Portable high speed internet access device

• US 7,289,244 B2
• Filed: 06/14/2001
• Issued: 10/30/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Raja Singh Tuli
• Original Assignee: Raja Singh Tuli
• Inventors: Tuli, Raja Singh
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, TOMMY D
• Application Number:
  US09/879,972
• Publication Number:
  US 20010028470A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,329 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/217, 709/200, 709/228, 709/223, 707/10, 455/414.1, 345/109, 358/1.6, 358/1.9, 358/1.15
• US Class Current: 358/1.9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5651 Reducing the amount or size of exchanged application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234354 by altering signal-to-noise ratio parameters, e.g. requantization
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25833 involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities allocation of resources considering hardware capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5044; allocation of resources considering software capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5055
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

The invention discloses a portable device providing access to the Internet. A host computer runs a browser taking information received from the Internet, renders it onto a virtual display in memory, captures a portion of the image, reduces the color depth, compresses and sends it to the device. A PDA browser software program runs on the device containing its own window. The portion of the image sent from the host computer is equal to or proportional to the size of the PDA browser window. Upon scrolling on the device, the image of the new location is sent to the device, stored in memory, and displayed for view. Web pages and corresponding areas frequently viewed by the user are stored on the host computer, whereby the host computer recognizes these web pages and automatically sends corresponding areas frequently viewed to be displayed.

Claims

1. A system for viewing Internet content, the system comprising:

a portable device; and

a host computer coupled to the portable device through a communication link;

wherein the host computer receives information defining a web page from outside and renders said information into an image of the web page in memory of the host computer in response to a request for the web page from the portable device, said information including text and graphics;

wherein a software program running on the device implements a device browser window with icons which are fixed with respect to a device browser window;

wherein the host computer reduces the color depth of a portion of the image of the web page which portion is proportional to the size of the device browser window, digitally compresses and transmits the portion of the image of the web page to the device, where the portion of the image of the web page is decompressed and stored into a display memory on the device for display; and

wherein the portion of the image completely shows the content of the portion of the image which is always transmitted from the host computer when requested;

wherein the device enables a user to scroll the image of the web page inside the device browser window and sends a message to the host computer informing the host computer scrolling operations occurred in the device browser; and

wherein when apart of the image of the web page is brought into the device browser window but has not been sent to the device, the part of the image of the web page is sent from the host computer to the device.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein portions of the image of the web page scrolled into the device browser window for display are sent to the device from the host computer and stored collectively as a page on the device without common overlapping areas of the image being sent more than once from the host computer to the device during scrolling of the image in the device browser window.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the image of the web page is stored on the host computer and also on a memory in the device along with information on which portions of the image have been sent to the device, enabling displaying the image of the web page from memory of the device without the same portions being sent again from the host computer to the device after displaying one or more different web pages.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein when the user clicks on a link to a new web page, image data of the current web page is compressed and stored on the device in a different memory location with information on links between web pages viewed, for view again by the user at a later time, whereby a portion of an image of the new web page rendered by the host computer is received flora the host computer by the device, decompressed and stored in the display memory.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein information about the last area displayed in the device browser window is stored in memory on the device for the web page, wherein upon returning to the web page, said last area displayed appears first in the device browser window.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the host computer reduces the color depth of the entire web page before the portion of the image of the web page, which portion is equal in size to the device browser window, is digitally compressed and transmitted to the device.

7. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the host computer digitally compresses the image of the entire web page before the portion of the image of the web page, which portion is equal in size to the device browser window, is transmitted to the device.

8. A system as in claim 1 wherein:

areas of each web page viewed are stored on the host computer and also on a memory in the device along with information on which areas of web pages were sent to the device such that when scrolling to a new area outside an area of a web page previously viewed, the device sends a message from the device to the host computer instructing the host computer to send this new area to the device which is then digitally compressed and transmitted to the device for display.

9. A system as in claim 1 wherein:

web pages and corresponding areas frequently viewed by the user are stored on the host computer such that, when the address of a frequently viewed web page is entered on the device, the device sends a message containing the web page address to the host computer, which recognizes this frequently viewed web page and automatically sends corresponding areas frequently viewed to the device.

