WO2007042987A1

WO2007042987A1 - A mobile personalized information platform

Info

Publication number: WO2007042987A1
Application number: PCT/IB2006/053677
Authority: WO
Inventors: Edzer Huitema; Kenny Darmadji; Volker B. Verschoor
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V.; U.S. Philips Corporation
Priority date: 2005-10-14
Filing date: 2006-10-06
Publication date: 2007-04-19

Abstract

An information providing system is disclosed. The system includes one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) which utilize a simplified and easy to use navigation interface for scrolling between and selecting various items displayed on a display screen of the device (109). The simplified navigation interface is realizable by virtue of performing content management and personalization functions for the devices (109) at a web-portal (103) separate from the device (109). In one embodiment, an information providing system comprises one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109); a server device (104) for receiving content feeds (10) from remote servers (150) over a first network (108) and for pushing a user-selected subset of said received content feeds (10) to the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) via at least said first network (108); and a web portal (103) hosted by said server device (104) for providing a web portal view of content feed hyperlinks, wherein each of said content feed hyperlinks is associated with a particular content feed (10) stored on one of said remote servers (150).

Description

A Mobile Personalized Information Platform

The present invention disclosed herein generally relates to information distribution and associated devices. More particularly, exemplary embodiments of the invention concern systems and methods directed to performing content management and personalization of a broad information content suite of content feed resources and distributing personalized content derived from the content suite to one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices.

The popularity of the Internet has given rise to a consumer demand for uninterrupted access to information. To accommodate the consumer demand, a plethora of information services have been developed to cater to consumers accustomed to accessing timely, personalized news and information. Currently, about six million sites generate RSS feeds, including the New York Times, BBC and CNN, for example. Many mobile devices have access to information through a wireless transmission link. Such information can include electronic mail or pager information including news, weather, sports, traffic and local event information. Additionally, mobile devices are used to browse web or internet content.

Present-day use of the World Wide Web generally involves a person using a Web browser client process to request delivery of identified content from an identified server process or server node via the Internet. Under this paradigm, a user browses the Web looking for information relevant to the user's present interests and requests transmission and presentation of such located information. Search engine sites on the Web may aid the user in locating relevant information but none-the-less, the user is required to locate and request the information to be presented. The server node then responds to the user's request by transmitting the requested content for presentation by the user's Web browser.

Other features of the Internet permit use of so-called "push" technology whereby a vendor or other provider of information sends generally unsolicited information through the Internet for presentation to the user at a Web browser client process or using other presentation processes. For example, push technology is often utilized to transmit advertisements from a vendor to a Web user regardless of whether the user has requested such information.

Though push technology has generally been utilized for providing advertising content to a user on the Web, present utilization of computing networks does not provide for analysis of preferences of the user or other factors to push other forms of content to the user that may be most useful or desirable for the user.

Even in the case where other forms of content, which may be most useful and desirable to the user, is pushed to the user, the content is not so easily handled in a small mobile device in a user friendly and customizable way. This results from a lack of content management in the small mobile device. Ideally, the small mobile device requires content management features to select the most interesting content sources from the millions of sources available on the Internet. This is problematic in that the small mobile device is not configured to include keyboard and mouse inputs, as is commonly provided with laptops and desktops. Thus, combining the functions of content management and content reader in a single mobile device is impractical if not impossible to achieve.

It would therefore be desirable to provide a way to perform content management and personalization of a broad information content suite at a web-portal, separate from a user's dedicated mobile content reader device and distribute the customized content to the user's dedicated mobile content reader device. In this manner, the user's dedicated mobile content reader device would only be required to perform content reader functions thus simplifying its user interface.

The present invention is directed to an improved wireless information service, business method, operation method, network and system for delivering personalized content to users of dedicated mobile content reader devices. According to one aspect, the dedicated mobile content reader devices of the system advantageously utilize a simplified and easy to use navigation interface comprised solely of navigation keys and/or buttons, for scrolling between and selecting various items displayed on a display screen of the device. The display screen is preferably a flexible or rollable display type screen. The simplified navigation interface is realizable by virtue of performing content management and personalization functions for the content reader devices at a web-portal separate from the device.

According to another aspect, a web portal hosted by a web server is comprised of a plurality of content feed hyperlinks for display to an end user in a web portal view. The content feed hyperlinks are preferably categorized at the web portal based on different categorizations. New content feed hyperlinks may be added to the existing content feed hyperlinks at the web portal. It is contemplated to allow users to exchange their user profiles with other users and communicate and discuss various topics with other users. Each content feed hyperlink displayed in the web portal view refers to a particular content feed hosted on a remote server on the network, made available by a content provider and/or aggregator. An advantage of aggregating the plurality of content feed hyperlinks in a web portal view at the web portal is that it allows a user to obtain a clear overview of the available content feeds for performing personalization functions such as creating user profiles. The user profiles identify user preferred content to be downloaded to the user's mobile dedicated content reader device.

