WO2007086723A1 - Information distribution and interactive e-commerce system and method - Google Patents

Information distribution and interactive e-commerce system and method Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2007086723A1
WO2007086723A1 PCT/MY2007/000009 MY2007000009W WO2007086723A1 WO 2007086723 A1 WO2007086723 A1 WO 2007086723A1 MY 2007000009 W MY2007000009 W MY 2007000009W WO 2007086723 A1 WO2007086723 A1 WO 2007086723A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
information
mobile communications
information content
content
web server
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/MY2007/000009
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Koh Chew Wah
Goy Hong Boon
Low Pei Kiat
Koh Ai Ling
Lim Chee Kai
Original Assignee
Mobile-News Sdn Bhd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Mobile-News Sdn Bhd filed Critical Mobile-News Sdn Bhd
Publication of WO2007086723A1 publication Critical patent/WO2007086723A1/en

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to data communication, more particularly to a system and methods for providing news and information, interactive services and e-commerce services in a scrolling information bar display on a mobile communications device.
  • PDA personal digital assistants
  • pocket PC pocket PC
  • smart phones and the like that are constantly decreasing in size but increasing in their portability and connectivity.
  • Many PDAs and smart phones have wireless capabilities allowing users to access email and web browsing wherever they are eg through WAP and Wifi.
  • WAP wireless access point
  • Wifi wireless access point
  • These mobile communications devices are convenient because it is small enough to hold in the palm of one hand and fit into the user' s pocket.
  • information can be downloaded into the mobile device such as the PDA by way of coupling link with a personal ' computer.
  • Modern day busy lifestyles and rapid developments in information technology have also encouraged the • development of e-commerce where commercial transactions are transacted more efficiently and conveniently using paperless electronic means.
  • Scrolling information display or ticker bar (where information scrolls across the display screen) on a personal computer system and television is common.
  • ticker the information scrolls sequentially across the screen. Ticker attracts the eye of the user even though headlines are presented in a narrow bar on the display screen.
  • users may further retrieve additional content associated with the headlines when the user sees a headline of interest.
  • Interactive information content allows user to control on how, what and when to receive certain information.
  • Microsoft WindowsTM Mobile is a leading operating software for PDA phones, smartphones, pocket PCs and other mobile communications devices.
  • the ' object of the present invention is to provide a system and methods for providing news, information and interactive e- commerce services in a scrolling information display format on a Microsoft WindowsTM Mobile operating system (or other Microsoft mobile operating systems) based mobile communications device which receives the latest updates from a web server through available communications network connections.
  • Microsoft WindowsTM Mobile operating system or other Microsoft mobile operating systems
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide the system having an interactive ticker whereby users are able to access additional information of each ticker item when the information on the ticker item is clicked or activated.
  • Still another object of the present invention is to use the interactivity of the software with the Windows operating system to let people manage their information and scheduling easier eg, auto save items appearing in the ticker in contacts, to do list and calendar function of the pda phone.
  • the ' interactive functions of the system enable the invention to cater for the delivery of interactive services eg. mobile phone games and e-commerce applications eg. on-line shopping.
  • An information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices comprises of a web server for aggregating information content from various content providers, and a mobile communications device communicated with the web server (via communications network) to receive the information content from the web server.
  • the mobile communications device is a Microsoft WindowsTM (or other Microsoft mobile operating systems) based mobile communications device having a device platform configured to display the information content into a scrolling information display on a display screen and the scrolling information display is responsive to an input signal from the user resulting in more information shown and/or enables interactive e-commerce transactions.
  • the mobile communications device is a digital device such as personal digital assistant (PDA) phone, pocket pc, smartphone or the like equipped with communication services for wireless communication such as WLan, Wifi or WAP.
  • PDA personal digital assistant
  • the device can still receive information content from the web server because the web server of the present invention may interface with various other information delivery gateways to transmit the information content such as short message service (SMS) , multimedia messaging service (MMS) , electronic mail or the like.
  • SMS short message service
  • MMS multimedia messaging service
  • electronic mail electronic mail or the like.
  • the information content delivered to the mobile communications device by the alternative means will also be processed by the device platform to be displayed in the scrolling information display on the mobile communications device .