10. A method to view Internet content, the method comprising:

sending from a device to a remote server a first request for a first web page;

automatically receiving at the device from the remote server in a compressed format a first portion of a first image of the entire first web page wherein the first portion completely shows the content of that first portion of the first web page;

displaying on a display of the device, at least a part of the first portion of the first image of the entire first web page;

receiving, at the device, user input to display a second portion of the first image of the entire first web page;

transmitting, from the device to the remote server, data Indicating the user input to display the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page;

receiving at the device from the remote server in a compressed format the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page only when the second portion of the first image has not been transmitted from the remote server to the device;

displaying the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page on the display of the device;

wherein the first and second portions of the first image of the entire first web page are rendered at the remote server from information defining the first web page; and

wherein at least one of the first and second portions of the first image is rendered at the remote server from information including text.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the remote server retrieves the information defining the first web page from the Internet in response to the first request for the first web page.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the user input to display the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page comprises input to scroll.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the user input causes a visible part of the first portion being shown on the display of the device together with the second portion;

and, the visible part of the first portion is displayed while the device is receiving the second portion from the remote server.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein before the second portion is received at the device, a predetermined color is display to represent the second portion of the image.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the first portion is larger than an area on the display allocated for displaying the first web page.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the first portion of the image is equal in size to a browser window which is allocated to display the first web page on the display of the device.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving at the device user input for a second web page;

storing the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page on the device in a compressed format;

sending from the device to the remote server a request for the second web page;

automatically receiving at the device from the remote server in a compressed format a portion of an image of the entire second web page; and

displaying, on the display of the device, at least a part of the portion of the image of the entire second web page.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising;

receiving at the device user input to view the first web page after a pint of the image of the second web page is displayed on the display of the device;

storing the portion of the image of the second web page in a compressed format on the device; and

displaying a portion of the first image of the first web page according to the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page stored on the device.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising;

receiving at the device user input to view the first web page after a part of the image of the second web page is displayed on the display of the device;

storing the portion of the image of the second web page in a compressed format in memory of the device; and

automatically displaying the second portion of the first image of the first web page.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein a last displayed portion of the first image of the first web page is automatically displayed in response to the user input to view the first web page.

21. The method of claim 10, further comprising;

sending from the device to the remote sewer a second request for the first web page; and

automatically receiving at the device from the remote server in a compressed format a third portion of a second image of the entire first web page;

the third portion of the second image corresponding to the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page.

22. A method to serve Internet content, the method comprising:

receiving at a server from a remote device a first request for a first web page;

rendering a first portion of a first image of the entire first web page from information defining the first web page;

selectively transmitting from the server to the remote device in a compressed format the first portion of the first image of the entire first web page fir display on a display of the remote device wherein the first portion completely shows the content of that first portion of the first web page;

receiving, at the server from the remote device, data indicating user input to display a second portion of the firs;

image of the entire first web page on the remote device;

rendering the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page from the information defining the first web page;

responsive to the data indicating the user input to display the second portion, transmitting from the server to the remote device in a compressed format the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page only when the second portion of the first image has not been transmitted from the server to the remote device;

wherein at least one of the first and second portions of the first image is rendered at the server from information including text.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the server renders the entire first image of the entire first web page, including the first and second portions, in response to the first request for the first web page.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the server retrieves the information defining the first web page from the Internet in response to the first request for the first web page.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the user input to display the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page comprises input to scroll.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the first portion is larger than an area on the display allocated for displaying the first web page.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the first portion of the image is equal in size to a browser window which is allocated to display the first web page on the display of the remote device.

28. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving at the server from the remote device a request for a second web page;

storing information about the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page at the server;

rendering at least a portion of an image of the entire second web page from information defining the second web page; and

transmitting from the server to the remote device in a compressed format the portion of the image of the entire second web page for displaying on the display of the remote device.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

receiving, at the server from the remote device, data indicating user input to display a third portion of the first image of the entire first web page on the remote device, after a part of the image of the second web page is transmitted for display on the remote device;

transmitting from the sewer to the remote device in a compressed format the third portion of the first image of the entire first web page only when the third portion of the first image has not been transmitted from the server to the remote device according to the information about the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page stored at the server.

30. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving at the server from the remote device a second request for the first web page; and

retrieving refreshed information defining the first web page from the Internet in response to the second request;

rendering a third portion of a second image of the entire first web page from the refreshed information defining the first web page; and

automatically transmitting from the server to the remote device in a compressed format the third portion of the second image of the entire first web page, the third portion of the second image corresponding to the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page.

31. A device to view Internet content the device comprising:

means for sending to a remote server a first request for a first web page;

means for automatically receiving from the remote server in a compressed format a first portion of a first image of the entire first web page wherein the first portion completes shows the content of that first portion of the first web page;

means for displaying, on a display of the device, at least a part of the first portion of the first image of the entire first web page;

means for receiving user input to display a second portion of the first image of the entire first web page;

means for transmitting, from the device to the remote server, data indicating the user input to display the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page;

means for receiving from the remote server in a compressed format the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page only when the second portion of the first image has not been transmitted from the remote server to the device;

means for displaying the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page on the display of the device;

wherein the first and second portions of the first image of the entire first web page are rendered at the remote server from information defining the first web page; and

wherein at least one of the first and second portions of the first image is rendered at the remote server from information including text.

32. The device of claim 31, wherein the remote server retrieves the information defining the first web page from the Internet in response to the first request for the first web page.

33. The device of claim 31, wherein the user input to display the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page comprises input to scroll.

34. The device of claim 33, wherein the user input causes a visible part of the first portion being shown on the display of the device together with the second portion;

and, the visible part of the first portion is displayed while the device is receiving the second portion from the remote server.

35. The device of claim 34, wherein before the second portion is received at the device, a predetermined color is display to represent the second portion of the image.

36. The device of claim 31, wherein the first portion is larger than an area on the display allocated for displaying the first web page.

37. The device of claim 31, wherein the first portion of the image is equal in size to a browser window which is allocated to display the first web page on the display of the device.

38. The device of claim 31 further comprising:

means for receiving user input for a second web page;

means for storing the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page on the device in a compressed format;

means for sending to the remote server a request for the second web page;

means for automatically receiving from the remote server in a compressed forms a portion of an image of the entire second web page; and

means for displaying, on the display of the device, at least a part of the portion of the image of the entire second web page.

39. The device of claim 38, further comprising;

means for receiving user input to view the first web page after a part of the image of the second web page is displayed on the display of the device;

means for storing the portion of the image of the second web page in a compressed format on the device; and

means for displaying a portion of the first image of the first web page according to the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page stored on the device.

40. The device of claim 38, further comprising:

means for receiving user input to view the first web page after a part of the image of the second web page is displayed on the display of the device;

means for storing the portion of the image of the second web page in a compressed format in memory of the device; and

means for automatically displaying the second portion of the first image of the first web page.

41. The device of claim 40, wherein a last displayed portion of the first image of the first web page is automatically displayed in response to the user input to view the first web page.

42. The device of claim 31, further comprising;

means for sending to the remote server a second request for the first web page; and

means for automatically receiving from the remote server in a compressed format a third portion of a second image of the entire first web page, the third portion of the second image corresponding to the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page.

43. A server to serve Internet content, the server comprising:

means for receiving from a remote device a first request for a first web page;

means for rendering a first portion of a first image of the entire first web page from information defining the first web page;

means for selectively transmitting to the remote device in a compressed format the first portion of the first image of the entire first web page for display on a display of the remote device wherein the first portion completely shows the content of that first portion of the first web page;

means for receiving, from the remote device, data indicating user input to display a second portion of the first image of the entire first web page on the remote device;

means for rendering the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page from the information defining the first web page;

means for transmitting responsive to the data indicating the user input to display the second portion, to the remote device in a compressed format the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page only when the second portion of the first image has not been transmitted from the server to the remote device;

wherein at least one of the first and second portions of the first image is rendered at the sewer from information including text.

44. The server of claim 43, wherein the server renders the entire first image of the entire first web page, including the first and second portions, in response to the first request for the first web page.

45. The server of claim 43, wherein the server retrieves the information defining the first web page from the Internet in response to the first request for the first web page.

46. The server of claim 43, wherein the user input to display the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page comprises input to scroll.

47. The server of claim 43, wherein the first portion is larger than an area on the display allocated for displaying the first web page.

