WO2015109473A1

WO2015109473A1 - Apparatus and method for providing presentation of messages

Info

Publication number: WO2015109473A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/071211
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jing Wu; Xiaoping Li; Bin Gao; Hongrui SHEN; Bing Lin
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy; Nokia (China) Investment Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2014-01-23
Filing date: 2014-01-23
Publication date: 2015-07-30

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods are described for providing at least one term describing the content of a received message for display to a user as an indication of the content of the message, such that the user need not read the whole message to determine the purpose or context of the message. The devices, systems, and methods provide for receipt of a message, analysis of a content of the message to determine at least one identifying term that describes the content of the message, and presentation of the one or more identifying terms as part of an abridged presentation of the message. In this way, messages received from unknown senders or senders that are not recognized contacts of the user, but that the user would still consider important and not unwanted "spam" messages, may be discernible as such by the user in a quick and effective manner.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING

PRESENTATION OF MESSAGES

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

[0001] Example embodiments of the present invention relate generally to facilitating user consumption of messages, such as text messages, emails, voice messages, etc.

BACKGROUND

[0002] In a world where messages can be easily sent to many users with the touch of a button, users may receive numerous messages from various senders regarding a variety of topics. For example, a user may receive a message (e.g., a text message, email, or voice message) from his bank regarding the user's bank account. Similarly, a user may receive a message from a sender (e.g., doctor's office, restaurant, etc.) that contains important information. At the same time, even with the use of spam filters, a user may still receive unwanted advertisements or "spam" messages from various senders.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

[0003] The decreasing size of some mobile devices, such as cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc., coupled with the lengthy size of some messages, often creates a situation in which the user cannot immediately discern which of the messages received include important information and which may be classified as "spam" advertising. As such, some exemplary embodiments of the invention may provide one or more identifying terms that describe the message content and/or the sender of a message that are presented to the user as part of an abridged presentation of the message.

[0004] An apparatus is described herein that comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least provide for receipt of a message and analysis of a content of the message to determine at least one identifying term, where the identifying term describes the content of the message.

Embodiments of the apparatus may further provide for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of an abridged presentation of the message.

[0005] In some cases, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term by extracting at least one keyword from the content of the message. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term in an instance in which a sender of the message is not a contact of the user. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for analysis of the content of the message to determine a sender name.

[0006] Additionally or alternatively, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for prioritization of a plurality of identifying terms determined for a particular message and to provide for presentation of the identifying terms according to the prioritization.

[0007] The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of a notification upon receipt of the message. In some cases, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of a message list of the messages received.

[0008] In other embodiments, a method and a computer program product are described that provide for receipt of a message; provide for analysis of a content of the message to determine at least one identifying term, wherein the identifying term describes the content of the message; and provide for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of an abridged presentation of the message.

[0009] In some cases, providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term may comprise extracting at least one keyword from the content of the message. Providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term may occur in an instance in which a sender of the message is not a contact of the user. Furthermore, providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term may comprise providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine a sender name.

[0010] In some embodiments, the method and computer program product may further comprise providing for prioritization of a plurality of identifying terms determined for a particular message and providing for presentation of the identifying terms according to the prioritization.

[0011] Providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term may comprise providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of a notification upon receipt of the message. Additionally or alternatively, providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term may comprise providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of a message list of the messages received.

[0012] In still other embodiments, an apparatus is provided for providing at least one term describing the content of a received message for display to a user. The apparatus may include means for providing for receipt of a message; means for providing for analysis of a content of the message to determine at least one identifying term, wherein the identifying term describes the content of the message; and means for providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of an abridged presentation of the message. In some cases, the means for providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term may comprise means for extracting at least one keyword from the content of the message.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Having thus described example embodiments of the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a communication system according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for providing at least one term describing the content of a received message for display to a user according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates communication between a user device and a network server according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a network server according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates a user interface provided by a user device displaying the contents of a message to a user according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates a user interface displaying a notification of a message to a user;

[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates a user interface displaying a notification of a message to a user including identifying terms according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] FIG. 8 illustrates a user interface displaying a notification of a message to a user including identifying terms according to another example embodiment of the present invention; [0022] FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface displaying a message list to a user including identifying terms according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] FIG. 10 illustrates a user interface displaying a message view of the contents of a message to a user that includes a tool bar for designating identifying terms according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] FIG. 11 illustrates a user interface displaying an inbox message list to a user that includes identifying terms according to an example embodiment of the present invention; and

[0025] FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of methods of providing at least one term describing the content of a received message for display to a user according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Some example embodiments of the present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all, embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, various embodiments of the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. As used herein, the terms "data," "content," "information," and similar terms may be used interchangeably to refer to data capable of being transmitted, received and/or stored in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Thus, use of any such terms should not be taken to limit the spirit and scope of embodiments of the present invention.

[0027] Additionally, as used herein, the term 'circuitry' refers to (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (e.g., implementations in analog circuitry and/or digital circuitry); (b) combinations of circuits and computer program product(s) comprising software and/or firmware instructions stored on one or more computer readable memories that work together to cause an apparatus to perform one or more functions described herein; and (c) circuits, such as, for example, a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation even if the software or firmware is not physically present. This definition of 'circuitry' applies to all uses of this term herein, including in any claims. As a further example, as used herein, the term 'circuitry' also includes an implementation comprising one or more processors and/or portion(s) thereof and accompanying software and/or firmware. As another example, the term 'circuitry' as used herein also includes, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, other network device, and/or other computing device.

[0028] As defined herein, a "computer-readable storage medium," which refers to a physical storage medium (e.g., volatile or non-volatile memory device), can be differentiated from a "computer-readable transmission medium," which refers to an electromagnetic signal.

[0029] Users of mobile devices receive numerous messages, including text messages (e.g., Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages), emails, and voice messages, for example, over the course of a day. In some cases, the sender of the message may be known to the user. For example, the sender's phone number may have been previously saved by the user in the user's contacts and associated with the sender's name or other user-specified descriptor, such as "Mom" or "Cousin Betty." In this case, a message that is received from the known contact may be displayed using the known identity or descriptor, such as when the message is displayed as incoming from "Mom."

[0030] In other cases, however, the sender of the message may not be pre-saved to the user's Contacts, and the user may not be able to readily identify the sender based on the sender's phone number or email address alone. This may be the scenario when the message is an unwanted advertisement (e.g., a "spam" message). In some situations, however, the message may not be spam. Rather, the message may be from a sender that the user knows and approves, but that the user has not saved to his Contacts. For example, the sender may be a new acquaintance that the user intends to save to his Contacts, but has not yet saved, or the sender may be a provider of goods or services, such as a bank, a pharmacy, a restaurant, a doctor's office, a school, etc. Because the sender is not associated with saved Contact information in this case, the user may not be able to readily discern if a message requires attention (e.g., originates from a known and approved sender) or should be deleted (e.g., originates from a "spam" sender).

[0031] Moreover, in some cases, the messages that a user receives may be lengthy. The user may, thus, not be able to determine the subject or context of the message by a glance at the first few words or sentence of the message without otherwise reading the entire contents of the message.

[0032] Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention provide for devices, systems, and methods that allow a user to view one or more identifying terms, such as keywords or a sender name, that are determined from the content of the message and presented as part of an abridged presentation of the message. In this way, the user may have an idea as to the context or subject of the message without needing to read the entire message, such is in the event the sender of the message is not recognized by the user's mobile device as one of the user's contacts, but the sender is nonetheless an originator of messages that are considered important to the user.

[0033] Turning now to Fig. 1, which provides one example embodiment, a block diagram of a mobile terminal 10 that would benefit from embodiments of the present invention is illustrated. It should be understood, however, that the mobile terminal 10 as illustrated and hereinafter described is merely illustrative of one type of device that may benefit from embodiments of the present invention and, therefore, should not be taken to limit the scope of embodiments of the present invention. As such, although numerous types of mobile terminals, such as portable digital assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones, pagers, mobile televisions, gaming devices, laptop computers, cameras, tablet computers, touch surfaces, wearable devices, video recorders, audio/video players, radios, electronic books, positioning devices (e.g., global positioning system (GPS) devices), or any combination of the aforementioned, and other types of voice and text communications systems, may readily employ embodiments of the present invention, other devices including fixed (non-mobile) electronic devices may also employ some example embodiments.

[0034] The mobile terminal 10 may include an antenna 12 (or multiple antennas) in operable communication with a transmitter 14 and a receiver 16. The mobile terminal 10 may further include an apparatus, such as a processor 20 or other processing device (e.g., processor 70 of Fig. 2), which controls the provision of signals to and the receipt of signals from the transmitter 14 and receiver 16, respectively. The signals may include signaling information in accordance with the air interface standard of the applicable cellular system, and also user speech, received data and/or user generated data. As an alternative (or additionally), the mobile terminal 10 may be capable of operating in accordance with non- cellular communication mechanisms. For example, the mobile terminal 10 may be capable of communication in a wireless local area network (WLAN) or other communication networks.

