Facilitating file transfers using an icon

• US 9,344,338 B2
• Filed: 09/15/2012
• Issued: 05/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Quillen, Scott A., Rosenblatt, Ira
• Primary Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US13/620,942
• Publication Number:
  US 20130073633A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,340 Days
• Field of Search: 715/847, 715/742, 715/846, 715/752, 715/758, 370/352, 370/395.54, 455/902, 709/206, 709/224, 713/150, 713/155, 713/168
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A stand-alone icon (i.e., an icon that is not part of an application interface) is provided to facilitate communications across a network between users of at least one communications program. The icon represents a contact or a set of contacts. Status information regarding the contact or set of contacts is received and displayed using the icon or in response to an operation performed on the icon. The icon additionally may provide an interface for performing actions related to the contact or set of contacts. The actions may generally include, for example, retrieving profile information about the contact, setting an alert to indicate that the contact'"'"'s network/login status (e.g., login, logout, or idle) has changed, or performing communications with the contact.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a stand-alone graphical object that represents a first user of a communications program that facilitates communications across a network, the stand-alone graphical object being configured to allow a user to perform an action otherwise available through an interface of the communications program regardless of whether the interface of the communications program is running when an operation corresponding to the action is performed via the stand-alone graphical object;

detecting, using at least one processor, that a second user has positioned a first icon representing a file to be transferred from the second user to the first user of the communications program on or near the stand-alone graphical object; and

sending the file represented by the first icon to the first user of the communications program regardless of whether the interface of the communications program is running.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein detecting, using the at least one processor, that the second user has positioned the first icon representing the file to be transferred from the second user to the first user of the communications program comprises detecting that the first icon has been dragged and dropped on the stand-alone graphical object.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein detecting, using the at least one processor, that the second user has positioned the first icon representing the file to be transferred from the second user to the first user of the communications program comprises detecting that the first icon has been copied and pasted on the stand-alone graphical object.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein sending the file represented by the first icon to the first user of the communications program comprises sending the file to a server.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the file comprises a video.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein sending the file represented by the first icon to the first user of the communications program comprises sending a file via a peer-to-peer connection.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining a status of the first user.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein determining the status of the first user comprises determining whether the first user is using a mobile device.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein determining the status of the first user comprises determining what types of connections the first user can accept.

10. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

providing, if the first user has a first status, the stand-alone graphical object in a first configuration to indicate the first status; and

providing, if the first user has a second status, the stand-alone graphical object in a second configuration to indicate the second status.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein providing the stand-alone graphical object in the first configuration to indicate the first status comprises providing the stand-alone graphical object with a first feature.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein providing the stand-alone graphical object in the second configuration to indicate the second status comprises changing the first feature to a second feature.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein:

the first feature comprises a first color; and

the second feature comprises a second color that differs from the first color.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein:

the first status comprises the first user being online; and

the second status comprises the first user being offline.

15. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein providing the stand-alone graphical object that represents the first user comprises providing a second icon that represents a file.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein providing the stand-alone graphical object that represents the first user comprises providing the second icon on a computer desktop.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein providing the stand-alone graphical object that represents the first user comprises providing the second icon in a computer file folder.

18. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein providing the stand-alone graphical object that represents the first user comprises providing a second icon that represents a contact of the second user.

19. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising displaying the interface upon the second user logging into a host server.

20. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a computer readable storage medium storing instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform a steps comprising;

providing a first stand-alone icon that represents a first user of a communications program, wherein the first stand-alone icon allows a second user to perform an action otherwise available through an interface of the communications program regardless of whether the interface is running when an operation corresponding to the action is performed via the first stand-alone icon;

detecting, using at least one processor, that a second icon representing a file has been positioned, by the second user, on or near the first stand-alone icon that represents the first user of the communications program; and

sending the first file to the first user in response to detecting that the second icon has been positioned on or near the first stand-alone icon regardless of whether the interface of the communications program is running.

21. The system as recited in claim 20, wherein detecting that the second icon has been positioned on or near the first stand-alone icon comprises determining that the second icon has been dragged and dropped onto the first stand-alone icon.

22. The system as recited in claim 20, further comprising instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform a step of determining a status of the first user.

23. The system as recited in claim 22, wherein determining the status of the first user comprises determining whether the first user is using a mobile device.

24. The system as recited in claim 22, wherein determining the status of the first user comprises determining if the first user can accept a peer-to-peer file transfer.

25. The system as recited in claim 22, further comprising instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform steps comprising:

providing, if the first user has a first status, the first stand-alone icon in a first configuration to indicate the first status; and

providing, if the first user has a second status, the first stand-alone icon in a second configuration to indicate the second status.

26. The system as recited in claim 25, wherein providing the first stand-alone icon in the first configuration to indicate the first status comprises providing the first stand-alone icon with a first feature.

27. The system as recited in claim 26, wherein providing the first stand-alone icon in the second configuration to indicate the second status comprises changing the first feature to a second feature.

28. The system as recited in claim 27, wherein:

the first feature comprises a first color; and

the second feature comprises a second color that differs from the first color.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including a set of computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computer system, cause the computer system to:

provide a first stand-alone icon that represents a first user of a communications program, wherein the first stand-alone icon allows a second user to perform an action otherwise available through an interface of the communications program regardless of whether the interface is running when an operation corresponding to the action is performed via the first stand-alone icon;

detect that a second icon representing a file has been positioned, by the second user, on or near the first stand-alone icon that represents the first user of the communications program; and

send the first file to the first user in response to detecting that the second icon has been positioned on or near the first stand-alone icon regardless of whether the interface of the communications program is running.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 29, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the computer system to send the first file to the first user via a peer to peer connection.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 30, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer system to determine a status of the first user.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 31, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer system to determine a status of the first user comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer system to determine whether the first user is online or offline.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 31, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer system to determine a status of the first user comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the computer system to determine if the first user can accept a peer-to-peer file transfer.