WO2015097692A1 - Advertisement and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

Information comprising a ringtone, thereby a called telephone exposes the user of the called telephone to the information while the called telephone indicates an incoming call.

Description

ADVERTISEMENT AND METHOD THEREFOR

The current application claims the benefit of US Provisional Patent application no. 61/919824, filed 23 December 2013, incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of advertisements. More particularly, the invention relates to an advertisement applied by phones.

BACKGROUND ART

"A ringtone ... is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call or text message. Not literally a tonenor an actual (bell-like) ring any more, the term is most often used today to refer to customizable sounds used on mobile phones.

A ring tone maker allows a user to take a song from their personal music collection, select whatever section they like and send the file to their mobile phone. Files can be sent to the mobile phone by direct connection (e.g., USB cable), Bluetooth, text messaging, or e-mail. Some providers allow users to create their own music tones, either with a "melody composer" or a sample/loop arranger (such as the MusicDJ in many Sony Ericsson phones). These often use encoding formats only available to one particular phone model or brand. Other formats, such as MIDI or MP3, are often supported; they must be downloaded to the phone before they can be used as a normal ring tone.

When someone buys a ringtone, an aggregator (company that sells ringtones) either creates their own tune or mixes together a pre-existing one. After the ringtone is created, it is put into a unique file format and sent to the person's phone via SMS

There are a variety of websites that let users make ring tones from digital music or other sound files! they upload directly to their mobile phone with no limit on the number of songs uploaded.

The fact that consumers are willing to pay up to $3 for ringtones has made "mobile music" a particularly profitable part of the music industry."

(from http 7/en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringtone)

The term "incoming call" refers herein to an incoming telephone call, to a text message, to an incoming email, etc.

The term "vocal ringtone" refers herein to the above described sound indicating the income call. The term "visual ringtone" refers herein to a visual representation indicating the income call.

The term "ringtone" refers herein to vocal ringtone and to visual ringtone. Fig. 1 is a perspective schematic figure of an exemplary telephone display when the called telephone rings.

When the called telephone 12 receives a communication ringing signal 70 indicating an incoming call, a vocal ringtone 60A, which may constitute music is produced! and the telephone screen 74 is divided into a number of areas. An area 14 displays the telephone number and the country from which the call came. An area 16 displays a picture 64 of the caller, if his picture is on the callers' list of the telephone 12. Thus, areas 14 and 16 contain the visual ringtone 62A. A first area 18 of the screen contains the contact area 24 for accepting the call, and the contact area 20 for rejecting the call. A second area 22 at the bottom of the screen 74 scrolls upward when the phone rings, and allows to reject the call while sending a text message from a list. Called telephone 12 retrieves ringtone 60A from the memory 68 of the telephone. Ringing signal 70 includes the information of the telephone number from which the call came is included, thus this is not retrieved from memory 68. Called telephone 12 retrieves the picture 64 from memory 68 according to the telephone number.

Ringback tone refers to a different essence. "A ringback tone ... is an audible indication that is heard on the telephone line by the caller while the phone they are calling is being rung"

(from http 7/en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringback tone) In contrast to ringtones, which are typically stored in the storage of the ringing phone, ringback tones are transferred from the rung phone to the ringing phone.

In contrast to ringtones, ringback tones are used for advertising, especially by ad-sponsored call service, with users hearing a targeted advertisement instead of a regular waiting ring tone.

It is an object of the present invention to utilize ringtones, much further than the nowadays business thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to provide technical solutions for applying the new features of the ringtones described following, using the current cellular phone's technology described above.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to an advertisement (10A) comprising a ringtone (60A), thereby a called telephone (12) exposes the user (52 A) of the called telephone (12) to the advertisement (lOA) while the called telephone (12) indicates an incoming call.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention are described herein in conjunction with the following drawings^:

Fig. 1 is a perspective schematic figure of an exemplary telephone display when the called telephone rings.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the common advertising model. Fig. 3 depicts a telephone screen that includes advertising when the called telephone rings, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 describes the steps of the advertisement.

Fig. 5 depicts ringtone information communicated between a calling telephone and a called telephone.

Fig. 6 is a time table analyzing the screen display and the operation of the audio on the called telephone when it rings, according to the current invention.

The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments ("best mode"), which are meant to be descriptive and not limiting. For the sake of brevity, some well-known features, methods, systems, procedures, components, circuits, and so on, are not described in detail.

The reference numbers have been used to point out elements in the embodiments described and illustrated herein, in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention. They are meant to be merely illustrative, and not limiting. Also, the foregoing embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated in conjunction with systems and methods thereof, which are meant to be merely illustrative, and not limiting.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the common advertising model.