  • a method of providing information content to mobile communications deyices comprising the steps of identifying a connection between the mobile communications device and a web server of the system, transmitting the information content (which has been aggregated from various content providers or created from other sources and input into the web server) to the mobile communications device having Microsoft WindowsTM (or other Microsoft Mobile) operating system, and generating the information content received from the web server to be displayed in a scrolling information display.
  • Microsoft WindowsTM or other Microsoft Mobile
  • a mobile communi'cations device that displays information content comprises a Microsoft WindowsTM (or other Microsoft Mobile) operating system which has configured to establish a connection with a web server of the system to receive the information content from the web server via a communications network, a device platform associated with the web server to display the information content in a scrolling or multiple scrolling information display, and a display screen- for displaying the information content in the scrolling information display on the mobile communications device.
  • Microsoft WindowsTM or other Microsoft Mobile
  • the information content in the scrolling information display includes at least one line of scrolling content; for example, one line of information may display the latest news stories whilst a second line of information may display advertisements, mobile gaming information, promotions information etc.
  • the information content is also not limited to horizontal movement but also vertical and diagonal movement with different directions that can be constructed in different font size, shape, customizable background, text color, various international language characters or any other acceptable functions and features that Microsoft WindowsTM Mobile (or other Microsoft mobile operating systems) permits.
  • Figure 1 illustrates a representation of a mobile communications device of the present invention, including a pressure sensitive liquid crystal dis.play (LCD) on which text and icons and scrolling information display of the present invention are made visible.
  • LCD liquid crystal dis.play
  • ⁇ Figure 2 shows a ' schematic view illustrating of an exemplary information distribution system of the present invention
  • Figure 3 is a flow chart depicting a process by which the information content is transmitted from the web server to the mobile communications device of the present invention
  • Figure 4 depicts a schematic view illustrating the web server interface with other alternative delivery mechanism or gateways to deliver the information content
  • Figure 5 illustrates a flow chart of a process by which the information content is transmitted via alternative delivery mechanism
  • Figure 6 shows a flow chart of a process by which the information content is incorporated with e-commerce transaction and interactive functions.
  • the present invention is concerned with the system and methods for providing news, advertising and other information content and interactive e-commerce services in a scrolling information display on a mobile communications device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) phone, smartphone or any other device that can install the platform device/software.
  • Smartphone is generally any handheld device which integrates personal information management and mobile phone capabilities in the same device.
  • Personal digital assistant (PDA) phone generally has the features of a smartphone with the addition of a pressure sensitive liquid crystal display (LCD) which acts as a display and also as an input and output for users to interact with the PDA phone.
  • a stylus (not shown) is used to input signals to the PDA phone via the pressure sensitive LCD and to toggle icons displayed on the touch enabled screen.
  • PDA phones allows user to store and organize their appointments, to-do lists and contacts information.
  • the PDA of the present invention preferably has wireless communication capabilities which allow the user to access the Internet to upload and download information and communicate with other people via various sources.
  • a personal digital assistant (pda) phone is used for explaining the present invention.
  • the system (10) comprises a mobile communications device (11) having Microsoft WindowsTM mobile (or other Microsoft mobile operating systems or other operating systems such as Symbion, Palm, Java enabled system) configured to communicate with a web server (12) via communications network (13) to receive advertisement and information content (18) and display them in a scrolling information display (15) on the screen (16) of the mobile communications device (11).
  • the mobile communications device (11) of the present invention is a personal digital assistant (PDA) phone having a predetermined (but customisable) region allocated to display the information content (18) in the scrolling information display (15) .
  • the scrolling information display (15) is also known as a ticker bar.
  • the PDA phone (11) is installed with the device platform or ticker software which enables the information content (18) to be delivered to the scrolling information display (15) of the mobile communications device (11) .
  • This software will communicate with the web server (12) to receive the content which has been aggregated from various content- providers or otherwise deposited on the web server (including advertisements) to be provided to the scrolling information display (15) .
  • the user can choose what news he/she would like displayed after he/she has subscribed to the service.
  • the communications network (13) is a wireless telecommunications technology which allows Internet access and other data communications over a mobile network eg. WLAN, Wifi, 3G, 3.5G, Edge, GPRS etc. Other suitable forms of communications network can be used to connect the mobile communications devices (11) .
  • the term scrolling is used generically herein to refer not only to vertical _ movement but also horizontal and diagonal movements with different directions.
