Simplified access to messaging services

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

0001The present invention relates to the provision of messaging accounts for a user at a messaging service provider. More particularly the present invention relates to a method, portable communication device and computer program products for enabling direct provision of a message handling area at a server of a messaging service provider.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

0002Portable communication devices, such as cellular phones, nowadays include more and more functionality. One such functionality is the ability to browse a network like for instance the Internet, which is normally provided through a so-called web browser.

0003Many service providers on the Internet provide messaging services. Here a user may open up a messaging account, typically an e-mail account, at a server of the service provider and with that account an e-mail box is provided. This type of service allows a user to log onto the server and from that server access his mail box and also send e-mails to other people.

0004It is known to let a user of the portable communication device to set up and access e-mail accounts via such a web browser.

0005However when doing this, there are a number of burdensome steps and actions that have to be performed by the user in order to set up an account and to access a mail box associated with the account. A method for provisioning a message handling area according to prior art is disclosed in <patcit id="pcit0001" dnum="EP1422899A"><text>EP-A-1 422 899</text></patcit>.

0006It would therefore be advantageous if the opening of an account and the use of services in relation to that account could be simplified for the user, where typically a user area is reserved for the user on a server of the messaging service provider for such services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

0007The present invention is directed towards simplifying the setting up and use of message handling area of a messaging service provider for a user of a portable communication device.

0008One object of the present invention is to provide a method that simplifies the setting up and use of message handling area of a messaging service provider for a user of a portable communication device.

0009According to a first aspect of the present invention this is achieved by a method for enabling direct provision of a message handling area at a server of a messaging service provider comprising the steps of: <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li>associating, in the portable communication device, a user input unit to a function to be used for connecting to the messaging service provider,</li><li>sending a request, in dependence of a user actuating said user input unit, to the messaging service provider to set up a message handling area for said user,</li><li>receiving an identifier from the messaging service provider, which identifier identifies a message handling area created for the user, as well as login data for logging into said area, and</li><li>associating a user input unit to a function of accessing said message handling area, which when selected by the user lets the user directly access the message handling area.</li></ul>

0010A second aspect of the present invention includes the features of the first aspect, wherein said identifier that identifies a message handling area also identifies a server where it is provided.

0011A third aspect of the present invention includes the features of the first aspect, wherein the step of associating a function of accessing said message handling area comprises replacing the association to the function for connecting to the service provider with the association to the function of accessing said message handling area.

0012A fourth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the first aspect, further comprising the step of directly accessing said message handling area in dependence of the user actuating the user input unit that is associated to the function of accessing said message handling area.

0013A fifth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the fourth aspect, further comprising the step of automatically storing the received login data and automatically using said login data.

0014A sixth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the first aspect, wherein the step of sending a request comprises sending an automatically generated user identifier.

0015A seventh aspect of the present invention includes the features of the sixth aspect, further comprising the step of directly accessing said message handling area using the user identifier, in dependence of the user actuating the user input unit that is associated to the function of accessing said message handling area.

0016An eighth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the sixth aspect, wherein the user identifier is a combination of an identifier of the portable communication device and an identifier associated with the user.

0017A ninth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the eighth aspect, wherein the user identifier is a hash of the two identifiers.

0018A tenth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the first aspect, wherein the functions are provided via a network browser application provided in the portable communication device.

0019An eleventh aspect of the present invention includes the features of the tenth aspect, wherein the functions are provided via a first local information presentation page.

0020Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable communication device that simplifies the setting up and use of message handling area of a messaging service provider for a user of this device.

0021According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention this is achieved by a portable communication device for enabling direct provision of a message handling area at a server of a messaging service provider and comprising: <ul id="ul0002" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li>a network browsing unit arranged to: <ul id="ul0003" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li>associate a user input unit to a function to be used for connecting to the messaging service provider,</li><li>send, in dependence of a user actuating said user input unit, a request to the messaging service provider to set up a message handling area for said user,</li><li>receive an identifier from the messaging service provider, which identifier identifies a message handling area created for the user, as well as login data for logging into said area,</li><li>associate a user input unit to a function of accessing said message handling area, which when selected by the user lets the user directly access the message handling area.</li></ul></li></ul>

0022A thirteenth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the twelfth aspect, wherein said identifier that identifies a message handling area also identifies a server where it is provided.