Traditional media 54 for providing information and advertisements include television, radio, newspaper, the Internet, and the ringback tones.

According to the typical advertising model, a dealer 50A orders an information, such as an advertisement 58AA for advertising thereof in a media 54, such as in the newspaper! a dealer 50B orders another advertisement 58B for being advertised in a media 54; and a dealer 50C orders another advertisement 58C for being advertised in a media 54. Dealers 50A, 50B and 50C order advertisements 58A, 58B and 58C from the media manager 56, such as the newspaper manager, or through an agent.

Media manager 56 publishes advertisements 58A, 58B and 58C in media 54, and persons 52A, 52B and 52C of the audience are exposed thereto. The publication may be selective, e.g., person 52A may be exposed only to advertisements 58B and 58C.

Advertisements 10A, 10B and IOC according to the present invention constitute ringtones 60A, 60B and 60C respectively, being sounds made by called telephones to indicate incoming calls.

Thus media 54, according to the present invention constitutes called telephone 12, while indicating the incoming calls or text messages.

Dealer 50A may order advertisement 10A for being advertised by ringtone 60A; dealer 50A may order an advertisement 10B for being advertised by ringtone 60B; and dealer 50C may order advertisement IOC for being advertised by ringtone 60C.

Dealers 50A, 50B and 50C order advertisements 10A, 10B and IOC from the media manager 56, being the telephone service provider, or through a publicist or another agent.

Media manager 56 plays ringtones 60A, 60B, and 60C in a plurality of called telephones 12 constituting media 54, while indicating incoming calls or text messages, and persons 52A, 52B and 52C of the audience are exposed thereto. The playing may be selective, e.g., person 52A may be exposed only to ringtones 60B and 60C.

Fig. 3 depicts a telephone screen that includes advertising when the called telephone rings, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

When called telephone 12 rings, one of vocal ringtones 60 A, 60B or 60C is played. The telephone screen 74 is divided into two areas, wherein the bottom area 30 displaying an advertisement. If the played advertisement is 10A (in Fig. 2), then the vocal ringtone being played is 60A, and the bottom area 30 displays visual ringtone 62A, corresponding to vocal ringtone 60A. The upper half displays all the telephone's functions, plus two new functions. Area 14 may display the caller's telephone number/name, the country from which the call is made, and the caller's picture, if it is in the called telephone's memory.

Area 18 will display the contact areas 20 and 24 for accepting and for rejecting a call respectively. Area 28 may be used for rejecting a call, followed receiving only the visual portion 62A ("visual ringtone") of advertisement 10A.

An area 32 may include a link, for remaining after playing the advertisement, for allowing the user watch further details of advertisement 10A, which the user 52A may open further at any time. Area 22 is used for rejecting a call, combined with sending a text message will move upwards, and separate the advertising area 30 from the telephone display area in the upper half of the screen. Like the current technology, in which the files of ringtones are stored in the memory of called telephone 12, vocal ringtone 60A and visual ringtone 62A of advertisement 10A may as well be stored in the memory 68 of called telephone 12, and need not be transferred to called telephone 12 while being played.

Advertisement 10B including vocal ringtone 60B and visual ringtone 62B, and advertisement IOC including vocal ringtone 60C and visual ringtone 62C, as well are stored in memory 68 of called telephone 12. Ringing signal 70 indicating the incoming call, except for containing the caller's number, contains also the identification of the advertisement, i.e. "A" for retrieving advertisement 10A, including vocal ringtone 60A and visual ringtone 62A, or "B" for retrieving advertisement 10B, including vocal ringtone 60B and visual ringtone 62B, or "C" for retrieving advertisement IOC, including vocal ringtone 60 C and visual ringtone 62 C.

Thus, the files of advertisement 10A may be loaded and written to the memory of called telephone 12 at any time before playing it. Since the owner of called telephone 12 is not the main entity being interested in handling the files, the loading and writing to the memory is managed in the background. While telephone service provider 56 provides the communication of a call, service provider 56 adds further communication, being the files of advertisements 10A, 10B, and IOC. Fig. 4 describes the steps of the advertisement.

