Dynamic icons associated with remote content

• US 8,812,988 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2010
• Issued: 08/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Kam, Gordon, Goran, Charles, London, Eric, Ehrhart, Brian, Jordan, Larry, Caricaburu, Katherine
• Primary Examiner(s): Augustine, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US12/823,910
• Publication Number:
  US 20100329642A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,516 Days
• Field of Search: 715/753, 715/810, 715/825, 715/835, 715/837, 715/838, 715/840
• US Class Current: 715/837
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• 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 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/488 Data services, e.g. news ticker systems specially adapted for using meteorological information in broadcast systems H04H60/71
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44504 Circuit details of the additional information generator, e.g. details of the character or graphics signal generator, overlay mixing circuits

Abstract

Dynamic icons associated with remote content provide one or more pieces of information to a user by changing the appearance of the icon based on changes to data of a data source associated with the icon. For example, when the icon represents data available from a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed, the icon may be represented as an image extracted from the RSS feed, which may change when the RSS feed is updated or includes new content. In some embodiments, the icon may by dynamically updated based on user information and/or device information, such as an icon for a weather forecast that is based at least in part on a location of a device and thus directs the icon to show imagery and/or information based at least in part on the respective location.

Claims

1. A method of creating a dynamic icon, the method comprising:

associating an icon with data available via a network, the icon enabling access to the data upon user-interaction with the icon, the data being periodically updated to modify content included in the data;

selecting, by one or more processors, an image from the data, the image being updated upon an update of the data;

extracting the image for use with the icon;

resizing the image based at least in part on a size specified for the icon;

selecting text from a text field in the data;

truncating the text to include a lesser amount of the text than an amount of the text included in the field of the data;

causing a display of the icon with the resized image, the truncated text, and an expand feature control to access an expanded version of the icon that includes at least dynamic information in addition to the truncated text, the dynamic information including additional text from the text field in the data that is in addition to the truncated text; and

causing a display of the expanded version of the icon in response to a selection of the expand feature control.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data is provided from a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed of data.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising cropping the image by selecting an area of interest and then removing a portion of the image outside of the area of interest.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the image is a video.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprising reformatting the video to reduce at least one of a frame rate or a resolution of the video.

15. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising, in response to a received selection of the expand feature control:

selecting the additional text from the text field in the data; and

creating the dynamic information using at least the additional text.

16. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the expand feature control is activated by clicking on or tapping on the icon.

6. A method, comprising:

monitoring data from a data source to detect an update to the data;

determining, based at least in part on the monitoring, that the data from the data source has been updated to create updated data such that the content of updated data is only partially different than the data prior to the update;

identifying an icon that is associated with the updated data, the icon to facilitate access to the updated data upon user-interaction with the icon;

in response to the determining the update of the data;

selecting, by one or more computing devices, the updated data from the data source associated with an icon;

locating an image that is available in the updated data;

selecting at least a portion of text in a text field included in the updated data;

causing a display of the icon with the image, the at least a portion of the text, and an expand feature control to access an expanded version of the icon that includes at least dynamic information in addition to the at least a portion of the text, wherein the dynamic information includes additional text from the text field in the updated data that is in addition to the at least a portion of the text; and

causing a display of the expanded version of the icon in response to a selection of the expand feature control.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, further comprising identifying local data prior to the selecting the data from a data source associated with an icon, the local data used to select the data from the data source.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the local data includes at least one of a location of a client device that displays the icon or personal information of a user associated with the client device.

9. The method as recited in claim 6, further comprising modifying the image for presentation on the client device by performing at least one of resizing the image, cropping the image, or reducing a resolution of the image.

10. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the image and the at least the portion of text are separate in the updated data such that at least the portion of the text is disassociated from the image in the updated data.

17. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the image is a video.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, further comprising reformatting the video to reduce at least one of a frame rate or a resolution of the video.

11. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

determining a source of data that is associated with an icon;

analyzing the data to identify at least an image included in the data;

modifying the image by at least one of cropping the image or resizing the image;

truncating text from the data to reduce an amount of the text to an amount less than or equal to a predetermined threshold amount of text;

causing a display of the modified image and the truncated text in the icon;

linking a control associated with the icon to an expanded version of the icon, the expanded version of the icon to include dynamic information that includes at least one of an another image or additional text from the data that is in addition to the truncated text and the modified image; and

causing a display of the expanded version of the icon in response to a selection of the control.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein the acts further comprise:

identifying an area of interest in the image; and

cropping the image to preserve the area of interest.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein the acts further comprise:

querying at least one of user data or device data to identify an attribute used to select the data, and wherein the analyzing the data from the source is based at least in part on the attribute.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein the source is a social networking site, and the data is a most recent post associated with a user that has access to the source.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein the acts further comprise creating the expanded version of the icon by:

selecting the additional text from the data;

selecting the other image from the data; and

creating the dynamic information using at least the additional text and the other image.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein the acts further comprise receiving a user-selection of the source of the data that associates the source of data with the icon.