Patent Application
20070202850
The present invention relates generally to messaging applications for mobile communication devices, and more particularly, to an integrated messaging application capable of sending text messages, multimedia messages, email messages and instant messages.
Mobile communication devices, such as cellular telephones, offer customers a wide variety of messaging services, enabling customers to send and receive text messages, multimedia messages, email messages and instant messages. To facilitate ease of use, the current trend is to integrate some or all of the available messaging applications into a single integrated application with a common composer for creating messages. The common composer typically includes a set of editing tools for creating and sending messages. The user can thus use the same interface and a consolidated set of editing tools to create different types of messages.
Cellular operators and service providers often have different charging schemes for different types of messages. For example, a service provider may charge on a per message basis for SMS text messages, a flat monthly fee for email, and a cost per bit for multimedia messages. When using an integrated message composer, the user may not realize what type of message the user is creating. Since there may be a substantial cost difference between different types of messages, the user may unknowingly incur undesired expenses to send a message that would have been substantially cheaper using a different service. For example, a simple SMS text message intended for a relatively inexpensive transport may unwittingly become a more expensive multimedia message when the user attaches a sound file or image. Thus, while the integrated message composer is intended as a convenience for the user, it may cause confusion and worry about the cost of messages being sent.
The present invention relates to a messaging application that provides the user with information about the type and cost of messages to be sent. In one exemplary embodiment, the messaging application includes a common composer for creating messages of two or more different types. For example, the common composer application may be used to create simple text messages, email messages, instant messages, and multimedia messages. The messaging application includes a cost estimation function for estimating the cost of a message and indicating the estimated costs of the message to the user before it is sent. The estimated cost may be displayed to the user in a portion of an application window for the message composer. For example, the type and cost of the message can be displayed to the user in a title bar, menu bar, or status bar of an application window. The estimated cost of the message could also be presented to the user in a pop-up window, such as a message box or dialog box. The pop-up window may prompt the user to confirm a previous command to send a message so that the user does not inadvertently send an undesirably expensive message. The user is thus given an opportunity to edit the content of the message before it is sent such that a cheaper transport can be used to send the message if desired. By giving users confidence in the cost of messages being sent, the present invention may encourage otherwise hesitant users to send messages without fear that the messages will incur undesired expenses.
The menu bar 154 in the exemplary embodiment displays two menu items 158 that are used to access pop-up menus as shown in
As additional content is added to the message, the type and/or cost of the message may change. Referring to
Providing information to the user about the type and cost of the message before it is sent provides more certainty about the cost of messages being sent. Some users that are hesitant to use messaging services because of worries about the cost of such services will be encouraged to make more use of messaging services. If a message is considered too costly, the user also has an opportunity to change the content of the message to reduce the cost before the message is sent.
In the exemplary embodiment described above, cost information is provided for individual messages and is not stored. That is, the cost information is discarded after the message is sent. In some embodiments, the messaging application 100 can store historical cost information about the cost of each message sent. Also, some embodiments may track the cumulative cost of all messages sent over a defined period of time. The cumulative cost of all messages sent over a defined period may also be displayed to the user.
In some embodiments of the invention, the messaging application 100 may generate a pop-up window 160 before the message is sent to inform the user of the cost of the message as shown in
The user may consider the display of the pop-up window 160 with every message to be annoying. Therefore, the messaging application 100 may allow the user to set preferences to control when the pop-up window 160 is displayed. The user preferences may permit the user to suppress the pop-up window 160 for all messages, or for some messages based on a predefined criterion. The pop-up window 160 may be suppressed depending on the type or cost of the message, the time of day, the cumulative cost of messages sent over a defined period, or other criteria. For example, the user may chose to suppress the pop-up window 160 for text messages and to enable the pop-up window 160 for all other messages. In another example, the user may select to suppress the pop-up window 160 where the cost of the individual message is less than a specified amount, e.g. 10 cents, or where the cumulative cost of all messages sent over a defined period is less than a specified amount. In other embodiments, the user may enable the pop-up window for specified times of the day when costs are high and suppress the pop-up window 160 for times of day when the rates are lower.
A transceiver 16 coupled to an antenna 18 and under the control of the system controller 12 enables communication with remote devices. The transceiver 16 may, for example, comprise a fully functional cellular transceiver operating according to any known standard. A user interface 20 enables the user to interact with the mobile terminal 10. The user interface 20 includes a microphone 22 for converting audible signals into electrical audio signals, a speaker 24 for converting electrical audio signals into audible sounds, one or more input controls indicated generally by the numeral 30 for receiving user input, and a display 40 to display information for viewing by the user. Any known type of input controls 30 for receiving user input may be used including hard and soft keys, programmable keys, keypads, dials, joysticks, buttons, thumbwheels, touch pads, etc. The selection keys 32 and navigation keys 34 shown in
The messaging application 100 is stored in memory 14 and executed by the system processor 12. Memory 14 further stores cost information, which may be in the form of a cost table 112, that is accessed by the cost estimation function 106 to estimate the cost of messages. In one exemplary embodiment, the cost table 112 is stored in a SIM card or other removable memory device. The cost table 112 is downloaded into memory 14 during device provisioning, which may occur over-the-air. The service provider can update the cost table 112 whenever the pricing for messaging services changes or when the user changes service plans. The cost table 112 contains cost information for all messaging services, and may include information on roaming costs and time-of-day pricing.
While the implementation of the cost table as an XML document provides a convenient method for updating the cost table, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the cost table could be implemented in other ways. For example, the cost table could be implemented as a database table, associative hash table, or other data structure.
The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other ways than those specifically set forth herein without departing from essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.