48. The server of claim 43, wherein the first portion of the image is equal in size to a browser window which is allocated to display the first web page on the display of the remote device.

49. The server of claim 43, further comprising:

means for receiving from the remote device a request for second web page;

means for storing information about the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page;

means for rendering at least a portion of an image of the entire second web page from information defining the second web page; and

means for transmitting to the remote device in a compressed format the portion of the image of the entire second web page for displaying on the display of the remote device.

50. The server of claim 49, further comprising:

means for receiving, from the remote device, data indicating user input to display a third portion of the first image of the entire first web page on the remote device, after apart of the image of the second web page is transmitted for display on the remote device;

means for transmitting to the remote device in a compressed format the third portion of the first image of the entire first web page only when the third portion of the first image has not been transmitted from the serve to the remote device according to the information about the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page stored at the server.

51. The server of claim 43, further comprising:

means for receiving from the remote device a second request for the first web page; and

means for retrieving refreshed information defining the first web page from the Internet in response to the second request;

means for rendering a third portion of a second image of the entire first web page from the refreshed information defining the first web page; and

means for automatically transmitting from the server to the remote device in a compressed format the third portion of the second image of the entire first web page, the third portion of the second image corresponding to the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page.

52. A computer readable medium containing executable computer program instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause said system to perform a method to view Internet content, the method comprising:

sending from a device to a remote server a first request for a first web page;

automatically receiving at the device from the remote server in a compressed format a first portion of a first image of the entire first web page;

displaying, on a display of the device, at least a part of the first portion of the first image of the entire first web page wherein the first portion completely shows the content of that first portion of the first web page;

receiving, at the device, user input to display a second portion of the first image of the entire first web page;

transmitting, from the device to the remote server, data indicating the user input to display the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page;

receiving at the device from the remote server in a compressed format the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page only when the second portion of the first image has not been transmitted from the remote server to the device;

displaying the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page on the display of the device;

wherein the first and second portions of the first image of the entire first web page are rendered at the remote server from information defining the first web page; and

wherein at least one of the first and second portions of the first image is rendered at the remote server from information including text.

53. The medium of claim 52, wherein the remote server retrieves the information defining the first web page from the Internet in response to the first request for the first web page.

54. The medium of claim 52, wherein the user input to display the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page comprises input to scroll.

55. The medium of claim 54, wherein the user input causes a visible part of the first portion being shown on the display of the device together with the second portion;

and, the visible part of the first portion is displayed while the device is receiving the second portion from the remote server.

56. The medium of claim 55, wherein before the second portion is received at the device, a predetermined color is display to represent the second portion of the image.

57. The medium of claim 52, wherein the first portion is larger than an area on the display allocated for displaying the first web page.

58. The medium of claim 52, wherein the first portion of the image is equal in size to a browser window which is allocated to display the first web page on the display of the device.

59. The medium of claim 52, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving at the device user input for a second web page;

storing the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page on the device in a compressed format;

sending from the device to the remote server a request for second web page;

automatically receiving at the device from the remote server in a compressed format a portion of an image of the entire second web page; and

displaying, on the display of the device, at least a part of the portion of the image of the entire second web page.

60. The medium of claim 59, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving at the device user input to view the first web page after a part of the image of the second web page is displayed on the display of the device;

storing the portion of the image of the second web page in a compressed format on the device; and

displaying a portion of the first image of the first web page according to the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page stored on the device.

61. The medium of claim 59, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving at the device user input to view the first web page after a part of the image of the second web page is displayed on the display of the device;

storing the portion of the image of the second web page in a compressed format in memory of the device; and

automatically displaying the second portion of the first image of the first web page.

62. The medium of claim 61, wherein a last displayed portion of the first image of the first web page is automatically displayed in response to the user input to view the first web page.

63. The medium of claim 52, wherein the method further comprises:

sending from the device to the remote sever a second request for the first web page; and

automatically receiving at the device from the remote server in a compressed format a third portion of a second image of the entire first web page, the third portion of the second image corresponding to the first and second portions of the first Image of the first web page.

