Mailbox printing services for information appliances

• US 7,218,406 B2
• Filed: 03/21/2001
• Issued: 05/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: White, Craig R., Al-Kazily, Binnur
• Primary Examiner(s): Poon; King Y.
• Application Number:
  US09/814,284
• Publication Number:
  US 20020135797A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,246 Days
• Field of Search: 358 11- 19, 358 111- 118, 358/402, 358/403, 455/556.2, 707/1, 709/206, 709/248, 709/217
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1203 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1265 Printing by reference, e.g. retrieving document/image data for a job from a source mentioned in the job
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1292 Mobile client, e.g. wireless printing

Abstract

A system and method is provided for printing a document stored on a remote computer using an information appliance. The method includes providing a connection between an information appliance and a remote computer, wherein the remote computer stores one or more documents, and receiving synchronization information from the remote computer. The synchronization information includes one or more reference information, where each reference information identifies a document stored on the remote computer. The method also includes displaying the reference information on an information appliance display, receiving a print request for one or more documents selected from the displayed reference information, and, responsive to receiving the command to print, transmitting a print request to a nearby printer. The system includes an information appliance that is synchronized with reference information identifying the documents stored on a remote computer. The information appliance displays the reference information on a coupled display and receives a selection of one or more reference information identifying one or more documents. The information appliance also receives a request to print the selected documents. The information appliance then transmits a print request to a nearby printer.

Claims

1. A method performed on an information appliance for printing a document stored on a remote computer, the method comprising:

providing a connection between an information appliance and a remote computer, wherein the remote computer stores one or more documents in a user mailbox;

transmitting information regarding a list of user mailbox documents stored on the information appliance from the information appliance to the remote computer;

receiving synchronization information from the remote computer, the synchronization information comprising one or more references to one or more documents stored in the user mailbox that are available to a user for printing;

updating the list of user mailbox documents stored on the information appliance using the synchronization information received from the remote computer;

displaying the updated list of user mailbox documents to the user on a display of the information appliance;

receiving a selection of one or more documents from the displayed list of user mailbox documents;

receiving a command to print the one or more selected documents; and

responsive to receiving the command to print, transmitting a print request to a nearby printer that instructs the printer to retrieve the one or more selected documents from the user mailbox and print the one or more selected documents.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the print request is transmitted over a wireless connection between the information appliance and the nearby printer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the wireless connection conforms to the Bluetooth technology.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the print request comprises mailbox server identification information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the print request comprises one or more references identifying the one or more selected documents.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the print request comprises user identification information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote computer is a mailbox server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the information appliance is a wireless phone.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the information appliance is a personal digital assistant.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding a list of documents stored on the information appliance comprises the list of user mailbox documents currently stored on the information appliance.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding a list of documents stored on the information appliance comprises a timestamp that indicates a last time the synchronization information was received from the remote computer.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the references to documents stored on the remote computer comprise one or more of a Universal Resource Locator (URL), filename, reference number, and an identification number.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting user identification information to the remote computer prior to the information regarding a list of documents stored on the information appliance.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions that, when executed by an information appliance, cause the information appliance to:

provide a connection between an information appliance and a remote computer, wherein the remote computer stores one or more documents in a user mailbox;

transmit information regarding a list of user mailbox documents stored on the information appliance from the information appliance to the remote computer;

receive synchronization information from the remote computer, the synchronization information comprising one or more references to one or more documents stored in the user mailbox that are available to a user for printing;

update the list of user mailbox documents stored on the information appliance using the synchronization information received from the remote computer;

display the updated list of user mailbox documents to a user on a display of the information appliance;

receive a selection of one or more documents from the displayed list of user mailbox documents;

receive a command to print the one or more selected documents; and

transmit a print request to a nearby printer in response to receiving the command to print that instructs the printer to retrieve the one or more selected documents from the user mailbox and print the one or more selected documents.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the print request comprises user identification information.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the print request comprises identification information for the remote computer.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the print request is transmitted over a wireless connection between the information appliance and the printer.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the wireless connection conforms to the Bluetooth technology.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the print request comprises one or more references identifying the one or more selected documents.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is provided in a wireless phone.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is provided in a personal digital assistant.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the information regarding a list of documents stored on the information appliance comprises the list of user mailbox documents currently stored on the information appliance.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the information regarding a list of documents stored on the information appliance comprises a timestamp that indicates a last time the synchronization information was received from the remote computer.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the references to documents stored on the remote computer comprise one or more of a Universal Resource Locator (URL), filename, reference number, and an identification number.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising computer instructions that, when executed by an information appliance, cause the information appliance to transmit user identification information to the remote computer prior to the information regarding a list of documents stored on the information appliance.