According to another aspect, a method for customizing and distributing content to a dedicated mobile content reader device includes the following acts. An end user views a plurality of content feed hyperlinks at a web portal, wherein each of the content feed hyperlinks is associated with a particular content feed hosted by a content provider on a remote server on a first network. The end user selects preferred content feed hyperlinks displayed at the web portal to create a user profile comprised of the network addresses of content providers associated with the selected preferred content feed hyperlinks. Content is distributed to the dedicated mobile content reader device from those content providers identified in the user profile by their associated network address. In one embodiment, referred to herein as a 'push' method, the user profile is stored as a configuration file in a database co-located with a web server running the web portal. Periodically, the web server accesses the locally stored configuration file to facilitate retrieval of new and updated information (e.g., the most recent news and headlines) from remote servers operated by preferred content providers identified in the user profile. The updated information is aggregated at the web server and 'pushed' to the end user's dedicated mobile content reader device.

In another embodiment, referred to herein as a 'pull' method, the user profile, stored as a configuration file is stored at both the web server and the end user's dedicated mobile content reader device. In this embodiment, the transfer of new and updated information is initiated at the dedicated mobile content reader device. The transfer may be initiated by the end user or by the device. Whenever a transfer of new and updated information is initiated at the device, the device accesses a locally stored configuration file to facilitate direct access of remote servers operated by the preferred content providers identified in the configuration file by their associated network address to retrieve the new and updated information.

According to one aspect, end users can receive personalized advertisements on the web- portal. In one embodiment, when an end user selects a content feed associated with a particular category of content feeds (e.g., sports, corporate data and information, etc.) the system determines the category selection and responsively retrieves one or more advertisements that are matched to the particular category for display to the end user on the web portal. In this manner, content management and advertising management are matched. In another embodiment, whenever a keyword search is performed by the user on a GUI interface of the web portal to locate particular content, advertisements matching the keyword can be displayed together with the search results. Such advertising is referred to as "keyword-targeted advertising".

According to one aspect, the dedicated mobile content reader utilizes a simplified user interface (UI) for content navigation and content refresh. In one embodiment, the dedicated mobile content reader comprises a large display screen and navigation buttons for scrolling and selecting content. The display screen can be a flexible or rollable type display.

The term "dedicated" is used herein to refer to a content reader that is specialized for use in the mobile personalized information system of the present invention. A dedicated content reader may also be capable of performing or included in a housing with other devices capable of performing, ancillary or even unrelated, incidental functions, such as also serving as a cell phone, PDA, radio, GPS device or the like. Interfaces and controls of a dedicated content reader may also be used for those functions as well as for the dedicated content reader.

The foregoing features of the present invention will become more readily apparent and may be understood by referring to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of an information providing system at the highest level.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary user profile, according to an embodiment of the invention, is a block diagram illustrating portal interface functionality according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating portal interface functionality according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary configuration file 400 for performing keyword searching according to an embodiment of the invention, and

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a dedicated mobile content reader device according to an embodiment of the invention.

Although the following detailed description contains many specifics for the purpose of illustration, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that many variations and alterations to the following description are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following embodiments of the invention is set forth without any loss of generality to, and without imposing limitations upon, the claimed invention. As illustrated in the accompanying diagrams, the present invention is an improved wireless information service, business method, operation method, network and system for delivering the same. It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the present invention have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevant for a clear understanding of the present invention, while eliminating, for purposes of clarity, many other elements found in content delivery and wireless communications systems, respectively. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other elements are desirable and/or required in order to implement the present invention. However, because such elements are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, a discussion of such elements is not provided herein.

Although the present invention, method and system for distributing content to end users is particularly well suited for use with the Internet and shall be so described, the present invention is equally well suited for use in other network communication systems including but not limited to an Intranet, extranet, Interactive television (iTV) and similar interactive networked communication systems.

The embodiments of a system, method, wireless information service, business method, operation method, network and system in accordance with the present invention are described with reference to the drawings in FIGS. 1 - 5. Operating Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary information providing system, for operation in an operating environment, denoted generally as 100. The information providing system is described at the highest level in which the present invention can operate. Although this exemplary operating environment 100 comprises multiple types of networks, including an information protocol (IP) network 108 and a wireless network 110 (e.g., GPRS, UMTS), the invention may be employed in connection with any other type of network that is effective in implementing or facilitating communication. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should not be construed to be limited to the exemplary operating environment indicated in FIG. 1. In the exemplary illustrated embodiment, the system of the invention includes one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices 109, one of which is shown, (also referred to herein as "mobile device(s) or "the device"), a web server 104 for receiving content feeds 10, 12, 14 from remote servers 150 associated with respective content providers 160 over an internet protocol network 108 and for pushing the content feeds 10, 12, 14 to the one or more mobile devices 109 and a web portal hosted by the web server for providing a web portal view of content feed hyperlinks. The system of the invention further includes a personal computer 107 communicably coupled to the web server 104 via the IP network 108 and to the device 109 via an interface 113. The personal computer 107 includes configuration means, profile generation means, means for managing configuration setting, and means for browsing through tagged content. The device 109 may further interface with other network elements and various gateways to implement the methods of the invention.