[0035] In some embodiments, the processor 20 may include circuitry desirable for implementing audio and logic functions of the mobile terminal 10. For example, the processor 20 may be comprised of a digital signal processor device, a microprocessor device, and various analog to digital converters, digital to analog converters, and other support circuits. Control and signal processing functions of the mobile terminal 10 are allocated between these devices according to their respective capabilities. The processor 20 thus may also include the functionality to convolutionally encode and interleave message and data prior to modulation and transmission. The processor 20 may additionally include an internal voice coder, and may include an internal data modem. Further, the processor 20 may include functionality to operate one or more software programs, which may be stored in memory. For example, the processor 20 may be capable of operating a connectivity program, such as a conventional Web browser. The connectivity program may then allow the mobile terminal 10 to transmit and receive Web content, such as location-based content and/or other web page content, according to a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and/or the like, for example.

[0036] The mobile terminal 10 may also comprise a user interface including an output device such as a conventional earphone or speaker 24, a ringer 22, a microphone 26, a display 28, and a user input interface, all of which are coupled to the processor 20. The user input interface, which allows the mobile terminal 10 to receive data, may include any of a number of devices allowing the mobile terminal 10 to receive data, such as a keypad 30, a touch screen display (display 28 providing an example of such a touch screen display) or other input device. In embodiments including the keypad 30, the keypad 30 may include the conventional numeric (0-9) and related keys (#, *), and other hard and soft keys used for operating the mobile terminal 10. Alternatively or additionally, the keypad 30 may include a conventional QWERTY keypad arrangement. The keypad 30 may also include various soft keys with associated functions. In addition, or alternatively, the mobile terminal 10 may include an interface device such as a joystick or other user input interface. Some

embodiments employing a touch screen display, as described further below, may omit the keypad 30 and any or all of the speaker 24, ringer 22, and microphone 26 entirely. The mobile terminal 10 further includes a battery 34, such as a vibrating battery pack, for powering various circuits that are required to operate the mobile terminal 10, as well as optionally providing mechanical vibration as a detectable output.

[0037] The mobile terminal 10 may further include a user identity module (UIM) 38. The UIM 38 is typically a memory device having a processor built in. The UIM 38 may include, for example, a subscriber identity module (SIM), a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), a universal subscriber identity module (USIM), a removable user identity module (Pv-UIM), etc. The UIM 38 typically stores information elements related to a mobile subscriber. In addition to the UIM 38, the mobile terminal 10 may be equipped with memory. For example, the mobile terminal 10 may include volatile memory 40, such as volatile Random Access Memory (RAM) including a cache area for the temporary storage of data. The mobile terminal 10 may also include other non-volatile memory 42, which may be embedded and/or may be removable. The memories may store any of a number of pieces of information, and data, used by the mobile terminal 10 to implement the functions of the mobile terminal 10.

[0038] An example embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to Fig. 2, which depicts certain elements of an apparatus 50 for causing presentation of at least one term describing the content of a received message to be displayed to a user. The apparatus 50 of Fig. 2 may be employed, for example, with the mobile terminal 10 of Fig. 1. However, it should be noted that the apparatus 50 of Fig. 2 may also be employed in connection with a variety of other devices, both mobile and fixed, and therefore,

embodiments of the present invention should not be limited to application on devices such as the mobile terminal 10 of Fig. 1. For example, the apparatus 50 may be employed on a personal computer, a tablet, a mobile telephone, or other user terminal. Moreover, in some cases, part or all of the apparatus 50 may be on a fixed device such as a server or other service platform and the content may be presented (e.g., via a server/client relationship) on a remote device such as a user terminal (e.g., the mobile terminal 10) based on processing that occurs at the fixed device.

[0039] It should also be noted that while Fig. 2 illustrates one example of a configuration of an apparatus 50 for causing presentation of at least one term describing the content of a received message to be displayed to a user, numerous other configurations may also be used to implement embodiments of the present invention. As such, in some embodiments, although devices or elements are shown as being in communication with each other, hereinafter such devices or elements should be considered to be capable of being embodied within a same device or element and, thus, devices or elements shown in communication should be understood to alternatively be portions of the same device or element.

[0040] Referring now to Fig. 2, the apparatus 50 may include or otherwise be in communication with a processor 70, a user interface transceiver 72, a communication interface 74, and a memory device 76. In some embodiments, the processor 70 (and/or coprocessors or any other processing circuitry assisting or otherwise associated with the processor 70) may be in communication with the memory device 76 via a bus for passing information among components of the apparatus 50. The memory device 76 may include, for example, one or more volatile and/or non-volatile memories. In other words, for example, the memory device 76 may be an electronic storage device (e.g., a computer readable storage medium) comprising gates configured to store data (e.g., bits) that may be retrievable by a machine (e.g., a computing device like the processor 70). The memory device 76 may be configured to store information, data, content, applications, instructions, or the like for enabling the apparatus to carry out various functions in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention. For example, the memory device 76 could be configured to buffer input data for processing by the processor 70. Additionally or alternatively, the memory device 76 could be configured to store instructions for execution by the processor 70.