0023A fourteenth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the twelfth aspect, wherein the network browsing unit when being arranged to associate a function of accessing said message handling area replaces the association to the function for connecting to the service provider with the association to the function of accessing said message handling area.

0024A fifteenth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the twelfth aspect, wherein said network browsing unit is further arranged to directly access said message handling area in dependence of a user actuating the user input unit that is associated to the function of accessing said message handling area.

0025A sixteenth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the fifteenth aspect, wherein said network browsing unit is further arranged to automatically store the received login data and automatically use said login data.

0026A seventeenth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the twelfth aspect, wherein the network browsing unit when being arranged to send a request is arranged to send an automatically generated user identifier.

0027An eighteenth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the seventeenth aspect, wherein said network browsing unit is further arranged to directly access said message handling area automatically using the user identifier in dependence of the user actuating the user input unit that is associated to the function of accessing said message handling area.

0028A nineteenth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the seventeenth aspect, wherein the user identifier is a combination of an identifier of the portable communication device and an identifier associated with the user.

0029A twentieth aspect of the present invention includes the features of the nineteenth aspect, wherein the user identifier is a hash of the two identifiers.

0030A twenty-first aspect of the present invention includes the features of the twelfth aspect, wherein the functions are provided via a first local information presentation page provided by the network browsing unit.

0031A twenty-second aspect of the present invention includes the features of the twelfth aspect, wherein it is a cellular phone.

0032A twenty-third aspect of the present invention is directed towards a portable communication device for enabling direct provision of a message handling area at a server of a messaging service provider and comprising: <ul id="ul0004" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li>means for associating a user input unit to a function to be used for connecting to the messaging service provider,</li><li>means for sending a request, in dependence of a user actuating said user input unit,, to the messaging service provider to set up a message handling area for said user,</li><li>means for receiving an identifier from the messaging service provider, which identifier identifies a message handling area created for the user and a server where it is provided, as well as login data for logging into said area, and</li><li>means for associating a user input unit to a function of accessing said message handling area, which when selected by the user lets the user directly access the message handling area.</li></ul>

0033Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer program product that simplifies the setting up and use of message handling area of a messaging service provider for a user of a portable communication device.

0034According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention this is achieved by a computer program product for enabling direct provision of a messaging account at a messaging service provider comprising: <ul id="ul0005" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li>computer program code, to make a portable communication device perform, when said program code is loaded in the portable communication device, associate, in the portable communication device, a user input unit to a function to be used for connecting to the messaging service provider, send a request, in dependence of a user actuating said user input unit, to the messaging service provider to set up a message handling area for said user, receive an identifier from the messaging service provider, which identifier identifies a message handling area created for the user and a server where it is provided, as well as login data for logging into said area, and associate a user input unit to a function of accessing said message handling area, which when selected by the user lets the user directly access the message handling area.</li></ul>

0035The invention has the following advantages. It allows a user to directly log onto a user area created for him, where he can perform messaging functions that he desires and he may reach it by just one click. The user does furthermore not have to perform complicated and burdensome settings in the portable communication device for setting up this area, which greatly simplifies the set-up of the messaging service via the network.

0036It should be emphasized that the term "comprises/comprising" when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, steps or components, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, components or groups thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0037The present invention will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which: <ul id="ul0006" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li><figref idref="f0001">fig. 1</figref> shows a portable communication device communicating with a messaging service provider server via a network,</li><li><figref idref="f0001">fig. 2</figref> shows a front view of the portable communication device in the form of a cellular phone</li><li><figref idref="f0002">fig. 3</figref> shows a block schematic of different units within the portable communication device that are used in implementing the present invention,</li><li><figref idref="f0002">fig. 4</figref> schematically shows the displaying of an initial off-line page of a web browser on a display of the phone in <figref idref="f0001">fig. 2</figref>,</li><li><figref idref="f0003">fig. 5</figref> shows a flow chart of a method of enabling direct provision of a message handling area at a server of a message service provider via a network browsing unit of the portable communication device, and</li><li><figref idref="f0002">fig. 6</figref> shows a CD ROM disc on which program code for executing a method according to the invention is provided.</li></ul>