The web portal 103 provides a web portal view to end users (as shown in FIG. 3) comprised of a plurality of content feed hyperlinks including general and personalized content feed hyperlinks. The web portal view assists an end user 115 in determining which content feeds to select from those displayed for inclusion in a user created profile (as shown in FIG. 3). Each content feed hyperlink displayed on the web portal view corresponds to an associated content feed source 10, 12, 14 hosted on a remote server 150 associated with a respective content provider 160 on the network 108. As is well known in the art, the content feed sources 10, 12, 14 are available for downloading over the IP network 108 to anyone with a network connection, including, for example, web server 104.

The system of the invention further comprises a content links database 118 for organizing and storing content feed hyperlinks displayed on the web portal view and additionally stores user created profiles of preferred content links. In one embodiment, the web portal 103 includes an analysis component 102 for categorizing content feeds hyperlinks at the web portal 103 for proper positioning in the web portal view. Categorization may be based on various categorization parameters including, for example, topic, user ranking, date, most downloaded, management ranking, interest, age, free content, subscription (fee based) content, suitability for display on a particular rollable or flexible screen (e.g., with regard to gray or color scale, level of interaction required, resolution, etc.)

The system of the invention further comprises a user profile creation component 111 to facilitate the creation of one or more user created profiles comprised of user preferred content links. The user profile creation component 111 interfaces with the content links database 118 to transfer the user created profiles for storage therein.

The system of the invention further comprises a customization component 106 to provide a preview of the screen display of content shown to an end user 115, as described below. The system of the invention further comprises a keyword search component 117 for performing a keyword search including keyword search criteria applied to certain content feeds identified in a user profile for determining which of certain content feeds satisfy the keyword search criteria, as described below.

The personal computer (PC) 107 is shown communicably coupled to the web server 104 via IP network 108. The personal computer 107 is also shown communicably coupled to the end user's dedicated mobile content reader device 109 via interface 113 which may be, for example, a Bluetooth or USB interface. The PC 107 facilitates the downloading of configuration settings or other information (e.g., documents) directly from the PC desktop to the mobile content reader device 109 quickly and at a reduced cost as compared with the wireless link 110. The PC 107 also facilitates configuration of the mobile content reader device 109. Configuration may include, for example, storing the address of the web server 104 hosting the web portal 103 in the mobile content reader device's permanent memory, storing the address of the mobile content reader device 109 in the content link database 118 on web server 104, and upgrading firmware of the mobile content reader device 109. With continued reference to FIG. 1, the operating environment 100 includes a mobile network operator 105 shown communicably coupled to the web server 104 via IP network 108. The mobile network operator 105 coordinates communication with the one or more devices 109 via wireless link 110. It is noted that there is no restriction on the type of wireless link 110 that may be used, however, it should be understood that a high speed wireless data connection is preferred. Each mobile network operator 105 may bi-directionally communicate with the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices 109 via a cellular-based communication infrastructure that utilizes cellular-based communication protocols such as, for example, AMPS, CDMA, TDMA, GSM, iDEN, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, WCDMA and their variants. In other embodiments, the mobile content reader 109 may not utilize a wireless link to communicate with the web server 104, but may communicate with the web server 104 using various gateways to network 108. The connection to each device 109 in the exemplary illustrative embodiment includes a wired connection 108 and a wireless connection 110. In other embodiments, the operating environment 100 may include additional wired or wireless portions in the end-to-end path between a given content provider 150 and the device 109 as needed.

The content feeds 10, 12, 14 that may be used in the system disclosed here may be selected from many different content creators and aggregators. Content creators include for example news services such as CNN, BBC, the New York Times, NBC and ESPN, whose business it is to create or commission to create, and own content. Content aggregators are firms whose business it is to collect certain types of content, such as news feeds, for the purpose of enabling ease of selection by end users and distribution.

Content may be categorized by type (e.g., news, mail, and the like) and format (e.g., RSS, ATOM, OCS, and the like). The use of RSS, ATOM, OCS and other formats to share and license web content across web sites is well known in the art. Content may be defined herein as being inclusive of text as well as a wide variety of rich content types such as color pictures, audio, music, video clips, Java games, and the like.

The content aggregators generally make their content available free-of-cost and without copyright restrictions or with usage rights associated (price, usage restrictions, etc.) to end users 115 for their personal consumption. In certain cases, a content aggregator may charge a fee for particular content in which case a fee arrangement is made between an end user 115 and the content aggregator.

Content management and personalization are preferably performed at the web portal 103, via a portal interface 300 (i.e., the web portal view, as shown in FIG. 3), to allow end users 115 to obtain a clear overview of the content feeds displayed on the portal interface 300 as an aggregation of content feed hyperlinks. The content feed hyperlinks chosen for display at the web portal 103 are referred to herein as an "information content suite" of content feed hyperlinks. The web portal view may be created and/or managed by an end user 115 or, for example, by a third party such as a web portal operator. The web portal view 300 allows an end user 115 to create one or more user profiles, where each user profile is comprised of preferred content feed hyperlinks selected by the end user 115 from the information content suite.