[0041] The apparatus 50 may, in some embodiments, be a mobile terminal (e.g., mobile terminal 10) or a fixed communication device or computing device configured to employ an example embodiment of the present invention. However, in some embodiments, the apparatus 50 may be embodied as a chip or chip set. In other words, the apparatus 50 may comprise one or more physical packages (e.g., chips) including materials, components and/or wires on a structural assembly (e.g., a baseboard). The structural assembly may provide physical strength, conservation of size, and/or limitation of electrical interaction for component circuitry included thereon. The apparatus 50 may therefore, in some cases, be configured to implement an embodiment of the present invention on a single chip or as a single "system on a chip." As such, in some cases, a chip or chipset may constitute means for performing one or more operations for providing the functionalities described herein.

[0042] The processor 70 may be embodied in a number of different ways. For example, the processor 70 may be embodied as one or more of various hardware processing means such as a coprocessor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processing element with or without an accompanying DSP, or various other processing circuitry including integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field programmable gate array), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a hardware accelerator, a special-purpose computer chip, or the like. As such, in some embodiments, the processor 70 may include one or more processing cores configured to perform independently. A multi-core processor may enable multiprocessing within a single physical package. Additionally or alternatively, the processor 70 may include one or more processors configured in tandem via the bus to enable independent execution of instructions, pipelining and/or multithreading.

[0043] In an example embodiment, the processor 70 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory device 76 or otherwise accessible to the processor 70. Alternatively or additionally, the processor 70 may be configured to execute hard-coded functionality. As such, whether configured by hardware or software methods, or by a combination thereof, the processor 70 may represent an entity (e.g., physically embodied in circuitry) capable of performing operations according to an embodiment of the present invention while configured accordingly. Thus, for example, when the processor 70 is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA or the like, the processor 70 may be specifically configured hardware for conducting the operations described herein. Alternatively, as another example, when the processor 70 is embodied as an executor of software instructions, the instructions may specifically configure the processor 70 to perform the algorithms and/or operations described herein when the instructions are executed. However, in some cases, the processor 70 may be a processor of a specific device (e.g., a mobile terminal or network device) adapted for employing an embodiment of the present invention by further configuration of the processor 70 by instructions for performing the algorithms and/or operations described herein. The processor 70 may include, among other things, a clock, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and logic gates configured to support operation of the processor 70.

[0044] Meanwhile, the communication interface 74 may be any means such as a device or circuitry embodied in either hardware or a combination of hardware and software that is configured to receive and/or transmit data from/to a network and/or any other device or module in communication with the apparatus 50. In this regard, the communication interface 74 may include, for example, an antenna (or multiple antennas) and supporting hardware and/or software for enabling communications with a wireless communication network.

Additionally or alternatively, the communication interface 74 may include the circuitry for interacting with the antenna(s) to cause transmission of signals via the antenna(s) or to handle receipt of signals received via the antenna(s). In some environments, the communication interface 74 may alternatively or also support wired communication. As such, for example, the communication interface 74 may include a communication modem and/or other hardware/software for supporting communication via cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), universal serial bus (USB) or other mechanisms.

[0045] The user interface transceiver 72 may be in communication with the processor 70 to receive an indication of a user input and/or to cause provision of an audible, visual, mechanical or other output to the user. As such, the user interface transceiver 72 may include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a joystick, a display, a touch screen(s), touch areas, soft keys, a microphone, a speaker, a vibration pack, or other input/output mechanisms.

Alternatively or additionally, the processor 70 may comprise user interface circuitry configured to control at least some functions of one or more user interface elements such as, for example, a speaker, ringer, microphone, vibration pack, display, and/or the like. The processor 70 and/or user interface circuitry comprising the processor 70 may be configured to control one or more functions of one or more user interface elements through computer program instructions (e.g., software and/or firmware) stored on a memory accessible to the processor 70 (e.g., memory device 76, and/or the like).

[0046] Turning now to Fig. 3, in general, an apparatus 50 (shown in Fig. 2) is provided that is embodied by a user device 100, such as the mobile terminal 10 of Fig. 1 (e.g., a cellular phone) that has or is otherwise associated with a display 28, such as a touch screen display. As described above, the apparatus may comprise at least one processor (e.g., processor 70 of Fig. 2) and at least one memory (e.g., memory device 76 of Fig. 2) including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for receipt of a message, provide for analysis of a content of the message to determine at least one identifying term, and provide for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of an abridged presentation of the message.

[0047] As described above, the user device 100 (e.g., a cellular phone) may be configured to receive and transmit messages over a network 105, such as a mobile phone network or a wireless network. The messages may be text messages (e.g., SMS/MMS messages), email messages, or voice messages, among others. In some cases, as depicted in Fig. 3, the user device 100 may be in communication with a network server 110, such as a cloud server. The user device 100 may receive one or more of the messages via the network server 110. The network server 110, which is shown in Fig. 4, may include a processor 115, a memory 120, and a communication interface 125, which may be configured as described above with respect to the processor 70, memory 76, and communication interface 72 depicted in Fig. 2.

