Scalable display of internet content on mobile devices

Abstract

Apparatus, methods and software for creating resolution-independent vector display of Internet (Web) content to allow Web pages to be scaled (zoomed) and panned for better viewing and/or to fit any resolution or screen size. According to one aspect, novel client-side processing of Web content is provided that translates portions of Web content requested by a user from an original format to scalable content including scalable page layout information. The scalable content enables the Web page to be rendered by the client such that the rendered display substantially retains an original page layout defined by the original format, while supporting scaling and panning of the Web content. Thus the user is enabled to easily view and navigate entire Web pages in their original and familiar format on various devices having various screen sizes and resolutions.

1 . A mobile device, comprising: 
 a processor;    a wireless communications device operatively coupled to the processor, to facilitate communication with a network via which Web content may be accessed;    a display;    memory, operatively coupled to the processor; and    storage means, operatively coupled to the processor, in which a plurality of instructions are stored that when executed by the processor enable the mobile device to perform operations including, 
 rendering a browser interface via which a user is enabled to request access to a Web page, the Web page including associated HTML-based Web content having an original format defining an original width and height of the Web page and an original page layout and attributes of content on the Web page;  
 retrieving, via the wireless communication device, at least a portion of the HTML-based Web content associated with the Web page;  
 translating the at least a portion of the HTML-based Web content to produce scalable page layout information; and  
 employing the scalable page layout information and/or data derived therefrom to, 
 render the Web page on the display such that the width of the Web page is rendered to fit substantially across the display; and  
 re-render the Web page in response to associated user inputs to enable a user to zoom in and out a display of the Web page.  
 
   
   
   
       2 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein the device comprises a mobile phone.  
   
   
       3 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein the device comprises one of a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), handheld computer, notebook computer, or laptop computer.  
   
   
       4 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising enabling the user to zoom in on a user-selectable portion of a display of the Web page in response to a corresponding user interface input.  
   
   
       5 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein the Web page includes at least one hyperlink, and wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising: 
 enabling the user to select the hyperlink; and, in response thereto, 
 retrieving, via the wireless communications device, and translating HMTL-based Web content associated with the hyperlink to produce additional scalable page layout information; and  
 employing the additional scalable page layout information and/or data derived therefrom to render the Web content associated with the hyperlink on the display.  
   
   
   
       6 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising enabling the Web page to be displayed at different resolutions by, 
 generating scalable content via use of the scalable page layout information; and    scaling the scalable content to re-render the display in response to associated user inputs.    
   
   
       7 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising enabling a user to pan a display of the Web page substantially in real-time in response to a corresponding user input.  
   
   
       8 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising enabling a user to view a column of the Web page at a higher resolution than a current resolution via a corresponding user interface input, wherein in response thereto, the display is re-rendered such that content corresponding to the selected column is displayed substantially across the display.  
   
   
       9 . The mobile device of  claim 8 , wherein the corresponding user interface input comprises tapping on the column.  
   
   
       10 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein the Web page includes at least one image, and wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising enabling a user to view an image at a higher resolution than a current resolution via a corresponding user interface input, wherein in response thereto, the display is re-rendered such that the image is displayed substantially across the display.  
   
   
       11 . The mobile device of  claim 10 , wherein the corresponding user interface input comprises tapping on the image.  
   
   
       12 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising enabling a user to view a paragraph of the Web page at a higher resolution than a current resolution via a corresponding user interface input, wherein in response thereto, text content of the selected paragraph is reformatted and the display is re-rendered such that the text content of the selected paragraph is displayed substantially across the display.  
   
   
       13 . The mobile device of  claim 12 , wherein the corresponding user interface input comprises tapping on the paragraph.  
   
   
       14 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein the network comprises a mobile service provider network.  
   