User Profile Creation

An end user 115 may create one or more 'user profiles' (as shown in FIG. 2) from the information content suite provided displayed in the web portal view 300 (as shown in FIG. 3). The construction of a user profile includes providing an end user 115 with the capability to select desired content feed hyperlinks (e.g., by well known point and click methods) to select desirable content feed hyperlinks displayed in the web portal view 300. In one embodiment, the user profile creation component 111 receives as input data, preferred content feed hyperlinks selected by the end user 115. The user profile creation component 111 constructs a configuration file from the input data. The configuration file is preferably constructed as a list of network addresses of remote servers hosting content associated with the selected content feed hyperlinks, as described further below.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary user profile 200 that may be created by an end user 115, or a third party. The exemplary user profile 200 includes a number of addresses (e.g., IP, http, www addresses) corresponding to associated content feeds from the information content suite that are of particular interest to the end user 115. Typically, a user profile is category specific. However, a user profile may also represent a cross-section of user interests as illustrated in the exemplary user profile of FIG. 2.

Typically, a user profile is directed to a particular category of user interest such as, for example, a business profile comprised of network addresses of content feeds from business related content providers and aggregators such as CNN, ABC and Forbes, or a vacation profile comprised of network addresses of content feeds from vacation related content providers such as Expedia, TravelAmerica and Conde Nast.

The exemplary user profile illustrated in FIG. 2 represents a cross-section of user interests comprising news, sports information, financial information including stock quotes and trends, weather information, and the like. An end user 115 can create as many user profiles as desired. For example, the end user 115 may create, a business user profile, a private user profile, a weekend user profile and the like. In the case where there are multiple user profiles, the end user 115 selects one of the user profiles as the 'active' user profile for downloading updated information.

It is contemplated to be able to allow an end user 115 to exchange his or her user profile(s) with other end users to allow the various end users to communicate and discuss certain topics with each other based on their respective user profiles. Examples are a forum, chatting and emailing. It is further contemplated to allow end users to change or modify their respective user profiles. That is, the end user 115 can add, delete, or modify elements of the user profile as needed.

It is also contemplated to allow an end user 115 to employ the assistance of a third party web site to create a user profile. Typical third party sites that assist in the creation of a user's personal profile include, for example, ht^T/wwwjϊCrcncexρjn/sitc.^lφ, an RSS reader from Serence. This site includes content management for the particular newsreader in place. Another example is 24eyes (http://www.24eyes.corn). Here the user gets a preconfϊgured profile at the start of the user profile creation process. The preconfϊgured profile looks like a preview on the device 109.

Web Portal View Referring now to FIG. 3, an exemplary web portal interface page 300 (i.e., web portal view) is illustrated to show the broad information content suite of content feed hyperlinks and exemplary functions that are provided to an end user 115 at the web portal 103. As stated above, the web portal view 300 facilitates the construction of user profiles by end users 115.

The web portal view300 illustrated in FIG. 3 is in the form of a browser frame supporting all of the generic browser pull-down menus 340 and all of the generic browser icons 350. Like all browser frame architectures, there is an Internet or network navigation address window or bar 360, which in this example reads http://www.readius.com . It is noted that Readius is a trademark of Polymer Vision a manufacturer of rollable display systems.

The web portal view 300, according to the illustrative embodiment, divides the content feed hyperlinks into categories including: (1) Specialized Information Content 304, (2) Corporate Data and Information 314, (3) Generic Information Content 322, and (4) Other Services 332. Of course, the categories may be different in other embodiments. Note that categories 1 -3 are non-personal in nature while the Other Services 332 category is comprised of personalized content feed hyperlinks.

In the illustrative embodiment, each category shown in FIG. 3 further comprises a number of sub-categories and within each sub-category there is shown a number of content feed hyperlinks, generically labeled feed 1, 2, 3 and so on, for ease of explanation. Functionally, the content feed hyperlinks which make up the information content suite, are graphical representations of HTML links to actual content feeds, such as text feeds, as well as a wide variety of rich content feed types such as, for example, color pictures, audio, music, video clips, Java games, and the like. The content feed hyperlinks shown in the web portal view 300 are preferably organized and stored in a content link database 118 on web server 104. The actual content files that the HTML links refer to are stored on remote servers 150 associated with various content creators and content aggregators on network 108. The process of categorizing the content feed hyperlinks may be performed manually, automatically, or some combination thereof. The analysis component 102 (as shown in FIG. 1) at the web portal 104, includes means for categorizing the content feed hyperlinks. Analysis may include, for example, analyzing the content feed type by keyword matching with a known database of category types.

The content feed hyperlinks may be periodically checked for operability. Further, whenever a content provider 150 provides a new content feed, the new content feed is preferably checked for appropriateness and suitability. End users 115 have the option of reporting broken feeds and suggesting new feeds to an operator of the web portal 103.

Content displayed to an end user 115 at the web portal 103 may be displayed in a substantially identical manner to the way the content is displayed to the end user 115 at the device 109. Specifically, the web portal 103 provides a preview of the screen display of content shown to an end user 115 at the device 109. For example, in one embodiment, the customization component 106 at web portal 103 may be utilized to provide a preview of the screen display of content shown to an end user 115 by drawing a rectangle corresponding to the size of the display of the device 109 and displaying information provided by a user selected content feed in the rectangle. As additional content feeds are selected for inclusion in the user profile, multiple rectangles may be shown at the web portal 103, displaying all of the screens that will be made available to the end user 115 operating the device 109. In the case where the particular configuration settings of the device 109 are known, the preview is virtually identical to what the end user 115 is shown at the device 109. Advantageously, this provides a unified look to the end user 115 and makes fast customization on the web portal 103 of the way the content is displayed on the device 109 possible (e.g., background, text size, character type, layout, etc.).