[0048] The at least one memory and the computer program code of the apparatus may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term by extracting at least one keyword from the content of the message. Referring to Fig. 5, for example, a message 130 (a text message in this example) may be presented to the user on the display 28 of the user device 100. In this example, the text message 130 is sent from Best Bank, a banking institution with which the user has recently initiated the opening of a new account. The user interface 140 depicted in Fig. 5 may be the user interface that is presented to the user when the user selects to open the text message in its entirety. The phone number 135 associated with the sender Best Bank is provided at the top of the screen in this example. In addition, a user input box 145 that is configured to receive touch inputs from the user may be provided at the bottom of the screen. For example, upon receiving a tap within the user input box 145, a keypad may be presented upon the display 28 for receiving the user's selection of letters for typing a response to the message 130.

[0049] When the message 130 is first received by the user device 100, the user may be alerted as to the receipt of the message via a sound (e.g., a ring tone, chime, or other sound effect) that is produced by the user device 100. In addition, a visual alert may be provided to the user, such as a notification 150 that is displayed somewhere on the screen, as shown in Fig. 6, for example. In the example of Fig. 6, the user interface 140 is presenting an idle screen, such as a screen that is displayed when the user is not actively interacting with the user device 100. The idle screen may display the current time 155 and/or other information that may be helpful to the user, such as the date, local temperature, etc. As messages (such as the text message 130 in the previous example) are received by the user device 100, the phone number 135 of the sender associated with the message may be displayed in a notification 150, along with, for example, the time of day at which the message was received and the first few words of the message. In the depicted example, a message was received at 12:43 PM from phone number 1069070059, and the first few words of the message are "Dear Customer, this message confirms ...."

[0050] The phone number 135 of the sender may not have been previously saved in this case in the user's contacts. Thus, only the sender's phone number 1069070059 may displayed to the user, along with the time at which the message was received, for example. The user in this example may not recognize the sender's phone number, and thus may not be able to determine, from reading the notification 150 alone, who the sender is or whether the message is important or is unwanted "spam."

[0051] Although the first few words of the message may be displayed to the user, as shown in Fig. 6, the first few words may not be informative of the purpose or importance of the message. In a conventional scenario, the user would thus need to open the message to be able to gain an understanding of message contents. Rather than requiring the user to open the message (e.g., by selecting the notification 150 in the example of Fig. 6, such that the message in its entirety would be displayed as shown in Fig. 5), some exemplary embodiments of the invention may provide one or more identifying terms that describe the content of the message that can be displayed as part of an abridged presentation of the message. The content of the message (e.g., the content of the message 130 shown in Fig. 5) may be analyzed to determine at least one identifying term. The identifying term may be a term found within the body of the message 130, for example, and may describe the content of the message, such that the user can get an idea of who the sender is, the purpose of the message, the importance of the message, etc. by reading only the one or more identifying terms that are determined and presented to the user as part of an abridged presentation of the message. The abridged presentation may be, for example, a shortened version of the message, such as the first few words of the message, the first paragraph of the message, the first few words and the last few words of the message, or any other portion of the message that is less than the complete contents of the message.

[0052] Moreover, the identifying term or terms may be determined in any of a number of ways. For example, extraction methods and/or abstraction methods may be used to analyze the contents of a message and determine relevant identifying terms. In some cases, text analysis techniques may be used that employ information retrieval and lexical analysis that provides data regarding word frequency distributions, pattern recognition, tagging, and/or annotation. Data mining techniques may also be used that include link and association analysis, visualization, and predictive analytics. Regardless of the particular techniques or combination of techniques used, the text of the message content may be turned into data that can be analyzed using the application of natural language processing and/or other analytical methods.

[0053] As noted above, in some embodiments, at least one keyword may be extracted from the content of the message. With reference to the message 130 of Fig. 5, for example, keywords that may be extracted from the content to describe the message to the user may include words like "account," "verification code," "37213," and/or "within 30 minutes." In other cases, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for analysis of the content of the message to determine a sender name. For example, for the message 130 shown in Fig. 5, the analysis may focus on the end of the message content, where the sender's information (e.g., name, address, phone number, etc.) may be most likely to be found, and words from the message may be extracted that are determined to represent the sender's name. In the depicted example, the words "Best Bank" may be determined to be the sender name as a result of the analysis, and these words may be presented to the user as part an abridged presentation of the message, as described below.

[0054] In some cases, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term in an instance in which a sender of the message is not a contact of the user. Thus, for example, the message content may be analyzed only when the sender's phone number, for example, does not correspond to a phone number for any one of the user's contacts, and the analysis may determine the sender's name as or in addition to any other identifying words of the message.

