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US 2013/0086190 A1Published application
Linking Sounds and Emoticons
AssigneeAT&T Mobility II LLC
InventorsTerry Durand, Fulvio Cenciarelli, Jeffrey Mikan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for linking sounds and emoticons to allow a recipient of a message containing an emoticon to hear audio associated with the emoticon. In one aspect of the invention, a first user or sender establishes a link or association between the emoticon being sent and a sound file to be associated with that particular emoticon. The emoticon is then transmitted from the sender to the recipient along with the link or association such that the recipient can hear the audio when the emoticon is displayed.
Claims18
A method comprising:
- receiving an emoticon associated with a sound file at a server on a network;
- linking the emoticon with the sound file according to user preferences stored on the server, the user preferences indicating that the sound file is chosen to be linked with the emoticon by a sender, the user preferences periodically updated by the sender, the updating occurring by obtaining different sound files from the server and replacing a set of default sound files, linked with at least one emoticon, stored in the user preferences;
- sending the emoticon from the server to a recipient;
- and
- determining if the recipient needs the sound file, the sound file forwarded to the recipient from the server when the recipient needs the sound file, the sound file received by the server from the sender when the server does not have the sound file and the recipient needs the sound file,
- wherein the sound file is played at the recipient when the emoticon is displayed.
3 more elements
A system comprising:
- a server for facilitating communications between a sending device sending a message and a receiving device in communication with the sending device, the server connected to an electronic communications network, the server configured to
- receive the message including an emoticon from the sending device addressed to the receiving device,
- determine an association between the emoticon and a sound file,
- link the emoticon with the sound file according to user preferences stored on the server, the user preferences indicating that the sound file is chosen to be linked with the emoticon by the sender, the user preferences periodically updated by the sender, the updating occurring by obtaining different sound files from the server and replacing a set of default sound files, linked with at least one emoticon, stored in the user preferences,
- send the emoticon to the receiving device,
- determine if the receiving device has the sound file stored on
- a memory of the receiving device, and if not to forward the sound file to the receiving device from the server
- when the receiving device needs the sound file, the sound file received at the server from the sending device when the server does not have the sound file on a server memory and the receiving device needs the sound file.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.