A system and method for streaming videos inline with an e-mail

System and method for streaming e-mail embedded video and audio

A System and Method for Streaming Videos Inline with an E-mail

The aspect of the present invention generally relates to a system that allows an email client to stream video and audio in the client in real time and organize these "video and audio emails."

At present, the video is attached to an email, and is a program that generally needs to be separated from the email client to play the video. When the user accepts an e-mail attachment containing audio and video, it usually must be completely downloaded to a regional system before viewing the attachment. There may be delays due to download time, virus scanning, or other obstacles from receiving the attachment. In addition, these audiovisual emails are not classified in any meaningful way and cannot search for a specific audiovisual. When a user categorizes the emails that contain an audio-visual attachment (for example: avi, mpg, flv, etc.), this classification method cannot provide the title bar that may be included in the body of the message Or a concept of the audio-visual content outside the text.

Therefore, the present invention hopes to integrate a video viewing/classification system more fully into a user's email experience.

Based on the foregoing, one of the main objectives of the present invention is to provide an email system that can stream video and audio in an e-mail client/browser, eliminating the need for separate software for playing the video and audio.

Another object of the present invention is to provide some organizational facilities for e-mails containing video and audio, such as the ability to watch multiple video thumbnails, as well as all the general searches for ordinary e-mails. And the ability to classify.

One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below, and the examples are illustrated as examples in the drawings. Each example and specific embodiment are provided by way of explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. For example, features described as part of a specific embodiment can be utilized in another specific embodiment to produce a further specific embodiment. The present invention is intended to include these and other modifications and changes.

The various aspects of the present invention are described below in the context of providing a way to view/categorize embedded video and audio in emails.

The phrase "Internet mail provider" used here means an Internet mail service provider, such as Yahoo! Mail, etc. As known, this type of service generally allows access to e-mail from any computer connected to the Internet. This may be because all the emails are always hosted on a server (owned by the webmail provider), where the user (usually) interacts with it through a web browser; therefore, the use The user does not necessarily "download" his e-mail to a local machine through a regional mail client. Even after viewing the e-mail, he can still keep it on the server.

The term "webmail client" used here is used to mean an "application" running in a web browser that interfaces with a server-side webmail system. This kind of application may be composed of some hypertext markup language (HTML), serial form (CSS), asynchronous JavaScript and extensible markup language (XML), etc., but this does not mean that it is limited to this one. Implementation (e.g., the present invention can be inclined entirely to Flash<img file="TWI474185B_D0001.tif" he="64" id="i0001" img-content="character" img-format="tif" inline="no" orientation="portrait" wi="48" />Wait to build an interface).

The term "audiovisual e-mail" used here is used to refer to an e-mail, which does not contain an actual audiovisual attachment, but can refer to an audiovisual from the body of the e-mail.

Throughout the document of the present invention, a webmail client/provider is used to demonstrate the present invention. However, the capabilities described here may simply be given to a desktop email application (as long as it can handle basic HTML tags).

Recently, whether a user is using an Internet mail provider or is still interacting with its email area, in any of the above cases, there is no simple way for them to receive video and audio via email. In addition, even if this video is attached to an e-mail, the e-mail does not have a classification option specifically for video e-mails.

The present invention essentially avoids these limitations by making the video and audio part of the e-mail and expanding the user's ability to classify the "video and audio e-mail". By using webmail providers to support HTML-style emails (as opposed to simple ASCII text), the message bodies of HTML-style emails can contain code, which allows video and audio to be embedded in the message body, where such code It can be read by the web browser, which is used to access the web mail account.

In a specific embodiment, this embedding can be done using an "embedded" HTML tag, which can be used to add multimedia content to a web page (e.g. most video hosting services, such as Yahoo! Video, for example, It currently allows video and audio to be embedded into a webpage, which is completely unrelated to the hosting service of the video and audio). In another embodiment, an "object" HTML tag can be used. When each of these "objects" and "embedding" components have completely different parameters, they ultimately provide the ability to embed video and audio in an HTML document.

In a specific embodiment, this kind of code can correspond to the video and audio stored in a video and audio hosting service. In another embodiment, this kind of code can correspond to the video and audio stored in the Internet mail system itself, just like any other attachments currently stored.