   
       15 . A mobile device, comprising: 
 processing means;    wireless communications means to facilitate communication with a network via which Web content may be accessed;    a display;    memory; and    storage means in which a plurality of instructions are stored that when executed by the processor enable the mobile device to perform operations including, 
 rendering a browser interface via which a user is enabled to request access to a Web page, the Web page including associated HTML-based Web content having an original format defining an original page layout and attributes of content on the Web page;  
 retrieving, via the wireless communication means, at least a portion of the HTML-based Web content associated with the Web page;  
 parsing HTML-based code corresponding to the retrieved HTML-based Web content to determine the original page layout of display content within the Web page, wherein the original page layout defines a layout location for a plurality of objects, including text objects, graphic layout objects, and/or graphic image objects included in the Web page;  
 defining a primary datum corresponding to the original page layout; and, for each object,  
 defining an object datum corresponding to the layout location for the object;  
 generating an object vector from the primary datum to the object datum for the object; and  
 creating a reference that links the object to its corresponding vector; and employing the object vectors to,  
 render the Web page on the display such that a width of the Web page is rendered to fit substantially across the display; and  
 re-render the Web page in response to associated user inputs to enable the user to zoom in and out a display of the Web page.  
   
   
   
       16 . The mobile device of  claim 15 , wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising: 
 generating a bounding box for each object, the bounding box representing a portion of a rendered display page occupied by the object's associated group of content; and    mapping the object vectors and associated bounding boxes to a virtual display in memory.    
   
   
       17 . The mobile device of  claim 16 , wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising: 
 determining a first scale factor and offset in response to one or more corresponding user inputs defining a user-selectable zoom level and pan corresponding to a rendered display of the Web page desired by a user;    determining a virtual display bounding box for the virtual display associated with the first scale factor and offset;    identifying object bounding boxes having at least a portion falling within the virtual display bounding box; and,    for each of such object bounding boxes, 
 retrieving content associated with that object bounding box;  
 scaling the content associated with that object bounding box to produce scaled content; and  
 rendering the portion of scaled content within the virtual display bounding box to render the content on the display.  
   
   
   
       18 . The mobile device of  claim 17 , wherein the Web content includes text content, and wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising scaling a scalable font to render the text content at different scale factors.  
   
   
       19 . The mobile device of  claim 15 , wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising: 
 generating a display list derived, at least in part, via use of the object vectors; and    employing the display list to re-render the display of the Web page.    
   
   
       20 . A wireless handheld device, comprising: 
 a processor;    a wireless communications interface operatively coupled to the processor, to facilitate communication with a network via which Web content may be accessed;    a display;    random access memory, operatively coupled to the processor; and    flash memory, operatively coupled to the processor, in which a plurality of instructions are stored that when executed by the processor enable the mobile device to perform operations including, 
 rendering a browser interface via which a user is enabled to request access to a Web page, the Web page including associated HTML-based Web content having an original format defining an original width and height of the Web page and an original page layout and attributes of content on the Web page;  
 retrieving, via the wireless communication interface, HTML-based Web content associated with the Web page;  
 translating the retrieved HTML-based Web content to produce scalable page layout information; and  
 employing the scalable page layout information and/or data derived therefrom to, 
 render the Web page on the display such that the width of the Web page is rendered to fit substantially across the display;  
 re-render the Web page in response to associated user inputs to enable the user to zoom in on user-selected areas of the web page; and  
 re-render the Web page in response to associated user inputs to enable the user to pan a display of the web page while in a zoomed or non-zoomed state.  
 
   
   
   
       21 . The wireless handheld device of  claim 20 , wherein the Web page includes at least one image, and wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising enabling a user to view an image at a higher resolution than a current resolution via a corresponding user interface input, wherein in response thereto, the display is re-rendered such that the image is displayed substantially across the display.  
   
   
       22 . The wireless handheld device of  claim 21 , wherein the corresponding user interface input comprises tapping on the image.  
   
   
       23 . The wireless handheld device of  claim 20 , wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising enabling a user to view a column of the Web page at a higher resolution than a current resolution via a corresponding user interface input, wherein in response thereto, the display is re-rendered such that content corresponding to the selected column is displayed substantially across the display.  
   
   
       24 . The wireless handheld device of  claim 23 , wherein the corresponding user interface input comprises tapping on the column.  
   
   
       25 . The wireless handheld device of  claim 20 , wherein execution of the instructions performs further operations comprising enabling a user to view a paragraph of the Web page at a higher resolution than a current resolution by tapping on the paragraph, wherein in response thereto, text content of the selected paragraph is reformatted and the display is re-rendered such that the text content of the selected paragraph is displayed substantially across the display.