[0055] With reference to Figs. 7 and 8, for example, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for presentation of the at least one identifying term 160 as part of a notification 150 upon receipt of the message by the user device 100. In Fig. 7, the identifying terms that were determined (e.g., through keyword extraction) are presented to the user in the form of a sentence in the notification 150. Thus, the user would be able to see, from reading the notification 150 alone, that the message that was received from the otherwise unrecognizable phone number relates to an account verification code 37213 and that something in the message must be done within 30 minutes.

[0056] In the example shown in Fig. 8, the identifying terms describe the sender of the message (e.g., the sender's name as extracted from the ending of the message content, as described above). The sender's name (e.g., Best Bank in this example) may be inserted after the sender's phone number to give the user a better idea of what the message may relate to, such as in the case where the sender's phone number is not saved in the user's Contact information and is otherwise not associated with previously saved information describing the sender. In this case, the user may read the notification of Fig. 8 and, upon seeing the identifying terms "Best Bank," recall that he stopped at Best Bank a couple days ago to open a new account. Based on this information alone, the user may decide that this message is likely not spam and may choose to review the message in its entirety, rather than summarily deleting the message. In addition, although not show, in some cases both the sender's name or other sender-specific information and terms identifying the context of the message may be presented together within the notification 150, such that a combination of the notifications shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is presented to the user.

[0057] In still other embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for

presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of a message list of the messages received. An example is shown in Fig. 9. As shown in Fig. 9, the user interface 140 may present a message list 170 (e.g., in a list mode) that provides information relating to one or more of the most recently received messages. In the depicted example, the message list 170 is presenting information regarding three messages (e.g., text messages in this example). The information provided for each listed message may include the sender's phone number 135, the time 175 that the message was received, and one or more identifying terms 160. In the depicted example, the identifying terms are presented as a sentence summarizing the content of the message, for example, using keywords extracted from the body of the message as described above. In other embodiments, however, the identifying terms may consist of or include the sender's name or other terms determined to be identifying terms based on an analysis of the content of the message, as described above.

[0058] In some cases, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for prioritization of a plurality of identifying terms determined for a particular message and to provide for presentation of the identifying terms according to the prioritization. For example, for a particular sender or type of sender (e.g., senders with the term "bank" in the sender name), certain identifying words may be assigned a higher priority than other identifying words that may be found in the content of the message. For example, although terms such as "account," "verification code," "overdrawn," "balance," "due," "payment," and others may all be relevant, certain terms may be prioritized over others such that only those prioritized terms would be recognized as identifying words. As a result, only the prioritized words may be presented to the user in a summary sentence 160 such as the one shown in Fig. 7. In this regard, in Fig. 7, the term "account" may be prioritized over the term "confirms," and as a result the term "account" may be displayed in the summary sentence 160 whereas the term "confirms" may not be displayed, as shown.

[0059] Moreover, the designation of terms as identifying terms may be predefined and/or may be customizable by the user. For example, Fig. 10 shows a message view of the message 130 (in this example, a text message), which presents a phone number 135 of the sender, along with the entire contents of the message. In some embodiments, the identifying terms may be highlighted or otherwise distinguished within the body of the message with respect to the other terms in the message, such as by using a different font, different colors, highlighting, or other distinguishing effects to make the identifying terms within the body of the message stand out. In the depicted embodiment of Fig. 10, for example, the identifying terms 180 within the message view are bolded and italicized to aid a user in visually distinguishing the identifying terms from the rest of the message.

[0060] In addition, in some embodiments, certain identifying terms may be designated as representing the sender of the message and may be visually distinguished from other identifying terms representing the context of the message. For example, embodiments of the apparatus may be caused to automatically designate the last term or terms of the message as representing the sender. Such identifying terms may be differentiated within the message view shown in Fig. 10 by having the sender terms 182 underlined, as shown.

[0061] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the user may have the option to designate or un-designate specific words of the message 130 as identifying terms 180 or sender terms 182. For example, the apparatus may be caused to present a tool bar 190 or other type of menu presenting user options for designating or un-designating terms. This may occur, for example, when the user provides an input such as a long press, double click, or right click within the message 130, such as an input selecting a particular term within the message. In the depicted embodiment of Fig. 10, for example, the tool bar 190 provides one icon 192 (e.g., an

"envelope" icon) for designating a term as a sender term 182 and another icon 194 (e.g., an "eyeglasses" icon) for designating a term as an identifying term 180 (which is other than a sender term). The user may, for example, highlight or otherwise select a certain term from the message, which may or may not have a predefined designation by the apparatus of an identifying term or a sender term, and may then select the desired icon 192, 194 for designating the selected term.