Thus, at the first step called telephone 12 rings. At the second step, the user 52A conducts a first conversation ("speaks 1" in the figure). During the first conversation, telephone service provider 56 communicates advertisements 10A, 10B and 10B or a portion thereof to memory 68 of called telephone 12. At the third step, called telephone 12 receives a communication ringing signal 70 containing an indication of advertisement 10A. At the fourth step, advertisement 10A having the indication, is selected. At the fifth step, the file of advertisement 10A is read from memory 68. At the sixth step, called telephone 12 rings, playing advertisement 10A, including vocal ringtone 60A and visual ringtone 62A. At the seventh step, the user receives the call, stops the playing and conducts a second conversation ("speak 2" in the figure). Fig. 5 depicts ringtone information communicated between a calling telephone and a called telephone.

The screen may accompany the user receiving the call, when to cease the advertisement, by providing an hourglass icon 12A, indicating the length of advertisement 10A, and thus of the ending time thereof. The user 52A of called telephone 12 watching advertisement 10A, prior to receiving an income call ceases the watching, either by accepting the incoming call or by rejecting it. Telephone service provider 56 may further provide the information of hourglass icon 12A, or estimated information thereof, to the calling telephone 72, by providing an hourglass icon 72A thereto. The estimation of hourglass icon 72A may apply playing the same advertisement 10A. Fig. 6 is a time table analyzing the screen display and the operation of the audio on the called telephone when it rings, according to the current invention.

This table displays an example in which two different advertisements are displayed/heard, followed by the called telephone ringtone.

Row 36 is the length of time in seconds! row 40 displays the advertisement! row 42 displays the advertisement sound track! row 34 displays the identification sound at the beginning and at the end of the advertisement; and row 44 displays the called telephone's ringtone.

An identification sound 34a is played in the first second together with the advertisement display 36a, which is displayed from the first second until the fifth second, after which the advertisement soundtrack 42a is played from the second until the fifth second. From the sixth second until the tenth second, a second advertisement 36b is displayed. An identification sound 34b is played at the beginning of the second advertisement, followed by the soundtrack of the second advertisement 42b. At the end of the second advertisement 42b, another identification sound 34c is played, followed by the called telephone's ringtone 44a.

In this case, the user is paid for the first 10 seconds he watched and heard two advertisements. However, the user may also answer a telephone call without watching or hearing the advertisement.

Thus, in one aspect, the present invention is directed to information (10A) comprising a ringtone (60A),

thereby a called telephone (12) exposes the user (52A) of the called telephone (12) to the information (10A) while the called telephone (12) indicates an incoming call.

The information (10A) may comprise an advertisement.

The exposure of the user to the information (10 A) is determined either by the telephone service provider (56) or by the dealer (50A), paying for publishing the information, or by a publicist or another agent, or by more than one of them together. This means that not the user of the telephone advertises to others, but rather that the ringtone exposes the telephone user to others' advertisements. The ringtone (60A) may be stored in a memory (68) of the called telephone (12).

The communication ringing signal (70) may comprise an indication (A, B, C in Fig. 3) to the ringtone (60A) to be selected for being played, from a plurality of available ring tones (60A, 60B, 60C).

The exposure of the user to the information (lOA) may be limitable by the user. The user may express the limitations by characters of the information.

The limitability by the user may comprise ^: limitabiHty of number of advertisements to be exposed in any period, limitability of length of the advertisement (lOA), limitabiHty of the contents of the advertisement.

The exposure of the user to the information (lOA) may be programmable as a function of a location of the called telephone (12). For example, when the user is located in a grocery, then only food advertisements may be presented.

The ringtone (60A) may include a vocal ringtone (60A), or a visual ringtone (62A), or both, thus being video.

thereby the information may comprise vocal and visual media.

The ringtone (60A) may comprise an hourglass icon (12A), for providing the user the end time of the ringtone (60A). The timing of the ring tone (10A) may be informable to the telephone (72) calling the called telephone (12), thus the caller may understand why the called user is not yet responding.

The information (10A) may further comprise a link (32), for remaining after playing said ringtone (60A), for allowing watching additional details of the information (10A). In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for advertising, comprising the step of playing a ringtone (60A),

thereby a called telephone (12) exposes a user of the called telephone (12) to the information (10A) while the called telephone (12) indicates an incoming call.

The method may further comprise the step of writing a file of the ringtone (60A) to the called telephone (12) during the communication conducted prior to the indication of the incoming call,

thereby the communication of the indication of the incoming call does not require communicating the file.

The method may further comprise the step of selecting the ringtone (60A) from a plurality of ringtones files (60A, 60B, 60C) stored in the memory (68) of the called telephone (12), for playing thereof. The playing of the ringtone (60A) may be applied via an application ("cellphone app") running in the called telephone (12). The communication ringing signal (70) may execute the application.

