Method and apparatus to implement themes for a handheld device

• US 7,571,189 B2
• Filed: 02/02/2005
• Issued: 08/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Syniverse ICX LLC
• Original Assignee: LightSurf Technologies, Inc. (VeriSign, Inc.)
• Inventors: Levin, Bruce Jay, Swinton, William G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rones; Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): CAO, PHUONG THAO
• Application Number:
  US11/050,356
• Publication Number:
  US 20060173911A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,644 Days
• Field of Search: 715744-747, 707/104.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72427 for supporting games or graphical animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72439 for image or video messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A method and apparatus for the delivery, administration and application of themes to a cellular telephone device. The apparatus, in one embodiment, comprises an inbox to receive a multimedia message (MM) containing a theme, a filing logic to place the MM in a themes folder, a themes folder available to the user to browse the theme MMs, and a client-side application to apply the theme to the user'"'"'s cellular telephone device. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes notification logic to notify a web page associated with the user to change its display to match the theme applied by the user to the cellular telephone device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a multimedia message (MM) from a mobile message service center (MMSC) at a handheld user device, the MM including a theme packaged into the MM by a themes server;

identifying the MM message as a theme MM;

automatically filing the MM in a theme folder in a user'"'"'s inbox for MM messages received at the handheld user device in response to the identifying;

enabling a user of the handheld user device to browse themes as multimedia messages in the theme folder of the user'"'"'s inbox; and

in response to user selection of a theme MM, applying the theme to the user'"'"'s device, and

sending a message to a web interface associated with the user of the handheld device, to cause the web interface to apply a corresponding theme.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a theme folder is present on the handheld user device;

creating a theme folder in the user'"'"'s inbox when a theme folder is not already determined to be present on the handheld user device; and

automatically filing the MM in the created theme folder.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

permitting the user to browse the MM messages in the theme folder using the same user interface mechanism as for regular MM messages.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each MM message includes a representative theme image, to enable the user to visually identify the theme associated with the MM message.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

identifying a representative image for the theme MM, and adding the representative image to the visible message header.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the theme type, wherein the theme type includes a static theme, a rotating theme, and a dynamic theme; and

in a visible message header associated with the theme message, indicating the theme type.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

removing a theme message after it expires.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

deleting the theme folder when there are no theme messages in the theme folder.

9. A handheld device, the handheld device comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

an inbox for receiving multimedia messages, that include themes packaged into the multimedia messages by a themes server, the inbox including a theme folder for theme messages;

a filing logic to automatically file theme messages received as multimedia messages by the handheld device in the theme folder in response to identification of received multimedia messages as theme messages;

a browsing logic to enable a user of the handheld device to browse themes as multimedia messages in the theme folder of the inbox of the handheld device;

a receiving logic to receive a theme packaged into a multimedia message by the themes server;

a theme client to install the theme onto the handheld device; and

a messaging logic to send a message to a web interface associated with a user of the handheld device to trigger the web interface to add a corresponding theme to the web interface that corresponds to the theme installed onto the handheld device.

10. The handheld device of claim 9, wherein the theme client installs the theme in response to user selection of a theme MM.

11. The handheld device of claim 9, wherein the filing logic is further to create the theme folder within the inbox when no theme folder is present.

12. The handheld device of claim 9, further comprising:

a multimedia packaging logic to identify a representative image for the theme MM, and adding the representative image to the visible message header to enable the user to visually identify the theme associated with the MM message.

13. The handheld device of claim 12, further comprising:

the multimedia packaging logic further to determine a theme type, wherein the theme type includes a static theme, a rotating theme, and a dynamic theme, and to indicate in the visible message header associated with the theme message the theme type.