64. A computer readable medium containing executable computer program instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause said system to perform a method to serve Internet content, the method comprising:

receiving at a server from a remote device a first request for a tint web page;

rendering a first portion of a first image of the entire first web page from information defining the first web page;

selectively transmitting from the server to the remote device in a compressed format the first portion of the first image of the entire first web page for display on a display of the remote device wherein the first portion completely shows the content of that first portion of the first web page;

receiving, at the server from the remote device, data indicating user input to display a second portion of the first image of the entire first web page on the remote device;

rendering the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page from the information defining the first web page;

responsive to the data indicating the user input to display the second portion transmitting from the server to the remote device in a compressed format the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page only when the second portion of the first image has not been transmitted from the server to the remote device;

wherein at least one of the first and second portions of the first image is rendered at the server from information including text.

65. The medium of claim 64, wherein the sewer renders the entire first image of the entire first web page, including the first and second portions, in response to the first request for the lint web page.

66. The medium of claim 64, wherein the server retrieves the information defining the first web page from the Internet in response to the first request for the first web page.

67. The medium of claim 64, wherein the user input to display the second portion of the first image of the entire first web page comprises input to scroll.

68. The medium of claim 64, wherein the first portion is larger than an area on the display allocated for displaying the first web page.

69. The medium of claim 64, wherein the first portion of the image is equal in size to a browser window which is allocated to display the first web page on the display of the remote device.

70. The medium of claim 64, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving at the server from the remote device a request for a second web page;

storing information about the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page at the server;

rendering at least a portion of an image of the entire second web page from information defining the second web page; and

transmitting from the server to the remote device in a compressed format the portion of the image of the entire second web page for displaying on the display of the remote device.

71. The medium of claim 70, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, at the server from the remote device, data indicating user input to display a third portion of the first image of the entire first web page on the remote device, after a part of the image of the second web page is transmitted for display on the remote device;

transmitting from the server to the remote device in a compressed format the third portion of the first image of the entire first web page only when the third portion of the first image has not been transmitted from the server to the remote device according to the information about the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page stored at the server.

72. The medium of claim 64, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving at the server from the remote device a second request for the first web page; and

retrieving refreshed information defining the first web page from the Internet in response to the second request;

rendering a third portion of a second image of the entire first web page from the refreshed information defining the first web page; and

automatically transmitting from the server to the remote device in a compressed format the third portion of the second image of the entire first web page, the third portion of the second image corresponding to the first and second portions of the first image of the first web page.

73. A method to view Internet content, the method comprising:

sending from a device to a remote server a request for a web page;

receiving at the device from the remote server iii a compressed format at lean a portion of an image of the entire web page, the portion of the image being rendered at the remote server from information including text;

selectively displaying the portion of the image on a display of the device according to a user input to the device; and

automatically displaying the portion of the image on the display of the device in response to a user Input to return to the web page wherein the portion completely shows the content of that portion of the web page.

74. The method of claim 73, wherein the user input to return to the web page comprises a selection of a back icon displayed on the display of the device.

75. The method of claim 73, wherein the portion of the image comprises an area of the image last displayed for the web page before the user input to return to the web page.

76. The method of claim 73, further comprising:

receiving at the device from the remote server a plurality of portions of the image of the entire web page;

storing on the device the plurality of portions of the image; and

scrolling the plurality of portions of the image on the device according to the plurality of portions of the image stored on the device.

77. The method of claim 73, further comprising

storing on the device the portion of the image;

wherein the portion of the image is displayed on the display of the device using the portion of the image stored on the device in response to the user input to return to the web page.

78. A method to serve Internet content, to method comprising:

storing on a server information about a plurality of frequently visited locations of a web page for a remote device, the plurality of frequently visited locations being identified through user inputs to the remote device;

receiving at the server from the remote device a request for the web page;

rendering at least a portion of an image of the entire web page from information defining the web page, the portion of the image including the plurality of frequently visited locations;

transmitting in a compressed format the portion of the image from the server to the remote device in response to the request for the web page wherein the portion completely shows the content of that portion of the web page.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein the user inputs comprise inputs to scroll to locations of the web page for display on the remote device.

80. The method of claim 78, wherein a portion of the image which does not contain the plurality of frequently visited locations is not transmitted to the remote device in response to the request for the web page.

81. The method of claim 78, wherein the information defining the web page is retrieved from the Internet in response to the request for the web page.