In the figures and/or description herein, the following reference numerals (Reference Signs List) have been mentioned: ^■ numerals 10A, 10B and IOC denote advertisements or pieces of information, according to one embodiment of the present invention!

numeral 12 denotes the called telephone!

numeral 12A denotes an hourglass icon in the called telephone!

- numerals 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 denote areas in the screen of the called telephone!

numeral 32 denotes a link to additional details of the advertisement!

■ numerals 34 and 36 denote rows in a table!

numerals 34a, 34b and 34c denote identification sounds!

- numerals 36a, 36b and 36c denote identification displays! numerals 40, 42 and 44 denote rows in a table!

numerals 42a and 42b denote sound tracks!

■ numeral 44a denotes a ringtone!

- numerals 50A, 50B and 50C denote dealers, being interested of publishing advertisements!

numerals 52A, 52B and 52C denote users of called telephones, being the public exposed to the advertisements! numeral 54 denotes the media in which the advertisement is published, such as newspaper, television, and telephone! numeral 56 denotes the media manager!

numerals 58A, 58B and 58C denote advertisements! ^■ numerals 60A, 60B and 60C denote vocal ringtones! according to the present invention, the vocal ringtones constitute the vocal portions of the advertisements! numerals 62A, 62B and 62C denote visual ringtones! according to the present invention, the visual ringtones constitute the visual portions of the advertisements!

- numeral 64 denotes a picture of the caller if available!

numeral 68 denotes the memory of the calling telephone and of the called telephone!

numeral 70 denotes a communication ringing signal! for a wireless telephone, ringing signal constitutes the wireless signal received by the called telephone!

numeral 72 denotes the calling telephone!

numeral 72A denotes an hourglass icon in the calling telephone! and

■ numeral 74 denotes the telephone screen.

The foregoing description and illustrations of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the above description in any form.

Any term that has been defined above and used in the claims, should to be interpreted according to this definition.

The reference numbers in the claims are not a part of the claims, but rather used for facilitating the reading thereof. These reference numbers should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any form.

Claims

1. Information (lOA) comprising a ringtone (60A),

thereby a called telephone (12) exposes a user of said called telephone (12) to said information (lOA) while said called telephone (12) indicates an incoming call.

2. Information (lOA) according to claim 1, wherein said exposure of the user to said information (lOA) is determined by at least one entity selected from a group consisting οΐ^'- a telephone service provider (56), a publicist, a dealer (50A).

3. Information (lOA) according to claim 1 wherein said ringtone (60A) comprises an advertisement.

4. Information (lOA) according to claim 1, wherein said ringtone (60A) is stored in a memory (68) of said called telephone (12).

5. Information (lOA) according to claim 1, wherein a communication ringing signal (70) comprises an indication of a ringtone (60A) to be selected for being played, from a plurality of available ringtones (60A, 60B, 60C).

6. Information (lOA) according to claim 1, wherein said exposure of the user to said information (lOA) is limitable by said user.

7. Information (lOA) according to claim 5, wherein said limitability by said user comprises at least one member selected from a group consisting of limitability of number of information pieces to be exposed in any period, limitability of length of said information (lOA), limitability of contents.

8. Information (lOA) according to claim 1, wherein said exposure of the user to said information (lOA) is programmable as a function of a location of said called telephone (12).

9. Information (lOA) according to claim 1, wherein said ringtone (60A) comprises a member selected from a group consisting of vocal ringtone (60A), visual ringtone (62A), thereby said information comprises vocal and visual media.

10. Information (lOA) according to claim 1, wherein said ringtone (60 A) comprises an hourglass icon (12 A), for providing an end time of said ringtone (60A).

11. Information (lOA) according to claim 1, wherein timing of said ringtone (lOA) is informable to a calling telephone (72) calling said called telephone (12).

12. Information (lOA) according to claim 1, further comprising a link (32), for remaining after playing said ringtone (60A), for allowing watching additional details of said information (10A).

13. A method for publishing information (10A), comprising the step of playing a ringtone (60A),

thereby a called telephone (12) exposes a user of said called telephone (12) to said information (10A) while said called telephone (12) indicates an incoming call.

14. A method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of writing a file of said ringtone (60A) to the called telephone (12) during a communication conducted prior to said indication of the incoming call,

thereby the communication of said indication of the incoming call does not require communicating the file.

15. A method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of selecting said ringtone (60A) from a plurality of ringtones files (60A, 60B, 60C) stored in a memory (68) of the called telephone (12), for playing thereof.

16. A method according to claim 12, wherein said step of playing said ringtone (60A) comprises the step of running an application in said called telephone (12).