options according to the location data.

15. A terminal device, comprising:

a memory that stores computer instructions;

a display; and

a controller coupled with the memory and the display, wherein the controller, responsive to executing the computer instructions, performs operations comprising;

presenting, in a setup graphical user interface window, a group of subject matters of interest that are each remotely sourced by a content provider without identifying the content provider, wherein the subject matters of interest include a subject identifier, wherein the subject matters of interest are to obtain information concerning current and future events that are localized to a particular area;

generating a profile based on a selection of subject matters of interest from the group of subject matters of interest, the selection of the subject matters of interest being associated with a corresponding Internet resource identifier;

providing the profile with a group of alert options triggered by event signals associated with the subject matters of interest, wherein the event signals are received from a communication device operated by a third party, wherein the group of alert options are prioritized based on event severity;

presenting, on the display, a matrix of graphical user interface elements associated with Internet resource identifiers for the selected subject matters of interest in a graphical user interface window, wherein the presenting is made without association to an Internet browser; and

selecting a target alert option from among the group of alert options based on a determination of a severity associated with a target event signal from among the event signals.

16. The terminal device of claim 15, wherein the alert options include asserting a first alert signal at the display that is an audible and a visual alert and transmitting a second alert signal to a communication device, and wherein the controller comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.

17. The terminal device of claim 16, wherein the alert options include transmitting a third alert signal to a multimedia device that displays the third alert signal at an internet protocol television.

18. The terminal device of claim 16, wherein the communication device comprises a mobile communication device, and wherein the second alert signal corresponds to a short message service message.

19. A method, comprising:

presenting, in a setup graphical user interface window by a terminal device, a group of subject matters of interest that are each remotely sourced by a content provider without providing access to corresponding predefined uniform resource locators and without identifying corresponding content providers associated with the predefined uniform resource locators, wherein the subject matters of interest are to obtain information concerning current and future events that are localized to a particular area;

generating, by the terminal device, a profile that includes subject matters of interest selected on the setup graphical user interface window based on user input from among the group of subject matters of interest, wherein the profile includes a group of alert options triggered by event signals associated with the subject matters of interest, wherein the event signals are associated with a third party device, wherein the group of alert options are prioritized based on event severity; and

presenting, by the terminal device, a matrix of graphical user interface elements associated with the predefined uniform resource locators of the subject matters of interest selected in a graphical user interface window, wherein the presenting is made without association to an Internet browser.

20. The method of claim 19, comprising selecting a target alert option from among the group of alert options based on a determination of a severity associated with a target event signal from among the event signals.