Also shown in FIG. 3, in the "Other Services" category 232 of the web portal view 300, is a Voice-to-text sub-category 334 for and an email sub-category 336 which includes one or more links for supplying the user's device 109 with e-mail from respective email servers of the user's choosing. It is also contemplated to allow an end user 115 to select new content feeds by copying the address (e.g., IP, hyperlink, http, www, etc.) of a content feed discovered by an end user 115 into the network navigation address window or bar 360 of the portal interface page 300 and selecting the 'add feed' button 340 on the portal interface page 300. For example, "USA Today top headlines" has a feed address: htlp://w vvw.usatoday.com/repurposing/NewslineRss.xml , which can be found on the USA Today website to be copied into navigation address window 360. Upon pressing the 'add feed' button 340, an analysis component 102 of the web portal 103 categorizes the newly added content feed (e.g., news headlines). One with skill in the art of various network-capable devices will appreciate that the interface 300 may both visually and functionally appear differently according to device type, access protocol, and supported media types without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will also be apparent to one with skill in the art that portal interface page 300 can have many function variations and view possibilities without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Receiving and Displaying Content in the Device

A method for retrieving and distributing content according to invention principles will now be described according to two preferred modes of operation, referred to herein as a 'push' mode and a 'pull' mode. Push Mode

As stated above, one or more user profiles are stored at the web server 104 as respective configuration files in the content links database 118. In the push mode, the currently active configuration file is retrieved from the database 118 at each refresh period or interval for collecting new and updated information. The refresh period or interval may be triggered automatically by a timing mechanism on the web server 104.

At each refresh interval or period, the web server 104 accesses the currently active configuration file stored in the content links database 118 at the web server 104. Using the configuration file, the web server 104 accesses each remote server 150 listed in the file by address to query a remote server 150 on the IP network 108 corresponding to the listed address to obtain new and updated information. The new and updated information is collected from each remote server 150 at the web server 104 for distribution to the device 109. This process is repeated again at the next refresh period or interval.

Pull Mode

As stated above, one or more user profiles are stored at the web server 104 as respective configuration files in the content links database 118. In the push mode, the currently active configuration file is retrieved from the database 118 at each refresh period or interval for collecting new and updated information. In the pull mode, new and updated information from the content providers identified in the configuration file may be refreshed in accordance with a pre-defined refresh interval or period which may be triggered automatically on the device 109 or manually at the request of the end user 115 operating the device 109 by depressing a refresh trigger button, for example, on the device 109. At each refresh period or interval, new and updated information is retrieved directly by the device 109. Using the configuration file, the device 109 accesses each remote server 150 listed in the configuration file by address to query a remote server 150 on the IP network 108 corresponding to the listed address to obtain new and updated information. Keyword Search

In addition to 'pull' and 'push' modes described above, it is further contemplated to permit end users to perform directed searches, referred to herein as "keyword searching".

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary configuration file 400 for performing keyword searching according to an embodiment of the invention. The configuration file 400 is shown generally divided into two regions, a first region 402, labeled "Non-Keyword Search Component" and a second region 404, labeled "Keyword Search Component" including a "Keywords" sub-section. It is noted that the first section, labeled "Non-Keyword Search Component", corresponds to the conventional configuration file, described above (see FIG. 2). Accordingly, this first section omits the use of keywords and operates in accordance with the conventional content distribution method described above.

The second region 404, labeled "Keyword Search Component", is comprised of a list of addresses corresponding to preferred content provider feeds, similar to that shown in the first section. One difference in this section is the utilization of certain keywords and keyword operators.

In the illustrative example of FIG. 4, there is shown three user supplied keywords, i.e., "Global Warming, "Satellite" and "Ice Caps" (using the AND operator) connected by the AND operator, thus forming a keyword search string 406. The keyword search string 406 specifies that for each content feed identified in the second section 404, the keyword search string 406 must be satisfied to allow new and updated information to be returned to device 109. For example, referring to the first content feed in the list, i.e., http://sports.cspn. go.cora^spn/rss/news, at least a single occurrence of each of the three keywords is required to be found in the content feed information to allow the information to be returned to the device 109 (i.e., retrieved). The astute reader will recognize that the keyword search string 406 acts as a user directed content filter.

While only a single keyword search string 406 is shown in FIG. 4, it is contemplated to allow an end user 115 to include multiple keyword search strings in the configuration file 400. This may be performed in one way by extending the configuration file 400 to include additional keyword search strings and a set of content feed links to operate on. For example, the configuration file 400 of FIG. 4 could be extended to include an additional set of content feeds, such as, http://www.whitchouse.eov/rss/ and http://intcrelacial.com/rss/soiouracrs.rss and an associated keyword string such as, for example, "president OR vice-president" as an operator. In this case, if either of the keywords are located in the respective content feeds, the content feed information will be returned to the device 109.

Dedicated Mobile Content Reader Device initial configuration

The first time a user attempts to download content, an initial configuration of the device is required. In the pull mode of operation, described above, initial configuration includes downloading the end user's user profile (i.e., configuration file) from the content links database 118 at the web server 104 to the device 104.

One method for downloading the configuration file to the device 109 is for the user 115 to press a "retrieve profile" button on the device 109. In response, the currently active configuration file is downloaded to the device 109 from the web server 104, where it is locally stored. This method requires that the device 109 includes transmission capabilities and has the network address of the web server 104 stored in its permanent (non- volatile) memory. This could be accomplished via a factory installation in firmware

Another method for downloading the configuration file to the device 109 is for the user 115, situated at the web portal 103, to depress the 'transfer profile' button 342 on the web portal interface 300. In response, the currently active configuration file is downloaded to the device 109 from the web server 104, where it is locally stored. In accordance with this method, the web server 104 is required to know the network address of the device 109. The address can be supplied by the end user 115 at the web portal 115. Alternatively, the end user 115 may supply the device ID of the device 109 at the web portal 115, in which case the web server 104 can use the supplied device ID as an input to a translation table to derive the IP address. A third method for downloading the configuration file to the device 109 is for the user 115, situated at the PC 107, to transfer the currently active configuration file to the device 104 via interface 113.

Preference Setting

Preference settings, preferably performed at the web portal 103, encompass the determination of text size and font, to distinguish content feeds already read by the end user 115 at the device 109 and those content feeds not yet read by the end user 115 at the device. For example, content that has been read by the end user 115 may be shown in normal text, while unread content may be shown in bold. Preference settings also encompass background, auto updates (e.g., activated or non-activated) and an auto update frequency rate (e.g., once per hour) is preferably.

It is also contemplated to set preferences on the device 109. It should be recognized, however, that preference setting on the device 109 is not as easily performed given the limited user interface functionality (i.e., a minimum number of interface keys and buttons). Advertisements

Based on the creation of a user personal profile, as discussed above, it is possible to utilize the profile information to ascertain an end user's preferences and interests and display personal advertisements on the web portal 103 in accordance with those preferences and interests. For example, the content feed links identified in the user profile may be analyzed to determine that an end user 115 is interested in marketing. Accordingly, this knowledge may be used to send the end user 115 advertisements on the web portal 103 about marketing related events and items such as, marketing seminars, books, magazines and so on. Further, it is possible display marketing related links to the end user 115 concerning marketing research companies and the like. It is noted that the keyword search, described above, may also be used to facilitate the delivery of personalized advertisements to end users 115. In the case where the user profile (i.e., configuration file) contains specific keywords, those keywords may be analyzed to determine an end users 115 particular interests. In one embodiment, a fee for the personalized advertisement is received from an advertiser in exchange for allowing the advertiser to direct targeted advertising on the end user's mobile display device 109. Because the advertisements are directed to a targeted audience, higher fees may be incurred.

News Tagging Often new items in feeds also contain a link to the internet page that contains the complete information about that news item (e.g. an RSS news item fro the USA today contains a link to the website of the USA today showing the complete news item). Surfing to the internet page to read the complete information is better performed on a desktop PC 107 rather than the device 109. By saving or tagging the items read on the mobile content reader device 109, meta-data identifying the tagged items read on the device 109 are automatically sent back to the server 104 the user to provide information for the end user situated at his desktop PC 107 Dedicated Mobile Content Reader Device

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a device 109 according to an embodiment of the invention. The device 109 is embodied as a rollable display device 400 shown in an extended configuration in which an electrophoretic based viewing portion 502 of the rollable display device 500 is rolled out to display information to the user. An example of such a rollable display device 500 is described in U.S. Pat. Application No. 60/695,088, filed June 29, 2005, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD TO ENHANCE NAVIGATION IN A USER INTERFACE FOR MOBILE DEVICES, which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.

As shown in FIG. 5, by virtue of being able to configure the device 109 through the web portal 103, the user interface is simplified. That is, the user interface requires a limited number of controls (e.g., buttons, scroll wheels, etc.). In one embodiment, the number of controls may be limited to, for example, (up, down, left, right, back, select, refresh and four shortcut keys). In another embodiment, the number of controls may be limited to (up, down, left, right, back).

Most (RSS) information feeds are organized in three levels: headline, abstracts and the link to the complete information on a remote server 150 on the network. In the rollable display device 500 of FIG. 5, for example, the headlines only may be displayed. When clicking on a headline the abstract may then be displayed. Clicking on the abstract may display the full story but may require a fully extended rollable screen or a larger screen preferably with color. With a rollable display the headline can still be displayed when the display is rolled- in, i.e. with both parts of the housing shown in FIG. 5, in contact with each other. A rollable display may show headlines (or titles) in a rolled- in state (small portion of the display visible) and show abstracts and more information in the rolled-out state. The display area of the rollable display device 500 may adjust so that all states (positions and available screen area) in between rolled-in and rolled-out can be used.