By eliminating the need to download the video, the video can be watched more quickly. Before the video starts to play, most video formats on most operating systems require the file to be complete; however, by using this system, when the video is streamed in real time, the video can be viewed like the server chain Start as quickly as the knot allows.

In addition, since the user does not have to download any data, there is no need to worry about large audiovisual files occupying regional storage space. Furthermore, because these videos will not actually be "run" on the user's own machine, there is no need to worry about viruses or other malicious code.

In addition, the unified experience of viewing video and audio emails and reading ordinary emails can save time, because the user does not have to switch back and forth between applications, but can use the same method to process all such emails.

In addition, as discussed below, the user can view a list of audiovisual emails in the context by using thumbnails, and can categorize them as needed.

The first figure outlines a process by which an Internet mail provider can determine whether a received email contains an embedded video and audio, and how to handle the email if it does. In block 100, the webmail provider receives an email addressed to the user's email address. In block 105, the webmail provider parses the email to determine whether it contains an embedded video and audio. Various methods can be used in the present invention. Two methods are described below. The Internet mail provider can distinguish when the embedded video and audio are received.

In a specific embodiment, the webmail provider used to send the original video email may be the same as the webmail provider used to receive the email; in this example, the webmail provider One can use a pre-agreed system to mark those emails as in fact audio-visual emails. For example, a pre-defined flag can be set to indicate that the email contains an embedded video and audio, and therefore the webmail provider and the user's webmail client should be treated as video and audio emails. In one implementation, the webmail provider can place this kind of flag in a section of the email. For example, the flag can simply be a sequence of numbers inserted into the HTML body of the email, and it can still be hidden from the user using CSS or the like. As another example, the e-mail may include a small attachment with a code, and the code specifically indicates that it is an audio-visual e-mail. In yet another example, the webmail provider may note in the backend (ie, through a database used to store the emails, etc.) that a particular email contains an embedded video and audio.

In another specific embodiment, this kind of audio-visual email information can be made accessible to any Internet mail client by using a function built into a known email standard (that is, whether the email is through the same Internet or not). Route mail provider generated and received). For example, RFC 1341 "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME, "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension"): A mechanism used to specify and describe the format of the Internet message body" standard, which defines an optional header column, Called: "content description", which can be used to describe the type of information contained in an email, such as embedded video and audio. An Internet mail provider can scan the header of the email to find a specific phrase attached to the content description column, and then act according to the result (that is, if it finds such a phrase, treat the email as A video and e-mail to handle).

In block 110, if the e-mail is determined to be an audio-visual e-mail, the Internet mail provider flags it (for example, block 115). When this determination is completed, the audiovisual email is placed in the appropriate folder (block 120).

Regardless of the method used to separate an audio-visual e-mail from these other e-mails (ie, e-mails without audio-visual e-mail information), the e-mail itself remains as a "normal" e-mail and can be as all Other messages are generally placed in the user's "inbox". Therefore, the user can manipulate the message like any other message (for example: reply, forward, move to a different folder, apply a keyword/tag, etc.), as shown in the email action in the third figure 305 shown.

In addition to being handled like a normal email, a video email may have its own set of features and operating tools. For example, the audio-visual email can be automatically copied, provided with a specific keyword/tag, or moved to its own folder (a folder containing an email with embedded audio-visual). This folder can be used as a repository for all audiovisual emails, and allows the user to further search and sort these emails in it. The specific implementation of the folder structure is not the focus of the present invention. For example, depending on the Internet mail provider used, a "video" folder can be a real folder (that is, the message or when it is in multiple folders is a copy of the message actually exists In the folder) or a "virtual" or "smart" folder, where the webmail provider simply links a tag or keyword to an email, and then creates a container to list all the files pasted here This kind of label emails; this allows the audiovisual emails to be separated from the ordinary emails.

After the webmail provider receives and confirms an audiovisual email itself, the email can be presented to the user when logging in to the webmail account. The second figure illustrates the procedure, a user can use it to watch an audiovisual email and interact with it; the third figure is an example of the appearance that an Internet mail provider can reveal, and the Internet mail provider can display an audiovisual electronic mail. Refer to the third figure for the entire discussion of the second figure.