[0062] Selecting an icon 192 for designating a term as a sender term 182, where the highlighted term is already designated as a sender term, may, in some cases, un-designate the term such that the term is no longer designated as a sender term or any type of identifying term 180. Likewise, selecting the icon 194 for designating a term as an identifying term 180 (e.g., a keyword, but not a sender term 182), where the term selected was previously (e.g., by the apparatus) designated as a sender term may serve to un-designate the term as a sender term 182 and re-designate the term as an identifying term 180 (e.g., a keyword). In this way, the user may have the ability to clarify which term in the message 130 is truly representative of the sender of the message, such as in instances in which the apparatus determines that the wrong term of the message is the sender (e.g., where the sender's name is located in the beginning of the message, whereas the apparatus is looking to the end of the message to find the name). The apparatus may be caused to apply such designations to future messages, such as subsequently received messages of the same type, having similar identifying words, etc.

[0063] Accordingly, as described above, embodiments of the invention are configured to provide for analysis of a content of a message, such as a text message, email message, voice message, etc., so as to determine at least one identifying term that describes the content of the message. The one or more identifying terms may then be presented as part of a display of the message so that the user may be able to determine the context or purpose of the message (e.g., whether the message represents unwanted advertising or important information) by reading the identifying terms, which represent only a portion of the entire contents of the message. In this regard, reference to the "display of the message" as used in the description and examples provided herein is understood to mean an indication of the message (such as the display of the phone number of the sender and/or time the message is received and/or the first few words (e.g., the first 2-10 words) of the message within a notification as shown in Fig. 6 or a message list as shown in Fig. 9), in addition to or instead of presentation of the entire contents of the message, as shown in Fig. 5.

[0064] Moreover, although the examples described above and shown in the

accompanying figures depict the presentation of identifying terms within notifications and message lists, embodiments are contemplated in which the identifying terms are presented along with the entire contents of the message. For example, a summary sentence of the identifying terms, such as the sentence 160 shown in Fig. 7, may be provided as a header above the full display of the message, such as by being presented as part of a message view shown in Fig. 5. As another example, the identifying terms that are determined, instead of being extracted to form a summary sentence 160 as shown in Fig. 7, may instead be highlighted or otherwise distinguished within the body of the message (e.g., within a message view as shown in Fig. 10), such as by using a different font, different colors, highlighting, or other distinguishing effects to make the identifying terms within the body of the message stand out. Moreover, the identifying terms may be extracted from the body of the message (e.g., as words that are used in the actual message) as described above, or the identifying terms may be selected from a number of previously stored identifying terms as describing the analyzed content of the message (e.g., in which case the identifying terms would not be found in the original text of the message).

[0065] Furthermore, with reference to Fig. 3, in some cases, the user device 100 may be configured to analyze the content of the messages as described above to determine the identifying terms (e.g., via the processor 70 of the device, shown in Fig. 2), while in other cases the network server 110 may be configured to analyze the content of the messages to determine the identifying terms (e.g., via the processor 115 of the server, shown in Fig. 4). In the latter case, the identifying terms determined by the server 110 may be communicated (e.g., over the network 105) to the user device 100 for presentation to the user via the display 28 of the user device. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the apparatus 50 of Fig. 2 may be embodied by the user device 100, and in other cases, the apparatus may be embodied by a remote server, such as the network server 110. [0066] Although the description and examples provided above and in the accompanying figures relate to messages in the form of text messages, embodiments of the invention may also be applicable to emails and other types of messages that are received by device users. As one example, in Fig. 11, a summary sentence of identifying terms 180 is provided in an automatic preview of an email message 130 received by a user that is provided when the user is viewing his inbox.

[0067] Fig. 12 illustrates a flowchart of systems, methods, and computer program products according to example embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart, may be implemented by various means, such as hardware, firmware, processor, circuitry, and/or other devices associated with execution of software including one or more computer program instructions. For example, one or more of the procedures described above may be embodied by computer program instructions. In this regard, the computer program instructions which embody the procedures described above may be stored by a memory device of an apparatus employing an example embodiment of the present invention and executed by a processor in the apparatus. As will be appreciated, any such computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus (e.g., hardware) to produce a machine, such that the resulting computer or other programmable apparatus implements the functions specified in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture the execution of which implements the function specified in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to cause a series of operations to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer- implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide operations for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s).

[0068] Accordingly, blocks of the flowchart support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of operations for performing the specified functions, and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that one or more blocks of the flowchart, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

[0069] In this regard, one example embodiment of a method for causing presentation of at least one term describing the content of a received message to be displayed to a user is shown in Fig. 12. Fig. 12 depicts an example embodiment of the method that provides for receipt of a message at block 200, provides for analysis of a content of the message to determine at least one identifying term at block 210, where the identifying term describes the content of the message, and provides for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of an abridged presentation of the message at block 220. Providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term may comprise extracting at least one keyword from the content of the message, as described above.

