US 8,345,836 B2 · Telecommunication and multimedia management method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication device configured to receive messages containing media over a communication network and to receive locally created messages containing media created using the communication device. The device also includes a time-shifting buffer to store in a time-based format the media contained in both the messages received over the communication network and the locally created messages. The time-shifting buffer enables on the communication device to either (i) render the media received over the network in a near real-time mode; or (ii) render both the media received over the network and the locally created media in a time-shifted mode by retrieving the stored media from the time-shifting buffer. The communication device also includes a message management system, which enables the communication device to transition the rendering of the media between the time-shifted mode and the near real-time mode without interrupting the ongoing storage of media of received messages into the time-shifting buffer.

Claims38

Dependent claims

Computer code embedded in a non-transient computer readable medium and intended to be executed on a communication device connected to a network, the code configured to:

generate an outgoing message addressed to a recipient and containing voice media created using the communication device;
receive status information indicative of the availability of the recipient on the network;
progressively transmit the voice media of the outgoing message, as the voice media is created, when the status information is indicative that the recipient is available on the network;
progressively receive an incoming message containing voice media as the voice media is received over the network from the recipient;
progressively store the voice media of:
(i) the outgoing message as the voice media is created and progressively transmitted;
and
(ii) the incoming message as the voice media is progressively received over the network;
and
selectively and progressively render the voice media of the incoming message, for the first time, both:
(iii) in near real-time as the time-base media is progressively received over the network;
and
(iv) out of storage by retrieving the voice media of the message from storage.

10 more elements

A communication method, comprising:

distributing first computer code to a first user for execution on a first communication device associated with the first user;
distributing second computer code to a second user for execution on a second communication device associated with the second user;
maintaining at a server the availability status of the first user on the network;
sharing the availability status of the first user with the second user using the second communication device;
and
enabling the second user of the second communication device, executing the second computer code, to:
generate an outgoing message addressed to the first user and containing voice media created using the second communication device;
progressively transmit the voice media of the outgoing message, as the voice media is created, when the availability status indicates that the first user is available on the network;
progressively receive an incoming message from the first user and generated using the first communication device, the incoming message containing voice media as the voice media is received over the network;
progressively store on the second communication device the voice media of:
(i) the outgoing message as the voice media is created and progressively transmitted;
and
(ii) the incoming message as the voice media is progressively received over the network;
and
selectively and progressively render the voice media of the incoming message, for the first time, both:
(iii) in near real-time as the time-base media is progressively received over the network;
and
(iv) out of storage by retrieving the voice media of the message from storage.

15 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Telecommunication and multimedia management method and apparatus

Life of this patent

Telecommunication and multimedia management method and apparatus

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims38