Method and system for distributing data to mobile devices

• US 8,280,416 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2008
• Issued: 10/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Myllynen, Harri, Leino, Pasi, Ohrling, Antti
• Primary Examiner(s): Edouard, Patrick
• Assistant Examiner(s): CASCA, FRED A
• Application Number:
  US12/156,335
• Publication Number:
  US 20080233921A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,586 Days
• Field of Search: 455/566, 455/457, 455/403, 455/418, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/414.3, 455/414.4, 455/419, 455/407, 725/40, 705/26, 345/741, 345/862, 345/742, 345/743, 345/808, 345/867, 345/868
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1471 splitting of costs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72427 for supporting games or graphical animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4878 Advertisement messages

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure are concerned with a method and a system for distributing mobile applications, in particular to aspects of receiving, processing and displaying advertisements on mobile terminals. In one aspect, embodiments provide a software component for controlling movement of an advertisement image on a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal comprising a display area and a processor, the software component comprising processable instructions defining movement of the advertisement image relative to the display area, wherein the instructions are wirelessly transmissable to the mobile terminal and the processor is arranged to process said instructions in order to move the advertisement image.

Claims

1. A software component embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for repeatedly controlling movement of a single static advertisement image on a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal comprising a display area and a processor, the software component comprising processable instructions defining movement of the single advertisement image relative to the display area, wherein the instructions comprise panning instructions for modifying the position of the single advertisement image across or around the display area, said instructions being wirelessly transmitted to the mobile terminal and the processor being arranged to process said instructions in order to re-position the single advertisement image within the display area,

wherein said instructions are included in a script file and the single advertisement image is included in an image file different than the script file such that the moving advertisement image is embodied as a combination of the image file and the script file, and

wherein the single advertisement image on the display comprises a selectable portion which when selected, displays a plurality of selectable items associated therewith, and the processor is arranged to monitor the selection of one of the plurality of selectable items,

wherein the instructions define movement of the displayed selectable items corresponding thereto relative to the advertisement image,

wherein transmission of the script file occurs independently from transmission of said image file.

2. The software component according to claim 1, wherein the instructions relate to a rate of movement of the image across the display area.

3. The software component according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of selectable items each have a set of processable instructions associated therewith.

4. The software component according to claim 3, wherein each set of instructions defines movement of the display item corresponding thereto relative to the advertisement image.

5. The software component according to claim 2, wherein the advertisement image is selected in accordance with user preferences.

6. The software component according to claim 2, wherein data comprising said advertisement image is received from a remote storage system.

7. The software component according to claim 2, in which the processor is arranged to forward the advertisement image to a different mobile terminal in response to selection of a first selectable item.

8. The software component according to claim 1, in which the processor is arranged to send a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

9. The software component according to claim 2, in which the processor is arranged to send a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

10. The software component according to claim 1, in which the processor is arranged to send a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

11. The software component according to claim 1, wherein the selectable portion of the single advertisement image on the display comprises at least one of a drop-down menu or button including the plurality of selectable items associated therewith.

12. The software component according to claim 1, wherein the instructions relate to a rate of movement of the image longitudinally over the display area.

13. The software component according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of selectable items each have a set of processable instructions associated therewith.

14. The software component according to claim 12, wherein the advertisement image is selected in accordance with user preferences.

15. The software component according to claim 12, wherein data comprising said advertisement image is received from a remote storage system.

16. The software component according to claim 12, in which the processor is arranged to forward the advertisement image to a different mobile terminal in response to selection of a first selectable item.

17. The software component according to claim 12, in which the processor is arranged to send a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

18. The software component according to claim 1, wherein the instructions relate to size of image relative to size of the display area.

19. The software component according to claim 18, wherein the plurality of selectable items each have a set of processable instructions associated therewith.

20. The software component according to claim 19, wherein each set of instructions defines movement of the display item corresponding thereto relative to the advertisement image.

21. The software component according to claim 20, wherein transmission of the instructions occurs separately from transmission of said advertisement image.

22. The software component according to claim 18, wherein the advertisement image is selected in accordance with user preferences.

23. The software component according to claim 18, wherein data comprising said advertisement image is received from a remote storage system.

24. The software component according to claim 18, in which the processor is arranged to forward the advertisement image to a different mobile terminal in response to selection of a first selectable item.

25. The software component according to claim 18, in which the processor is arranged to send a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

26. The software component according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of selectable items each have a set of processable instructions associated therewith.

27. The software component according to claim 26, wherein each set of instructions defines movement of the display item corresponding thereto relative to the advertisement image.

28. The software component according to claim 27, wherein the advertisement image is selected in accordance with user preferences.

29. The software component according to claim 27, wherein data comprising said advertisement image is received from a remote storage system.

30. The software component according to claim 27, in which the processor is arranged to forward the advertisement image to a different mobile terminal in response to selection of a first selectable item.

31. The software component according to claim 27 in which the processor is arranged to send a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

32. The software component according to claim 26, wherein the advertisement image is selected in accordance with user preferences.