In block 200, the user logs in to his webmail account via his web browser, where the user can see a webpage that looks similar to webmail webpage 300. In block 205, the user selects the "video" folder 335. Selecting this folder can cause thumbnail 325 to be generated (block 210). This kind of thumbnail can take several different forms. For example, the thumbnails can simply be the last few video and audio emails received, which are presented in reverse chronological order. As another example, these thumbnails can correspond to all audiovisual emails sent by someone who currently makes their emails prominent. It should be understood that this standard can be any standard that can be sorted, established, etc., just like the classification/organization of ordinary emails.

Thumbnails can be generated at different times. For example, a thumbnail can be created when an Internet mail provider is used to insert the video into an e-mail to be sent. In this example, the webmail provider can store the thumbnails in the backend, so there is no need to generate the thumbnails every time the videos corresponding to the thumbnails are accessed (for example, when the When the user selects the audiovisual email folder 335). In another specific embodiment, when the user actually receives the audiovisual email, the thumbnails can be generated for the first time. As with the specific implementation of the back-end folder structure, the method of generating and/or storing thumbnails is not the focus.

After discussing the organization part, the audiovisual folder 355 may include a subfolder 340, so the audiovisual e-mails containing an embedded audiovisual can be classified and operated like any other e-mails. For example, a subfolder 340 can be used to store all audiovisual e-mails sent by a specific person, all audiovisual e-mails received during a defined period of time, all audiovisual e-mails with a specific word in the title bar, etc. Wait.

In block 215, using the contextual information provided by the thumbnails, the user selects a video to watch by clicking the thumbnail. In a specific embodiment, when the user moves between a specific thumbnail, a short preview of the video can be played, or some further information about the video (such as length, size, etc.) can be displayed. In block 220, when the thumbnail is clicked, the embedding mechanism is invoked and the obtained data (such as the actual streaming video, the video controls 315, etc.) is presented to the user, as shown in the video box 310. The user can use the audio and video control 315 as if it were on other web pages containing embedded audio and video. In addition to the audio and video controls 315, other e-mail information 320 can also be displayed, such as the sender's name, date, title, and so on.

It should be understood that the audio and video controls 315 can be part of the audio and video itself, and do not need to be specific to the Internet mail provider. In a specific embodiment, the embedded video itself defines the controls and the controls are presented together with the video in a single package. Once the packet is presented to the user, the user can then interact with the video and audio. For example, the user can choose to "play" the image, increase or decrease the volume, and so on. As discussed, and like the example of other web pages with embedded videos, when the user chooses to play the video, the video can be streamed to the user as quickly as the users connection can carry, so remove In order to wait for the need to download the video and audio, the viewing experience can begin almost immediately. In addition, the user does not have to burden a large number of permanent downloads on his system, and he does not have to wait for the complete video to be downloaded before the user can watch the video.

The order and numbering of the blocks depicted in the second figure are not intended to imply the order of an operation and exclude other possibilities. Those familiar with the art will understand that the aforementioned systems and methods can tolerate various modifications and changes. For example, as illustrated in the second figure, a context list can be generated with the thumbnails in block 210, as is common in most current email clients.

The various features and aspects of the present invention are illustrated and described in detail with reference to specific embodiments, which are merely exemplary rather than limiting. Those who are familiar with the technology will understand that alternative implementations and various modifications of the specific embodiments of the present invention are included in the scope and consideration of the disclosure of the present invention. Therefore, we hope that the present invention will be regarded as limited only by the scope of the attached patent application.

<p>300. . . Webmail page</p><p>305. . . Email action</p><p>310. . . Video box</p><p>315. . . Audio and video control</p><p>320. . . Email information</p><p>325. . . Thumbnail</p><p>335. . . "Video" folder</p><p>340. . . Subfolder</p>

The first figure is a flowchart illustrating a procedure that can be used to determine whether an email contains an embedded video and audio.

The second figure is a flowchart illustrating how a user can interact with a webmail client that supports audiovisual email.

The third picture is an example of an audio-visual email interface.