Using social networking to help users purchase mobile applications and devices

• US 8,285,840 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2010
• Issued: 10/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Moon, Hannah Youngsil, Morley, Dorothy Beau, Dobroth, Kathryn Mary
• Primary Examiner(s): DENNISON, JERRY B
• Application Number:
  US12/724,083
• Publication Number:
  US 20110225291A1
• Time in Patent Office: 939 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A social network helps mobile device users purchase applications for their devices and to purchase new mobile devices. The network utilizes information from a user'"'"'s friends to effectively “recommend” applications and mobile devices, and in particular recommend mobile devices based on the applications recommended. The phone numbers of a user'"'"'s contact list may be scanned by the system to identify friends of the user. A friend network database stores the user'"'"'s information and friends'"'"' information throughout the network and supplies the information to an application store where users may download applications or purchase mobile devices. The information supplied by the database includes the applications and the mobile devices of friends or friends of friends. In response to a user inquiry, the store displays the amount and/or identities of friends and/or friends of friends who have downloaded a particular application or own a particular device.

Claims

1. A social network method of offering recommendations to a user of a mobile device, comprising steps of:

obtaining mobile numbers from a contact list associated with the mobile device of the user;

identifying the mobile numbers from the contact list as those of friends of the user, in a friend network database;

identifying a type of mobile device associated with the respective identified mobile numbers, based on friend network data associated with the user in the friend network database;

recording in the database, in association with each of the identified mobile numbers, identification of software applications downloaded to respective mobile devices of the user'"'"'s friends associated with the respective identified mobile numbers; and

based on the friend network data, and responsive to at least one inquiry from the user, transmitting information regarding the user'"'"'s friends in the friend network database who have a particular type of mobile device and who have downloaded a particular software application through a data communication network to a terminal of the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding friends includes a total number of the user'"'"'s friends in the friend network database who have the particular type of mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding friends includes a total number of the user'"'"'s friends in the friend network database who have downloaded the particular software application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding friends includes identities of the user'"'"'s friends in the friend network database who have the particular type of mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding friends includes identities of the user'"'"'s friends in the friend network database who have downloaded the particular software application.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining occurs automatically at predetermined intervals.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining occurs manually based on input from the user via the terminal.

15. An article of manufacture, comprising programming instructions for causing a processor to perform the method of claim 1 and a non-transitory machine readable storage medium bearing the programming instructions.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted information includes product ratings for the particular type of mobile device and the particular software application.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling the user to purchase the particular type of mobile device or download the particular software application through the data communication network via an interface provided for the user at the terminal.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

based on the friend network data, and responsive to at least one inquiry from the user, presenting, via an interface provided for the user at the terminal, a list of software applications that the user'"'"'s friends have downloaded and a list of mobile devices that the user'"'"'s friends have purchased.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the user'"'"'s friends in the friend network database can choose to opt out of sharing information related to particular mobile devices purchased or particular software applications downloaded by the respective friends.

8. A social network method of offering recommendations to a user of a mobile device, comprising steps of:

obtaining mobile numbers from a contact list associated with the mobile device of the user;

identifying the mobile numbers from the contact list as those of friends of the user, based on friend network data associated with the user in a friend network database;

for each respective identified mobile number of friends of the user, identifying mobile numbers of friends of the identified friends as those of friends of friends of the user, in the friend network database;

for each respective identified mobile number, identifying a type of mobile device associated with the respective identified mobile number, in the friend network database;

recording in the database, in association with respective identified mobile numbers, identification of software applications downloaded to mobile devices of friends or friends of friends identified by the respective identified mobile numbers; and

based on the friend network data, and responsive to at least one inquiry from the user, transmitting information regarding friends and friends of friends having a particular type of mobile device and information regarding friends and friends of friends who have downloaded a particular software application through a data communication network to a terminal of the user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the information regarding friends and friends of friends comprises a number of friends and a number of friends of friends having a particular type of mobile device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the information regarding friends and friends of friends comprises a number of friends and a number of friends of friends who have downloaded a particular software application.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the information regarding friends and friends of friends comprises identities of the friends and the friends of friends having a particular type of mobile device.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the information regarding friends and friends of friends comprises the identities of friends and friends of friends who have downloaded a particular software application.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of obtaining occurs automatically at predetermined intervals.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of obtaining occurs manually.

16. An article of manufacture, comprising programming instructions for causing a processor to perform the method of claim 8 and a non-transitory machine readable storage medium bearing the programming instructions.