  • the web server (12) includes a processing unit, database and software for receiving news feeds from the content providers or other sources.
  • the web server (12) will store up to a specific number of messages and will automatically delete old news items.
  • Content providers with products or services to advertise may register with the system and input marketing, advertisements, promotions and other contents into the system.
  • the ticker software will download (21) a XML file from the web server (12) as shown in figure 3.
  • the downloaded file is then processed (22) by the ticker software to extract the information.
  • the information is then stored (23) on the mobile communications device (11) and then display (24) in the scrolling information display (15) .
  • Each of the information content (18) is divided into two components namely .the preliminary component to be displayed in the scrolling information display (15) which is referred to as ticker items and the secondary component which is the additional information associated with the preliminary component to be displayed on the mobile communications device
  • the secondary component content is not limited to additional text but also may incorporate audio and video presentation files to be displayed.
  • the information content (18) can include different types of advertisements and news.
  • the news feeds can be predefined Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or u'ser-defined URL.
  • URL Uniform Resource Locator
  • This ticker (15) bar allows information to be displayed continuously where the information content (18) is scrolled in a predetermined region across the screen (16) of the mobile communications device (11). It can be formed with one or more lines on the screen (16) .
  • the content delivery format and mechanism includes and is not limited to really simple syndication (RSS) , short message service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), email and many other suitable content delivery format and mechanism.
  • the device platform/ticker software used in conjunction with the invention is based on the Microsoft .NET compact framework which is pre-installed on most mobile communications devices with Microsoft WindowsTM Mobile operating system (11) .
  • the ticker software configures the operating system to enable the mobile communications device (11) to connect with the web server of the system (12) to send and retrieve data.
  • Content information from content providers are constantly updated and transmitted to the web server (12) of the system (10) which are then are transmitted to the ticker software on the mobile device via the wireless internet communications network (13) , SMS, MMS, email or other alternative means.
  • the mobile communications device (11) will only accept and recognize the contents sent by the web server (12) of the system (10). Users may configure the method and timing to receive the information content (18) with their own preference settings.
  • updated news contents can be automatically downloaded into the scrolling information display (15) or they can be scheduled so that new information contents (18) are only downloaded at predetermined times.
  • the scrolling information display (15) or ticker is not to be limited to those often appearing at the bottom of the display screen, but the ticker or tickers may be constructed in different font size, languages, shape, customizable background, text colour, display arrangement on the screen which are not limited to horizontal, vertical, diagonal or other possible arrangement. It also can be constructed to scroll, from right to left across the screen or from left to right of the screen for a horizontal scrolling ticker. The scroll directions can be changed by appropriate programming in the ticker software.
  • the scrolling information display (15) of the present invention is interactive.
  • the secondary component of the information content (18) can be accessed when the user selects the preliminary component of the ticker such as by clicking (41) on the item. If the item has a hyperlink associated with it, the action would cause the web page to be displayed as shown in figure 6.
  • the interactive ticker can also generate data and automatically store information in the applications of the PDA. For example, by clicking onto a ticker item stating "ABC Supermarket Sale starts on 1 Feb", the ticker software will automatically input the sale information into the calendar and/or input the contact detail of the advertiser in the contacts application and/or input information in the to-do list application of the PDA or smart phone.
  • Advertisers may also use the invention for electronic/internet shopping by advertising the products on the scrolling information display (15) .
  • the program will automatically launch the web browser (42) and the browser will navigate (43) to the corresponding web page (URL) selling the products or the advertiser' s web page or alternatively open up a SMS or email page on the mobile communications device (11) which directs to the necessary content to enable the user to order the product by simply clicking on the "send" button.
  • Other -services- (18) that this invention has application for include stock trading, online auction, selling content downloads etc.
  • the content downloads for the present invention may include but not limited to songs, ringtones, games, softwares, videos and movies which can be downloaded to the mobile communications device (11) and saved in the appropriated folders.
  • user may select the preliminary component of the ticker such as by clicking (44) on the item on the scrolling ticker bar, the program launches (45) the corresponding software application as shown in figure 6.
  • the web server (12) of the present invention may interface with various gateways such as the Short Message Service (SMS) gateway (25) to implement the methods of the present invention.