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

0038A portable communication device 10 according to the present invention is schematically shown in <figref idref="f0001">fig. 1</figref>. In <figref idref="f0001">fig. 1</figref> the portable communication device 10 is connected to a server 12 of a messaging service provider via a network 14. The portable communication device 10, which is equipped with a display 16, may be a lap top computer, a palm top computer or an electronic organizer. It may also be connected to a network by communicating with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface of a computer. In a preferred variation of the present invention to be described it is a cellular phone. What is important is that it has network browsing ability and can set up messaging accounts at a messaging service provider via at least one network. Because of the possibility to provide different types of portable communication devices for use with the present invention, the network 14 may be a wireless network, for instance a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) network, a WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) network, a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) network or a fixed computer network like a LAN (Local Area Network) network. The server 14 is normally not provided in the network 14, but provided in another network, like the Internet, which the portable communication device can reach via the cellular network. However it may be provided also in the wireless network. This is no major issue as far as the present invention is concerned, and therefore the portable communication device 10 and the server 12 are shown as being connected to the same network 14.

0039<figref idref="f0001">Fig. 2</figref> shows a front view of the portable communication device 10, in the form of a cellular phone. The phone 10 is provided with the display 16 and a keypad 18.

0040<figref idref="f0002">Fig. 3</figref> shows a block schematic of parts of the phone from <figref idref="f0001">fig. 2</figref> that are relevant for the present invention. The phone 10 includes the keypad 18 and display 16 that are both connected to a network browsing unit 20. The network browsing unit 20 provides a network browsing application. The network browsing unit 20 is in turn connected to a user area access store 21 and a radio communication unit 22, which communicates with the network via an antenna 24. The antenna 24 is here provided in the interior of the phone, i.e. it is in-built. It should be realised that the phone normally comprises several more units and applications, which may be provided through one or more processors as well as memory units. Different applications of the device may furthermore be reached by using an Operative System. However, in order to simplify the description of the present invention, the network browsing application provided by the network browsing unit 20 is here described as being the only application that is communicating directly with the radio communication unit 22.

0041<figref idref="f0002">Fig. 4</figref> shows a view provided on the display of the phone by the network browsing unit when the browsing function is first entered, that is here a so-called off-line page, provided by the phone itself. This is a view that in this embodiment shows a logotype 30 of the producer of the cellular phone. The page also shows a link 26 (New Mail) to a messaging service and a link 28 to a blog page (New blog) or home page that may be associated with a user of the phone.

0042The functioning of the present invention will now be described with reference being made to <figref idref="f0001 f0002">fig. 1 - 4</figref> as well as to <figref idref="f0003">fig. 5</figref>, which shows a flow chart of a method of enabling direct provision of a messaging handling area for a user of the phone. The method is carried out by the network browsing unit.

0043As a user of the phone first uses the network browsing application provided by the network browsing unit 20, the network browsing unit 20 presents the off-line page on the display 16 including the area 26, where a first link that is used for reaching the messaging service provider server 12 is provided. In this way the browsing unit 20 provides the first link to the user, step 32. The browsing unit 20 then awaits a selection of the link by the user, which selection may be performed using a navigation key on the keypad 18. If the link is not selected other functions of the browser may be selected instead. If however the first link is selected, step 34, an account setup function provided in the browser is invoked. In order to select the set up function, the set up function is associated with a user input unit, where the user input unit may be the actual area 26, if the display is a touch screen. it can also, as mentioned above, be a navigation key, soft key or any other key of the keypad 18 that is used singly or in combination with the area 26. It is furthermore possible to use also voice activation, when the user input unit may be a microphone. These are just a few examples of selecting the function, and several more exist. The unit that receives the selection is thus here termed user input unit. The function first asks the user if a new e-mail account is to be opened. If the user responds affirmative, the function is arranged to send a request from the browsing unit 20 to the messaging service provider and here to the server 12 to set up a mail account for the user, step 36, which is equivalent to requesting the messaging service provider to provide a message handling area for the user. The user may then handle messages in this area. The request may be sent in one or more data packets, for instance GPRS packets, and the server of the service provider may be identified using a pre-set location identifier, for instance a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Thus the browsing unit 20 orders the radio communication unit 22 to send this request to the server 12 via the antenna 24 and network 14. Here the request also includes an identifier for the user for which an account is to be set up. The user is identified by an automatically generated user identifier that in one embodiment of the present invention is a combination of an identifier of the phone, for instance an IMEI-(International Mobile Equipment Identity) code, and an identifier of the user, for instance an IMSI- (International Mobile Station Identity) code that is associated with the subscription to the use of the wireless network associated with the user. By using these, which are easily accessible to the phone, it is possible to provide a unique user identifier. It is furthermore possible that the user identifier is a hash of these two identifiers. This user identifier may be generated before the browsing unit 20 is first used, during ordinary use of the browsing unit 20 or when the first link is selected.