[0070] In some cases, providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term may occur in an instance in which a sender of the message is not a contact of the user. The content of the message may be analyzed, for example, to determine a sender name.

[0071] In some embodiments, the identifying term or terms may be presented as part of a notification upon receipt of the message. Additionally or alternatively, the identifying term or terms may be presented as part of a message list of the messages received. Moreover, in some cases, the method may include providing for prioritization of a plurality of identifying terms determined for a particular message and providing for presentation of the identifying terms according to the prioritization at block 230, as described above.

[0072] In some embodiments, certain ones of the operations above may be modified or further amplified as described below. Furthermore, in some embodiments, additional optional operations may be included, some examples of which are shown in dashed lines in Fig. 12. Modifications, additions, or amplifications to the operations above may be performed in any order and in any combination.

[0073] In an example embodiment, an apparatus for performing the methods of Fig. 12 above may comprise a processor (e.g., the processor 70 of Fig. 2 or 125 of Fig. 4) configured to perform some or each of the operations (200-230) described above. The processor may, for example, be configured to perform the operations (200-230) by performing hardware implemented logical functions, executing stored instructions, or executing algorithms for performing each of the operations. Alternatively, the apparatus may comprise means for performing each of the operations described above. In this regard, according to an example embodiment, examples of means for performing at least portions of operation 200 may comprise, for example, the processor 70, the communication interface 74, and/or a device or circuit for executing instructions or executing an algorithm for processing information as described above. Examples of means for performing operation 210 may comprise, for example, the processor 70, the memory device 76, and/or a device or circuit for executing instructions or executing an algorithm for processing information as described above.

Examples of means for performing operations 220 and 230 may comprise, for example, the user interface transceiver 72, the processor 70, the memory device 76, the communication interface 74, and/or a device or circuit for executing instructions or executing an algorithm for processing information as described above.

[0074] Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings describe example embodiments in the context of certain example combinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated that different

combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided by alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In this regard, for example, different combinations of elements and/or functions than those explicitly described above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

provide for receipt of a message;

provide for analysis of a content of the message to determine at least one identifying term, wherein the identifying term describes the content of the message; and

provide for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of an abridged presentation of the message.

2. The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term by extracting at least one keyword from the content of the message.

3. The apparatus of any of Claims 1-2, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term in an instance in which a sender of the message is not a contact of the user.

4. The apparatus of Claim 3, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for analysis of the content of the message to determine a sender name.

5. The apparatus of any of Claims 1-4, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for prioritization of a plurality of identifying terms determined for a particular message and to provide for presentation of the identifying terms according to the

prioritization.

6. The apparatus of any of Claims 1-5, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of a notification upon receipt of the message.

7. The apparatus of any of Claims 1-5, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of a message list of the messages received.

8. A method comprising:

providing for receipt of a message;

providing for analysis of a content of the message to determine at least one identifying term, wherein the identifying term describes the content of the message; and

providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of an abridged presentation of the message.

9. The method of Claim 8, wherein providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term comprises extracting at least one keyword from the content of the message.

10. The method of any of Claims 8-9, wherein providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term occurs in an instance in which a sender of the message is not a contact of the user.

11. The method of Claim 10, wherein providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term comprises providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine a sender name.

12. The method of any of Claims 8-11 further comprising providing for prioritization of a plurality of identifying terms determined for a particular message and providing for presentation of the identifying terms according to the prioritization.

13. The method of any of Claims 8-12, wherein providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term comprises providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of a notification upon receipt of the message.

14. The method of any of Claims 8-12, wherein providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term comprises providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of a message list of the messages received.

15. A computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code portions stored therein, the computer- executable program code portions comprising program code instructions for:

providing for receipt of a message;

16. The computer program product of Claim 15, wherein the program code portions for providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term comprise program code instructions for extracting at least one keyword from the content of the message.

17. The computer program product of any of Claims 15-16, wherein the program code portions for providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term comprise program code instructions for providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term in an instance in which a sender of the message is not a contact of the user.

18. The computer program product of any of Claims 15-17 further comprising program code instructions for providing for prioritization of a plurality of identifying terms determined for a particular message and providing for presentation of the identifying terms according to the prioritization.

19. An apparatus comprising:

means for providing for receipt of a message;

means for providing for analysis of a content of the message to determine at least one identifying term, wherein the identifying term describes the content of the message; and means providing for presentation of the at least one identifying term as part of an abridged presentation of the message.

20. The apparatus of Claim 19, wherein the means for providing for analysis of the content of the message to determine the at least one identifying term comprise means for extracting at least one keyword from the content of the message.