  • SMS Short Message Service
  • the web server (12) is connected to the SMS gateway (25) via the communications network (13) as shown in figure 4.
  • the SMS news feed will then be transmitted to the mobile communications device (11) via the mobile network (26) .
  • the ticker software will first verify (28) that the received message is from the system (10) as shown in figure 5. If the SMS message is not from the system (10), it will be automatically stored in the inbox (29) of the mobile communications device and generate the usual notification ring (11) .
  • the ticker software will process (30) the message to extract information, store the information (31) in the mobile communications, device (11) and then display the information (32) in the scrolling information display (15) .
  • the ticker software will process (30) the message to extract information, store the information (31) in the mobile communications, device (11) and then display the information (32) in the scrolling information display (15) .
  • the scrolling information display (18) is formed with two bars whereby one bar is configured to display news from content providers and the other bar configured to display advertisement from the advertisers.
  • the scrolling information display (18) may also be incorporated with other functions such as sms competitions and sms gaming.
  • the mobile communications device (11) user has selected a preference to receive contents of a competition.
  • the scores for the competition are transmitted to the mobile communications device (11) .and it will be updated automatically.
  • the system (10) will recognise which ticker bar will receive which information such as news items will appear on the first bar and advertising items will appear on the second bar as shown in figure 1.
  • user may navigate through the preliminary component of the ticker item to access the secondary component of the content.
  • this program upon selecting the contestant's name that appears on the scrolling information 'display (15) , this program will automatically communicate with the contest's website or server >and lodge the vote or generate a sms to the appropriate number with the correct voting phrase and contestant's name. All the user has to do is to press the send button to vote for their selected contestant.
  • users do not have to remember the sms phone number, the phrase and the contestant' s name or code and to type them all out on their phones.
  • the scrolling information display (15) of ' the present invention may be formed with additional stationary box (46) at a corner of the display (16) to advertise the premium sponsor of the particular news items as shown in figure 1.
  • the scrolling information display will also be able to support different languages and characters. Users may also opt to save the news item in their mobile communications device (11) or in their PC through hotlink. The item is then printable.
  • the mobile communications device user may select to receive the information content via communications network or other alternative means such as SMS, MMS etc.
  • the present invention may easily be produced in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics.
  • the present embodiments is, therefore, to be considered as merely illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which come within therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Abstract

An information distribution and Interactive E-Commerce system for mobile communications devices comprises of a web server for aggregating information content from various content providers and a mobile communications having an operating system, which is connected to the web server via communications network to receive the information content from the web server. The operating system of the mobile communications device is a Windows family of operating system having a device platform configured to display the information content into a scrolling information display on a display screen and the scrolling information display is responsive to an input signal from the user thus enabling interactive e- commerce applications.

Description

Information Distribution and Interactive E-commerce System and
Method
Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to data communication, more particularly to a system and methods for providing news and information, interactive services and e-commerce services in a scrolling information bar display on a mobile communications device.
Background of Invention
In this information age, people need to keep abreast of the latest news and information. They also need interactive services won the go" because of their busy work schedule and active lifestyles. Most of the existing news content providers publish news and information on printed media, television and the internet. In relation to the latter, users need to periodically access the Internet on .their personal computers and visit each content provider' s websites in order to get the latest news. It would be desirable to have an information content service which automatically provides or pushes selected news to a handy and portable device such as a mobile communications device that the user may instantly access wherever they are. The demand for instant and portable information and services has resulted in the rapid development and increasingly widespread use of mobile communications devices such personal digital assistants (PDA) , PDA phones, pocket PC, smart phones and the like that are constantly decreasing in size but increasing in their portability and connectivity. Many PDAs and smart phones have wireless capabilities allowing users to access email and web browsing wherever they are eg through WAP and Wifi. These mobile communications devices are convenient because it is small enough to hold in the palm of one hand and fit into the user' s pocket. In addition, information can be downloaded into the mobile device such as the PDA by way of coupling link with a personal' computer. Modern day busy lifestyles and rapid developments in information technology have also encouraged the • development of e-commerce where commercial transactions are transacted more efficiently and conveniently using paperless electronic means.