0044After this request has been sent to the server 12, the server 12 processes the request and opens up an e-mail account and reserves a user area on the server 12 for the user, which area normally includes an e-mail inbox. The server 12 then generates login data, which login data includes a login name and perhaps some authentication data. The login data is to be used by the user when logging in to the account. This login data thus normally comprises a login name and a password to be used. The login data together with an identifier of a location on the server where the user area may be found and possibly also of the location of the server itself is then sent from the server 12 to the portable communication device 10 via the network 14, where it is received by the radio communication unit 22 via the antenna 24 and forwarded to the browsing unit 20, step 38. This identifier may also be provided in the form of a URL. As the browsing unit 20 receives this information it now creates a second link, step 40, which second link is used for directly accessing the user area, and replaces the first link with the second link on the off-line page, step 42, and then stores the login data, preferably together with the received location identifier and the earlier generated user identifier in the account access store 21, step 44, in order to be used when accessing the user area. The same user input unit is thus here associated with another function.

0045When the user then returns to the off-line page the first link has been replaced with the second link. If the user now clicks on the same area 26 of the screen 16 where the first link was provided, the user instead selects the second link. If now the user selects the second link, step 44, a login function is invoked that automatically fetches the user identifier, login data and location identifier. Then it accesses the user area using all this data, step 48.

0046In this way the user is directly logged onto his user area where he can perform the messaging functions that he desires and he does reach it by just one click. The user does not have to perform complicated and burdensome settings, which greatly simplifies the set-up of the messaging service via the network.

0047This was just one embodiment of the present invention. It should be realised that there exist several possible modifications. It is for instance possible that the service provider has several servers, where one server receives the request and another server keeps the user area. It is furthermore possible that the second link is not used for long after the replacing of links has been made. The user may for instance turn off phone or shut down the browser application between the creation of the account and the accessing of the user area associated with the account. It is only important that the second link is provided for the user. As a further alternative the first link may not be replaced, but the second link is provided in addition to the first link. The second link may also be provided somewhere else or in addition to the off-line page, for instance in a navigation bar of the browser, so that it may be accessible in other circumstances than via an off-line page. It is furthermore possible that only one or both location identifiers used for requesting the set up of a message handling area and accessing the message handling area are not stored in the portable communication device, but stored on an intermediate server, where further location identifiers pointing to these location identifiers on the intermediate server are provided in the portable communication device. This may be done in order to be able to allow changes of either the server where the user area is provided without the user having to do any change of settings or allow change of account altogether. It is furthermore possible that authentication may be omitted. If another user is using the portable communication device, it is normally necessary to set up a new account.

0048The network browsing unit according to the present invention is preferably provided in the form of one or more processors with corresponding memory containing program code for performing the actions set out above. The account access store is normally a memory, like a RAM or ROM memory. The radio communication unit may a separate hardware module, for instance in the form of an ASIC circuit.

0049The server may likewise be implemented as a processor with corresponding memory comprising program code for performing the services and setting up of user areas, as well as provides memory space for such areas, for instance in the form of one or more hard discs, and may be provided with a suitable communication module for interfacing the network.

0050The program code of the network browsing unit mentioned above can also be provided on one or more computer program products such as a CD ROM disc 50 as depicted in <figref idref="f0002">fig. 6</figref>, which will perform the functions of the present invention when being loaded into a portable communication device having suitable processing capabilities. Naturally other types of products can be provided for this, like for instance a removable memory, like a memory stick. The computer program product can also be provided as software, which is downloaded remotely from another server via the network.

0051Although the present invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the accompanying claims.