Social messaging hub system

Abstract

A social messaging hub provides communication services for a data enabled device having Internet network access capabilities such as a portable media player, personal digital assistant, a Wi-Fi mobile platform, a tablet computer, portable e-Reader, a personal computer, a laptop and a netbook computer. The social messaging hub communicates with the data enabled device over the Internet or cellular data networks, and interfaces with a message infrastructure including mobile carriers, message aggregators, message exchanges and various specialized social messaging services. Messages may originate in or be delivered to other users' mobile telephones or in similarly equipped and provisioned IP data enabled devices. The social messaging hub can provide a predetermined auto-reply response and retain messages for a timed duration in a message retention queue when requested by a user. Messages may be viewed with a data enabled device application at various zoom levels.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation in part of United States patent application having Ser. No. 13 / 111,109 entitled “SOCIAL MESSAGING HUB,” filed May 19, 2011 that shares inventorship with the present application and which is a continuation in part of United States patent application having Ser. No. 12 / 535,323 entitled “SMS TECHNOLOGY FOR COMPUTERIZED DEVICES,” filed Aug. 4, 2009 that shares inventorship with the present application and which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. Nos. 61 / 137,918, entitled “Apparatus and methods for TV social applications,” filed Aug. 5, 2008; 61 / 164,705, entitled “SMS Technology for Computerized Devices,” filed Mar. 30, 2009; and 61 / 346,133 entitled “SOCIAL MESSAGING SYSTEM AND DEVICES,” filed May 19, 2010; that share inventorship with the present application. This application claims the benefit of the filing date of: earlier filed United States Provisional Patent Application havin...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]Such a technique, overcomes the limitations of carrier networks and international boundaries. Significantly, this technique provides a telephone number to the user, thus invoking many of the legal rights enjoyed by telephone subscribers in the user's jurisdiction. The service may appeal especially to parents who do not want their children to have mobile phones, but understand the value of texting and other messaging for the child's social life, enabling communications and educational development; or who wish to have each family member in a family plan service, but without the high costs associated with full mobile telephony plans. In this case, the virtual phone number may be viewed as a placeholder for later telephone service, for example when the child graduates beyond elementary school. From the provider perspective, because the use of a virtual phone number for addressing SMS / MMS / EMS messages neither requires nor involves the extensive tracking and routing infrastructure that supports mobile voice calling, but can be supported by a simple web-based server network, they may offer virtual number messaging services at attractive and affordable rates without incurring incremental capital requirements.

[0010]Indeed, all subscriber messages are transmitted over the Internet through one or more servers and a message aggregation entity in the messaging infrastructure, so the entire service may be set up as a small third party or outside NUVO, or as similarly small Internet-coupled server operation within an existing mobile carrier (or land-line) network. When offered by an existing mobile carrier to a subscriber with an existing mobile phone, the system enables a user to additionally log onto a web-based service to send and receive SMS / MMS messages with his PC or other data enabled device. Such a web-based service may also operate to send and receive messages identified by a user's land line phone number, even if the user's land line / fixed phone is not SMS / MMS / EMS capable. The social messaging hub may be configured to exchange user messages with common messaging entities, such as Microsoft Windows Live Messenger, AIM, Yahoo, GoogleTalk™, Twitter, Facebook and others, so that texting mobile phones and non-telephony data devices can enjoy substantially similar messaging capabilities. When offered by an existing mobile carrier to a subscriber with an existing mobile phone, the system enables a user to additionally use a secondary phone number simultaneously with his primary phone number to send and receive SMS / MMS / EMS messages with his mobile phone, in essence providing a duality of identifications on a single device.

[0013]In another embodiment, a technique for controlling reception of SMS messages to be delivered to a data enabled device includes registering the data enabled device with a social messaging hub with a unique identifier, receiving a message from a message source through a message service directed to the user's data enabled device registered with the unique identifier obtained from the message source, providing the message using to an inbound service, establishing a connection between a data enabled device and the inbound service, receiving a request to suspend message delivery and retain messages on the social messaging hub, providing a predetermined auto reply response to the originator of the message and retaining the messages in a message retention queue on the social messaging hub. Such a technique, allows a user to suspend reception of SMS text messages when it is inconvenient, unsafe are not permitted. The user can also select which predetermined auto-reply response is sent to the originator of a message. These features are selected in an App on the data enabled device and operate in conjunction with the social messaging hub. An additional feature allows a user to set a timer which controls a duration of the message delivery suspension and retention of the messages in a message retention queue on the social messaging hub.

Problems solved by technology

However, in doing so, each industry has also been limited by its own equipment, data transfer speeds and connection abilities.

However, despite these developments blurring boundaries between the classical phone, mobile telephone, Internet, wireless and television or cable networks, there has not been a convergence.

This second-level infrastructure imposes further constraints of the feasible, or economically feasible, set of features that a consumer may exercise.

However, many other personal devices while having large data capacity, ability to connect to another user device and ability to run entertainment apps, may entirely lack the mobile telephone electronic circuitry necessary for exchanging mobile messages with telephone users.

Additionally, the delivery of messages in some social messaging systems is affected by limitations of carrier networks and international boundaries.

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