Scrolling information display or ticker bar (where information scrolls across the display screen) on a personal computer system and television is common. In a ticker, the information scrolls sequentially across the screen. Ticker attracts the eye of the user even though headlines are presented in a narrow bar on the display screen. On the personal computer version, users may further retrieve additional content associated with the headlines when the user sees a headline of interest. Interactive information content allows user to control on how, what and when to receive certain information.
Microsoft Windows™ Mobile is a leading operating software for PDA phones, smartphones, pocket PCs and other mobile communications devices.
The 'object of the present invention is to provide a system and methods for providing news, information and interactive e- commerce services in a scrolling information display format on a Microsoft Windows™ Mobile operating system (or other Microsoft mobile operating systems) based mobile communications device which receives the latest updates from a web server through available communications network connections.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the system having an interactive ticker whereby users are able to access additional information of each ticker item when the information on the ticker item is clicked or activated.
Still another object of the present invention is to use the interactivity of the software with the Windows operating system to let people manage their information and scheduling easier eg, auto save items appearing in the ticker in contacts, to do list and calendar function of the pda phone. The ' interactive functions of the system enable the invention to cater for the delivery of interactive services eg. mobile phone games and e-commerce applications eg. on-line shopping.
Summary of Invention
An information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices comprises of a web server for aggregating information content from various content providers, and a mobile communications device communicated with the web server (via communications network) to receive the information content from the web server. The mobile communications device is a Microsoft Windows™ (or other Microsoft mobile operating systems) based mobile communications device having a device platform configured to display the information content into a scrolling information display on a display screen and the scrolling information display is responsive to an input signal from the user resulting in more information shown and/or enables interactive e-commerce transactions.
Preferably the mobile communications device is a digital device such as personal digital assistant (PDA) phone, pocket pc, smartphone or the like equipped with communication services for wireless communication such as WLan, Wifi or WAP. In the event the mobile communications device do not have these wireless communication services, the device can still receive information content from the web server because the web server of the present invention may interface with various other information delivery gateways to transmit the information content such as short message service (SMS) , multimedia messaging service (MMS) , electronic mail or the like. The information content delivered to the mobile communications device by the alternative means will also be processed by the device platform to be displayed in the scrolling information display on the mobile communications device .
A method of providing information content to mobile communications deyices comprising the steps of identifying a connection between the mobile communications device and a web server of the system, transmitting the information content (which has been aggregated from various content providers or created from other sources and input into the web server) to the mobile communications device having Microsoft Windows™ (or other Microsoft Mobile) operating system, and generating the information content received from the web server to be displayed in a scrolling information display.
A mobile communi'cations device that displays information content comprises a Microsoft Windows™ (or other Microsoft Mobile) operating system which has configured to establish a connection with a web server of the system to receive the information content from the web server via a communications network, a device platform associated with the web server to display the information content in a scrolling or multiple scrolling information display, and a display screen- for displaying the information content in the scrolling information display on the mobile communications device.
Preferably the information content in the scrolling information display includes at least one line of scrolling content; for example, one line of information may display the latest news stories whilst a second line of information may display advertisements, mobile gaming information, promotions information etc. The information content is also not limited to horizontal movement but also vertical and diagonal movement with different directions that can be constructed in different font size, shape, customizable background, text color, various international language characters or any other acceptable functions and features that Microsoft Windows™ Mobile (or other Microsoft mobile operating systems) permits.
Brief Descriptions of Drawings
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read with reference to the< accompanying drawings. In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:
Figure 1 illustrates a representation of a mobile communications device of the present invention, including a pressure sensitive liquid crystal dis.play (LCD) on which text and icons and scrolling information display of the present invention are made visible.
■Figure 2 shows a 'schematic view illustrating of an exemplary information distribution system of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a flow chart depicting a process by which the information content is transmitted from the web server to the mobile communications device of the present invention;
Figure 4 depicts a schematic view illustrating the web server interface with other alternative delivery mechanism or gateways to deliver the information content;
Figure 5 illustrates a flow chart of a process by which the information content is transmitted via alternative delivery mechanism; and Figure 6 shows a flow chart of a process by which the information content is incorporated with e-commerce transaction and interactive functions.