33. The software component according to claim 26, wherein data comprising said advertisement image is received from a remote storage system.

34. The software component according to claim 26, in which the processor is arranged to forward the advertisement image to a different mobile terminal in response to selection of a first selectable item.

35. The software component according to claim 26, in which the processor is arranged to send a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

36. The software component according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement image is selected in accordance with user preferences.

37. The software component according to claim 36, wherein data comprising said advertisement image is received from a remote storage system.

38. The software component according to claim 36, in which the processor is arranged to forward the advertisement image to a different mobile terminal in response to selection of a first selectable item.

39. The software component according to claim 36, in which the processor is arranged to send a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

40. The software component according to claim 1, wherein data comprising said advertisement image is received from a remote storage system.

41. The software component according to claim 40, in which the processor is arranged to forward the advertisement image to a different mobile terminal in response to selection of a first selectable item.

42. The software component according to claim 41, in which the processor is arranged to send a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

43. The software component according to claim 40, in which the processor is arranged to send a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

44. The software component according to claim 1, in which the processor is arranged to forward the advertisement image to a different mobile terminal in response to selection of a first selectable item.

45. A method of repeatedly controlling movement of a single static advertisement image on a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal comprising a display area and a processor, the method comprising:

receiving an image file including a single advertisement image having a selectable portion which when selected, displays a plurality of selectable items associated therewith;

receiving a script file separate from the image file that includes a software component comprising computer-processable instructions over a radio network, said instructions defining movement of the single advertisement image relative to the display area such that the moving advertisement image is embodied as a combination of the image file and the script file, wherein said instructions comprise panning instructions for use in modifying the position of the advertisement image across or around the display area;

processing the image file and the computer-processable instructions included in the script file so as to move the position of and re-position the advertisement image within the display area; and

monitoring for selection of one of the plurality of selectable items associated with the single advertisement image,

wherein the instructions define movement of the displayed selectable items corresponding thereto relative to the advertisement image,

wherein transmission of the script file occurs independently from transmission of said image file.

46. The method according to claim 45, further comprising transmitting the computer-processable instructions separately from the advertisement image.

47. The method according to claim 45, further comprising forwarding the advertisement image to a different mobile terminal in response to selection of a first selectable item.

48. The method according to claim 45, further comprising sending a request to a service associated with the advertisement image in response to selection of a first or a second selectable item.

49. The method according to claim 45, the method further comprising arranging the selectable portion to include at least one of a drop-down menu or button.

50. An apparatus for use in controlling operation of a mobile terminal, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive an image file including a single advertisement image having a selectable portion which when selected, displays a plurality of selectable items associated therewith;

receive a script file separate from the image file that includes a software component comprising computer-processable instructions over a radio network, said instructions defining movement of the single advertisement image relative to the display area such that the moving advertisement image is embodied as a combination of the image file and the script file, wherein said instructions comprise panning instructions for use in modifying the position of the advertisement image across or around the display area;

process the image file and the computer-processable instructions included in the script file so as to move the position of and re-position the advertisement image within the display area; and

monitor for selection of one of the plurality of selectable items associated with the single advertisement image,

wherein the instructions define movement of the displayed selectable items corresponding thereto relative to the advertisement image,

wherein transmission of the script file occurs independently from transmission of said image file.

51. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-readable program code which, when executed by a computer system, causes said computer system to perform a method comprising:

receiving an image file including a single advertisement image having a selectable portion which when selected, displays a plurality of selectable items associated therewith;

receiving a script file separate from the image file that includes a software component comprising computer-processable instructions over a radio network, said instructions defining movement of the single advertisement image relative to the display area such that the moving advertisement image is embodied as a combination of the image file and the script file, wherein said instructions comprise panning instructions for use in modifying the position of the advertisement image across or around the display area;

processing the image file and the computer-processable instructions included in the script file so as to move the position of and re-position the advertisement image within the display area; and

monitoring for selection of one of the plurality of selectable items associated with the single advertisement image,

wherein the instructions define movement of the displayed selectable items corresponding thereto relative to the advertisement image,

wherein transmission of the script file occurs independently from transmission of said image file.

52. A system for repeatedly controlling movement of a single static advertisement image on a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal comprising a display area and a processor, the system comprising a server which stores advertisement data comprising an image file and a script file, the image file comprising data corresponding to the single static advertisement image, the script file comprising processable instructions defining movement of the single static advertisement image of the image file around or across the display area from at least a first position to a second position, said advertisement data being wirelessly transmitted to the mobile terminal and the processor being arranged to process in the image file in said advertisement data and the computer-processable instructions included in the script file in said advertisement data in order to move the single static advertisement image around or across the display area such that the moving advertisement image is embodied as a combination of the image file and the script file,

wherein the single static advertisement image on the display comprises a selectable portion which when selected, displays a plurality of selectable items associated therewith, and the processor is arranged to monitor the selection of one of the plurality of selectable items,

wherein the instructions define movement of the displayed selectable items corresponding thereto relative to the advertisement image,

wherein transmission of the script file occurs independently from transmission of said image file.