82. The method of claim 81, wherein the portion of the image is rendered from information including text.

83. A device to view Internet content, the device comprising;

means for sending to a remote server a request for a web page;

means for receiving from the remote server in a compressed format at least a portion of an image of the entire web page, the portion of the image being rendered at the remote server from information including text;

means fur selectively displaying the portion of the image on a display of the device according to a user input to the device; and

means for automatically displaying the portion of the image on the display of the device in response to a user input to return to the web page wherein the portion completely shows the content of that portion of the web page.

84. The device of claim 83, wherein the user input to return to the web page comprises a selection of a back icon displayed on the display of the device.

85. The device of claim 83, wherein the portion of the image comprises an area of the image last displayed for the web page before the user input to return to the web page.

86. The device of claim 83, further comprising:

means for receiving from the remote server a plurality of portions of the image of the entire web page;

means for storing the plurality of portions of the image; and

means for scrolling the plurality of portions of the image on the device according to the plurality of portions of the image stored on the device.

87. The device of claim 83, further comprising:

means for storing on the device the portion of the image;

wherein the portion of the image is displayed on the display of the device using the portion of the image stored on the device in response to the user input to return to the web page.

88. A server to serve Internet content the server comprising:

means for storing information about a plurality of frequently visited locations of a web page for a remote device, the plurality of frequently visited locations being identified through user inputs to the remote device;

means for receiving from the remote device a request for the web page;

means for rendering at least a portion of an image of the entire web page from information defining the web page, the portion of the image including the plurality of frequently visited locations;

means for transmitting in a compressed format the portion of the image from the server to the remote device in response to the request for the web page wherein the portion completely shows the content of that portion of the web page.

89. The server of claim 88, wherein the user inputs comprise inputs to scroll to locations of the web page for display on the remote device.

90. The server of claim 88, wherein a portion of the image which does not contain the plurality of frequently visited locations is not transmitted to the remote device in response to the request for the web page.

91. The server of claim 88, wherein the information defining the web page is retrieved from the Internet in response to the request for the web page.

92. The server of claim 91, wherein the portion of the image is rendered from information including text.

93. A computer readable medium containing executable computer program instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause said system to perform a method to view Internet content the method comprising:

sending from a device to a remote server a request for a web page;

receiving at the device from the remote server in a compressed format at least a portion of an image of the entire web page, the portion of the image being rendered at the remote server from information including text;

selectively displaying the portion of the image on a display of the device according to a user input to the device; and

automatically displaying the portion of the image on the display of the device in response to a user input to return to the web page wherein the portion completely shows the content of that portion of the web page.

94. The medium of claim 93, wherein the user input to return to the web page comprises a selection of a back icon displayed on the display of the device.

95. The medium of claim 93, wherein the portion of the image comprises an area of the image last displayed for the web page before the user input to return to the web page.

96. The medium of claim 93, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving at the device from the remote server a plurality of portions of the image of the entire web page;

storing on the device the plurality of portions of the image; and

scrolling the plurality of portions of the image on the device according to the plurality of portions of the image stored on the device.

97. The medium of claim 93, wherein the method further comprises:

storing on the device the portion of the image;

wherein the portion of the image is displayed on the display of the device using the portion of the Image stored on the device in response to the user input to return to the web page.

98. A computer readable medium containing executable computer program instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause said system to perform a method to serve Internet content, the method comprising:

storing on a server information about a plurality of frequently visited locations of a web page for a remote device, the plurality of frequently visited locations being identified through user inputs to the remote device;

receiving at the server from the remote device a request for the web page;

rendering at least a portion of an image of the entire web page from information defining the web page, the portion of the image including the plurality of frequently visited locations;

transmitting in a compressed format the portion of the image from the server to the remote device in response to the request for the web page wherein the portion completely shows the content of that portion of the web page.

99. The medium of claim 98, wherein the user inputs comprise inputs to scroll to locations of the web page for display on the remote device.

100. The medium of claim 98, wherein a portion of the image which does not contain the plurality of frequently visited locations is not transmitted to the remote device in response to the request for the web page.

101. The medium of claim 98, wherein the information defining the web page is retrieved from the Internet in response to the request for the web page.

102. The medium of claim 101, wherein the portion of the image is rendered from information Including text.