Detailed Description of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with the system and methods for providing news, advertising and other information content and interactive e-commerce services in a scrolling information display on a mobile communications device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) phone, smartphone or any other device that can install the platform device/software. Smartphone is generally any handheld device which integrates personal information management and mobile phone capabilities in the same device. Personal digital assistant (PDA) phone generally has the features of a smartphone with the addition of a pressure sensitive liquid crystal display (LCD) which acts as a display and also as an input and output for users to interact with the PDA phone. A stylus (not shown) is used to input signals to the PDA phone via the pressure sensitive LCD and to toggle icons displayed on the touch enabled screen. PDA phones allows user to store and organize their appointments, to-do lists and contacts information. The PDA of the present invention preferably has wireless communication capabilities which allow the user to access the Internet to upload and download information and communicate with other people via various sources. For illustration purposes, a personal digital assistant (pda) phone is used for explaining the present invention.
In the exemplary embodiment as shown in figures 1 and' 2, the system (10) comprises a mobile communications device (11) having Microsoft Windows™ mobile (or other Microsoft mobile operating systems or other operating systems such as Symbion, Palm, Java enabled system) configured to communicate with a web server (12) via communications network (13) to receive advertisement and information content (18) and display them in a scrolling information display (15) on the screen (16) of the mobile communications device (11). The mobile communications device (11) of the present invention is a personal digital assistant (PDA) phone having a predetermined (but customisable) region allocated to display the information content (18) in the scrolling information display (15) . The scrolling information display (15) is also known as a ticker bar. The PDA phone (11) is installed with the device platform or ticker software which enables the information content (18) to be delivered to the scrolling information display (15) of the mobile communications device (11) . This software will communicate with the web server (12) to receive the content which has been aggregated from various content- providers or otherwise deposited on the web server (including advertisements) to be provided to the scrolling information display (15) . The user can choose what news he/she would like displayed after he/she has subscribed to the service. The communications network (13) is a wireless telecommunications technology which allows Internet access and other data communications over a mobile network eg. WLAN, Wifi, 3G, 3.5G, Edge, GPRS etc. Other suitable forms of communications network can be used to connect the mobile communications devices (11) . The term scrolling is used generically herein to refer not only to vertical _ movement but also horizontal and diagonal movements with different directions.
The web server (12) includes a processing unit, database and software for receiving news feeds from the content providers or other sources. The web server (12) will store up to a specific number of messages and will automatically delete old news items. Content providers with products or services to advertise, may register with the system and input marketing, advertisements, promotions and other contents into the system. When the connection between the mobile communications device (11) and the web server (12) is initiated, the ticker software will download (21) a XML file from the web server (12) as shown in figure 3. The downloaded file is then processed (22) by the ticker software to extract the information. The information is then stored (23) on the mobile communications device (11) and then display (24) in the scrolling information display (15) . Each of the information content (18) is divided into two components namely .the preliminary component to be displayed in the scrolling information display (15) which is referred to as ticker items and the secondary component which is the additional information associated with the preliminary component to be displayed on the mobile communications device
(11) upon user request. The secondary component content is not limited to additional text but also may incorporate audio and video presentation files to be displayed. The information content (18) can include different types of advertisements and news. The news feeds can be predefined Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or u'ser-defined URL. This ticker (15) bar allows information to be displayed continuously where the information content (18) is scrolled in a predetermined region across the screen (16) of the mobile communications device (11). It can be formed with one or more lines on the screen (16) . The content delivery format and mechanism includes and is not limited to really simple syndication (RSS) , short message service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), email and many other suitable content delivery format and mechanism.
The device platform/ticker software used in conjunction with the invention is based on the Microsoft .NET compact framework which is pre-installed on most mobile communications devices with Microsoft Windows™ Mobile operating system (11) . The ticker software configures the operating system to enable the mobile communications device (11) to connect with the web server of the system (12) to send and retrieve data. Content information from content providers are constantly updated and transmitted to the web server (12) of the system (10) which are then are transmitted to the ticker software on the mobile device via the wireless internet communications network (13) , SMS, MMS, email or other alternative means. The mobile communications device (11) will only accept and recognize the contents sent by the web server (12) of the system (10). Users may configure the method and timing to receive the information content (18) with their own preference settings. For example, updated news contents can be automatically downloaded into the scrolling information display (15) or they can be scheduled so that new information contents (18) are only downloaded at predetermined times. The scrolling information display (15) or ticker is not to be limited to those often appearing at the bottom of the display screen, but the ticker or tickers may be constructed in different font size, languages, shape, customizable background, text colour, display arrangement on the screen which are not limited to horizontal, vertical, diagonal or other possible arrangement. It also can be constructed to scroll, from right to left across the screen or from left to right of the screen for a horizontal scrolling ticker. The scroll directions can be changed by appropriate programming in the ticker software. The scrolling information display (15) of the present invention is interactive. The secondary component of the information content (18) can be accessed when the user selects the preliminary component of the ticker such as by clicking (41) on the item. If the item has a hyperlink associated with it, the action would cause the web page to be displayed as shown in figure 6. The interactive ticker can also generate data and automatically store information in the applications of the PDA. For example, by clicking onto a ticker item stating "ABC Supermarket Sale starts on 1 Feb", the ticker software will automatically input the sale information into the calendar and/or input the contact detail of the advertiser in the contacts application and/or input information in the to-do list application of the PDA or smart phone.
