Social messaging hub system

Abstract

A social messaging hub provides communication services for a data enabled device having Internet network access capabilities such as a portable media player, personal digital assistant, a Wi-Fi mobile platform, a tablet computer, portable e-Reader, a personal computer, a laptop and a netbook computer. The social messaging hub communicates with the data enabled device over the Internet or cellular data networks, and interfaces with a message infrastructure including mobile carriers, message aggregators, message exchanges and various specialized social messaging services. Messages may originate in or be delivered to other users' mobile telephones or in similarly equipped and provisioned IP data enabled devices. The social messaging hub can provide a predetermined auto-reply response and retain messages for a timed duration in a message retention queue when requested by a user. Messages may be viewed with a data enabled device application at various zoom levels.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation in part of United States patent application having Ser. No. 13 / 111,109 entitled “SOCIAL MESSAGING HUB,” filed May 19, 2011 that shares inventorship with the present application and which is a continuation in part of United States patent application having Ser. No. 12 / 535,323 entitled “SMS TECHNOLOGY FOR COMPUTERIZED DEVICES,” filed Aug. 4, 2009 that shares inventorship with the present application and which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. Nos. 61 / 137,918, entitled “Apparatus and methods for TV social applications,” filed Aug. 5, 2008; 61 / 164,705, entitled “SMS Technology for Computerized Devices,” filed Mar. 30, 2009; and 61 / 346,133 entitled “SOCIAL MESSAGING SYSTEM AND DEVICES,” filed May 19, 2010; that share inventorship with the present application. This application claims the benefit of the filing date of: earlier filed United States Provisional Patent Application havin...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]Such a technique, overcomes the limitations of carrier networks and international boundaries. Significantly, this technique provides a telephone number to the user, thus invoking many of the legal rights enjoyed by telephone subscribers in the user's jurisdiction. The service may appeal especially to parents who do not want their children to have mobile phones, but understand the value of texting and other messaging for the child's social life, enabling communications and educational development; or who wish to have each family member in a family plan service, but without the high costs associated with full mobile telephony plans. In this case, the virtual phone number may be viewed as a placeholder for later telephone service, for example when the child graduates beyond elementary school. From the provider perspective, because the use of a virtual phone number for addressing SMS/MMS/EMS messages neither requires nor involves the extensive tracking and routing infrastructure that supports mobile voice calling, but can be supported by a simple web-based server network, they may offer virtual number messaging services at attractive and affordable rates without incurring incremental capital requirements.

[0010]Indeed, all subscriber messages are transmitted over the Internet through one or more servers and a

Problems solved by technology

However, in doing so, each industry has also been limited by its own equipment, data transfer speeds and connection abilities.

However, despite these developments blurring boundaries between the classical phone, mobile telephone, Internet, wireless and television or cable networks, there has not been a convergence.

This second-level infrastructure imposes further constraints of the feasible, or economically feasible, set of features that a c

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