The advantages of the present invention are multiple. The first and probably the most important advantage is that content management and personalization is performed apart from the device 109. Content management and personalization can be performed separately on any number of devices including, for example, a device, such as a laptop or desktop 107, as described herein, using well known user interface devices such as a keyboard and a mouse. In this manner, the device 109 only requires a simplified user interface including a minimal number of navigation buttons and a refresh button. By requiring a minimal user interface on the device 109, the device 109 can be manufactured at a significant reduction in costs. Further, the end user is presented with a simple and effective means of accessing information.

Although this invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations will be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as set forth in the appended claims. The scope of the invention is indicated in the appended claims, and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalents are intended to be embraced therein. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative manner and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. In interpreting the appended claims, it should be understood that: a) the word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other elements or acts than those listed in a given claim; b) the word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements; c) any reference signs in the claims do not limit their scope; d) several "means" may be represented by the same item or hardware or software implemented structure or function; e) any of the disclosed elements may be comprised of hardware portions (e.g., including discrete and integrated electronic circuitry), software portions (e.g., computer programming), and any combination thereof; f) hardware portions may be comprised of one or both of analog and digital portions; g) any of the disclosed devices or portions thereof may be combined together or separated into further portions unless specifically stated otherwise; and h) no specific sequence of acts is intended to be required unless specifically indicated.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An information providing system comprising: one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109); a server device (104) for receiving a user selected set of content feeds (10, 12) from remote servers (150) over a first network (108) and for pushing said user-selected set of content feeds (10, 12) to the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) over said first network (108) and a second network (110); and a web portal (103) hosted by said server device (104) for providing a web portal view of content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310), wherein each of said content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310) is associated with a corresponding content feed (10, 12, 14) hosted on one of said remote servers (150).

2. The system of Claim 1, wherein the web portal (103) further comprises customization means (106) for customizing said user-selected set of content feeds (10, 12) at said web server (104) prior to pushing said user-selected set of content feeds (10, 12) to the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) over said first (108) and second (110) networks.

3. The system of Claim 1, wherein the web portal (103) further comprises user profile creation means (111) for creating a user profile comprised of said user selected set of content feeds (10, 12).

4. The system of Claim 3, wherein said web portal (103) further includes keyword search means (117) for performing a keyword search including keyword search criteria applied to certain content feeds identified in said user profile for determining which of said certain content feeds satisfy said keyword search criteria.

5. The system of Claim 3, wherein said server device (104) is configured to periodically transmit a request to said one or more remote servers (150) hosting preferred content feeds (10, 12) to obtain new and updated content.

6. The system of Claim 1, wherein the web portal (103) further comprises analysis means (102) for categorizing said content hyperlinks (306, 308, 310) included in said web portal view.

7. The system of Claim 1, further comprising a computing device (107) including user profile generation means, means for managing configuration settings, and means for browsing tagged content received over an interface (113) from said one or more mobile content reader devices (109).

8. The system of Claim 7, wherein said interface (113) is at least one of, (a) a USB interface, (b) a Bluetooth interface, (c) an RS232 interface, (d) a printer port, (e) a com port, (f) a firewire port, (g) an IR interface.

9. The system of Claim 1, wherein said first network (108) comprises an internet protocol (IP) network.

10. The system of Claim 1, wherein said second network (110) communicably couples said first network (108) and said one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109).

11. The system of Claim 10, wherein the second network is a wireless network (110).

12. The system of Claim 1, wherein said web portal (103) further comprises a content links database (118) for organizing and storing said content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310) and said user profile at said web portal (103).

13. The system of Claim 1, wherein the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) includes means for tagging certain user selected content feeds and means for creating and transmitting meta-data corresponding to said tagged content back to said web server (104).

14. The system of Claim 1, wherein a user interface of the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) consists of navigation and function selection keys for scrolling between and selecting various items displayed on a rollable display screen of the device.

15. The system of Claim 1, wherein the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) is a bi-stable device having a small form factor and includes a rollable display screen.

16. The system of Claim 15, wherein the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) is configured to: display on the rollable display screen of said device (109) summarized new and updated content in a rolled-in state, and display on said rollable display screen of said device (109) non- summarized new and updated content in a rolled-out state.

17. The system of Claim 1, wherein the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) further comprises a cell phone.

18. The system of Claim 1, wherein the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) further comprises a PDA.

19. An information providing system comprising: a web portal (103) hosted by a server device (104) for providing a web portal view of content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310), wherein each of said content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310) is associated with a corresponding content feed (10, 12, 14) hosted on one or more remote servers (150) on a network (108); and one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) for receiving from said server device (104) a user profile comprised of preferred content feed identifiers and for further pulling from said one or more remote servers (150) on said network (108) user preferred content feeds (10, 12) corresponding to said content feed identifiers.

20. The system of Claim 19, wherein the web portal (103) further comprises user profile creation means (111) for creating said user profile.

21. The system of Claim 19, wherein said web portal (103) further includes keyword search means (117) for performing a keyword search including keyword search criteria applied to certain content feeds identified in said user profile for determining which of said certain content feeds satisfy said keyword search criteria.

22. The system of Claim 19, wherein the web portal (103) further comprises analysis means (102) for categorizing said content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310) included in said web portal view.

23. The system of Claim 19, wherein said one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) is configured to periodically transmit a request to said one or more remote servers (150) hosting preferred content feeds (10, 12) to obtain new and updated content.