Advertisers may also use the invention for electronic/internet shopping by advertising the products on the scrolling information display (15) . When the user clicks on the relevant advertisement, the program will automatically launch the web browser (42) and the browser will navigate (43) to the corresponding web page (URL) selling the products or the advertiser' s web page or alternatively open up a SMS or email page on the mobile communications device (11) which directs to the necessary content to enable the user to order the product by simply clicking on the "send" button. Other -services- (18) that this invention has application for include stock trading, online auction, selling content downloads etc. The content downloads for the present invention may include but not limited to songs, ringtones, games, softwares, videos and movies which can be downloaded to the mobile communications device (11) and saved in the appropriated folders. For tickers items having other services and associated with other applications, user may select the preliminary component of the ticker such as by clicking (44) on the item on the scrolling ticker bar, the program launches (45) the corresponding software application as shown in figure 6.
The web server (12) of the present invention may interface with various gateways such as the Short Message Service (SMS) gateway (25) to implement the methods of the present invention. For the information content (18) to be sent via the SMS mechanism, the web server (12) is connected to the SMS gateway (25) via the communications network (13) as shown in figure 4. The SMS news feed will then be transmitted to the mobile communications device (11) via the mobile network (26) . When the mobile communications device user received (27) a SMS message, the ticker software will first verify (28) that the received message is from the system (10) as shown in figure 5. If the SMS message is not from the system (10), it will be automatically stored in the inbox (29) of the mobile communications device and generate the usual notification ring (11) . On the other hand, if the SMS message is from the system (10), the ticker software will process (30) the message to extract information, store the information (31) in the mobile communications, device (11) and then display the information (32) in the scrolling information display (15) . By having the sms directed into the scrolling information display (15) rather than having it appear in the inbox with notification ring, the user will not be disturbed by the notification sound and will not have to manage their inboxes by constantly deleting messages.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, ■ the scrolling information display (18) is formed with two bars whereby one bar is configured to display news from content providers and the other bar configured to display advertisement from the advertisers. The scrolling information display (18) may also be incorporated with other functions such as sms competitions and sms gaming. For example, the mobile communications device (11) user has selected a preference to receive contents of a competition. As a result, from time to time the scores for the competition are transmitted to the mobile communications device (11) .and it will be updated automatically. The system (10) will recognise which ticker bar will receive which information such as news items will appear on the first bar and advertising items will appear on the second bar as shown in figure 1. At any time, user may navigate through the preliminary component of the ticker item to access the secondary component of the content. For example, in a competition which enables users to vote for their favourite contestant, upon selecting the contestant's name that appears on the scrolling information 'display (15) , this program will automatically communicate with the contest's website or server >and lodge the vote or generate a sms to the appropriate number with the correct voting phrase and contestant's name. All the user has to do is to press the send button to vote for their selected contestant. By having this system, users do not have to remember the sms phone number, the phrase and the contestant' s name or code and to type them all out on their phones.