24. The system of Claim 19, wherein said one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) is configured to transmit a user initiated request to said one or more remote servers (150) hosting preferred content feeds (10, 12) to obtain new and updated content.

25. The system of Claim 19, further comprising a computing device (107) including user profile generation means, means for managing configuration settings, and means for browsing tagged content received from said one or more mobile content reader devices (109).

26. The system of Claim 19, wherein said first network (108) comprises an iuternet protocol network.

27. The system of Claim 19, wherein said web portal (103) further comprises a content links database (118) for organizing and storing said content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310) and said user profile.

28. The system of Claim 19, wherein the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) includes means for tagging certain user selected content feeds and means for creating and transmitting meta-data corresponding to said tagged content back to said web server (104).

29. The system of Claim 19, wherein a user interface of the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) consists of navigation and function selection keys.

30. The system of Claim 19, wherein a user interface of the dedicated mobile content reader device (109) is consists of navigation and function selection keys for scrolling between and selecting various items displayed on a ro liable display screen of the device.

31. The system of Claim 19, wherein the at least one dedicated mobile content reader device (109) is a bi-stable device having a small form factor and includes a rollable display screen.

32. The system of Claim 31, wherein the device (109) is configured to: display on the rollable display screen of said device (109) summarized new and updated content in a rolled-in state, and display on said rollable display screen of said device (109) non-summarized new and updated content in a rolled-out state.

33. A method for selecting, customizing and distributing content to one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109), the method comprising the acts of: a) viewing a plurality of content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310) at a web portal (103) hosted by a web server (104), wherein each of said content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310) is associated with a particular content feed (10, 12, 14) hosted on a remote server (150) on a first network (108), b) selecting a set of preferred content feed hyperlinks (10, 12) displayed at the web portal (103) to create a user profile of preferred content feeds, and c) distributing content from said preferred content feeds to the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109).

34. The method of Claim 33, wherein the user profile is constructed as a list of network addresses of said remote servers (150) hosting said preferred content feeds on said first network (108).

35. The method according to Claim 33, wherein the act of distributing content from said preferred content feeds to the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) further comprises: pulling the content, at said web portal (103), from the content providers identified in said user profile via said first network (108); aggregating the content at said web portal (103), and pushing the aggregated content to said one or more dedicated mobile content reader device (109) via said first network (108) and a second network (110).

36. The method of Claim 35, wherein the second network (110) is a wireless network.

37. The method according to Claim 33, wherein the act of distributing content from said preferred content feeds to the one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) further comprises: pulling the content, at said one or more dedicated mobile content reader devices (109) from the content providers identified in said user profile via said first network (108).

38. The method of Claim 33, further comprising the acts of: performing a keyword search using including keyword search criteria applied to certain content feeds identified in said user profile for determining which of said certain content feeds satisfy said keyword search criteria; and retrieving new and updated content from those content feeds satisfying said keyword search criteria.

39. The method of Claim 33, further comprising the acts of: tagging certain content received at the dedicated mobile content reader device (109) preferred by an end user (115), creating meta-data corresponding to said tagged content, and providing said meta-data to the web server (104) to facilitate a further search of said tagged content.

40. The method of Claim 33, wherein said a plurality of content feed hyperlinks at said web portal (103) comprise personal content links and general content links.

41. The method of Claim 34, wherein said personal content links include at least one of, (a) a voice-to-text content link, and (b) an e-mail content link.

42. The method of Claim 33, further comprising configuring the dedicated mobile content reader device (109) from a personal computer (PC) (107), wherein said configuration comprises at least one of, (a) storing the address of the web server (104) in the mobile content reader device's (109) permanent memory, (b) storing the address of the mobile content reader device (109) in the content link database (118), and (c) upgrading firmware of the mobile content reader device (109).

43. The method of Claim 33, further comprising exchanging user profiles with other end users.

44. The method of Claim 33, wherein the content feeds (10, 12, 14) comprise rich feeds and text feeds.

45. The method of Claim 33, further comprising storing the content feed hyperlinks in a content link database (118).

46. The method of Claim 33, further comprising the acts of: customizing the display of content received at the web portal (103) prior to for use at the dedicated mobile content reader device (109); and providing a preview of the customized display at the web portal (103).

47. The method of Claim 33, further comprising the acts of: displaying on the rollable display screen of said device (109) summarized new and updated content in a rolled-in state, and displaying on said rollable display screen of said device (109) non- summarized new and updated content in a rolled-out state.

48. An information providing system comprising: a web portal (103) hosted by a server device (104) providing a web portal view of content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310), each of said content feed hyperlinks (306, 308, 310) being associated with a corresponding content feed (10, 12, 14) hosted on one or more remote servers (150) on a network (108); and one or more mobile content reader devices (109) receiving from said server device (104) a user profile comprised of preferred content feed identifiers and further pulling from said one or more remote servers (150) on said network (108) user preferred content feeds (10, 12) corresponding to said content feed identifiers.

49. The system of Claim 48, wherein at least one of the one or more mobile content reader devices (109) comprises a cell phone.

50. The system of Claim 48, wherein at least one of the one or more mobile content reader devices (109) comprises a PDA.