The scrolling information display (15) of ' the present invention may be formed with additional stationary box (46) at a corner of the display (16) to advertise the premium sponsor of the particular news items as shown in figure 1. The scrolling information display will also be able to support different languages and characters. Users may also opt to save the news item in their mobile communications device (11) or in their PC through hotlink. The item is then printable. The mobile communications device user may select to receive the information content via communications network or other alternative means such as SMS, MMS etc. As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the present invention may easily be produced in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The present embodiments is, therefore, to be considered as merely illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which come within therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Claims

Claims
1. An information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices comprising: a web server for aggregating information content from content providers and other sources; and a mobile communications device having an operating system, which is connected to said web server via communications network to receive said information content from the web server, whereby said mobile communications device includes a device platform configured to display said information content in a scrolling information display on a display screen of said mobile communications device and said scrolling information display is responsive to an input signal from the user of said mobile communications device thus enabling more information to be displayed and also permit interactive e-commerce applications .
2. The information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices as claimed in claim
1, wherein said operating system is the Windows family of operating system.
3. The information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices as claimed in claim
1, wherein said web server includes processing unit and database and software for receiving information content from content providers, updating .information stored . in said database and deleting preceding stored information content.
4. The information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices as claimed in claim 3, wherein said content providers with products or services to advertise may register with said system to input marketing, advertisements, promotions, gaming contests, voting application and other e-commerce transactions such as stock trading, online auction, internet shopping and content downloads to said system.
5. The information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices as claimed in claim
1, wherein said mobile communications device is a digital device having communication functions for wireless communication such as personal digital assistant phone, smartphone or the like.
6. The information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the web server in a host server and for third party server.
7. The information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communications network is a wireless telecommunications technology which allows Internet and other data communications over a mobile network.
8. The information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices as claimed in claim 1, wherein said web server may interface with various gateways to transmit or receive information content in other delivery mechanisms such as short message service, multimedia messaging service, electronic mail or the like.
9. The information distribution and interactive e-commerce system for mobile communications devices as claimed in claim
8, wherein said information content delivered to said mobile communications device by said alternative means will be processed by the device platform to be displayed in the scrolling information display.
10. A method of providing information content to mobile communications devices comprising the steps of: identifying a connection between said mobile communications device and a web server of the system; transmitting said information content from said web server to the mobile communications device having Windows operating system which has been aggregated from various content providers to said web server; and generating said information content received from said web server to be displayed in a particular scrolling information display.
11. The method o'f providing information content to mobile communications devices as claimed in claim 10, wherein said step of generating said information content including the steps of processing said information content received from said web server to store in extensible markup language file to be display in the intended said scrolling information display.
12. The method of providing information content to mobile communications devices as claimed in claim 11, wherein said step of processing said information content including the step of dividing said information content to a preliminary component to be displayed in said scrolling information display and a secondary component which is the additional information of said preliminary component to be displayed on said mobile communications device upon user request.
13. The method of providing information content to mobile 3ommunications devices as claimed in claim 10, wherein said step further comprising the step of receiving user input to a selected information content in the scrolling information display to access the additional information.
14. The method of providing information content to mobile communications devices as claimed in claim 13, wherein said additional information is included • not limited to textual file, audio and video presentation or other file associated with other interactive e-commerce functions such BS sms competitions, sms gaming, voting, mobile shopping and content downloading.
15. A mobile communications device that displays information content comprising: a Windows based operating system for establishing a connection with a web server of the system for receiving said information content from said web server via communications network; a device platform associated with said web server to generate said information content from said web server into a scrolling information display; and a display screen for displaying said information content in said scrolling information display on said mobile communications device.
16. The mobile communications device that displays information content as claimed in claim 15, wherein said device platform is based on the .NET compact framework.
17. 'The mobile communications device that displays information content as claimed in claim 16, wherein said device platform can be configured to automatically input information associated from selected information content into the applications of said mobile communications device such as in the calendar and contacts functions on the mobile communications device upon user activation.
18. The mobile communications device that displays information content as claimed ■ in claim 15, wherein said scrolling information display is a predefined but customizable region of said display screen to enable said information content to scroll across said display screen.
19. The mobile communications device that displays information content as claimed in claim 18, wherein said information content in said scrolling information display includes at least one line of scrolling content.
20. The mobile communications device that displays information content as claimed in claim 19, wherein said information content can be received with user preference settings which is not limited to horizontal movement but also vertical and diagonal movement, with different directions that can be constructed in different font size, shape, customizable background, text color, international language options or the like.
PCT/MY2007/000009 2006-01-26 2007-01-26 Information distribution and interactive e-commerce system and method WO2007086723A1 (en)

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MYPI20060379 2006-01-26

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